Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Discusses ‘d/acc: one year later’

Co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, recently discussed decentralization, AI, cooperation in his latest article titled, ‘d/acc: one year later’. In his article, the concept of d/acc revolves around building decentralized and democratic technologies that strengthen defense without relying on centralized authority.

Vitalik Buterin Latest Article: ‘d/acc: one year later’

The ‘d/acc’ approach acknowledges that decentralized and defensive systems foster liberal and stable political structures, while offense-heavy environments risk collapse into chaos or authoritarian rule.

Key principles of d/acc highlighted by Vitalik:

1. Defense over offense: Focus on creating tools that are more effective in defense and construction than in destruction.
2. Decentralization: Avoid centralization, which can amplify risks by consolidating power and reducing accountability.
3. Acceleration: Embrace progress to address challenges and ensure humanity’s growth remains safe and empowering.

Vitalik Buterin believes that by rejecting alternatives like offense-focused decentralization, centralized safety, or deceleration, d/acc aims to preserve human agency, safeguard freedoms, and equip individuals with the tools and knowledge to shape their futures in an increasingly complex technological world.

Ethereum’s co-founder addresses the challenge of ensuring AI safety in the face of short timelines (3-5 years to AGI and superintelligence) and considers potential regulatory approaches:

1. Caution with Regulation:
   Regulations like California’s SB-1047 often overfit to current technology, making them fragile as tech evolves.
   Militaries, key AI risk actors, often bypass regulations, making them insufficient to address existential threats.
2. Proposed Strategies:
   Liability: Assign responsibility to users, deployers, and developers to ensure safe AI usage, incentivizing care while minimizing harm to open innovation.
   Global “Soft Pause”: Temporarily limit industrial-scale computation (~90-99%) during critical periods using cryptographic hardware controls, allowing humanity time to prepare for AI risks.
3. Role of d/acc Technologies:
   d/acc can mitigate AI risks through decentralized cyber-defense, bio-defense, and info-defense.
   Liability laws can complement d/acc by encouraging secure systems while preserving innovation.

The 30 year crypto tycoon, emphasizes the need for balanced, robust solutions that address risks without hindering technological progress or enabling authoritarian control.

Crypto plays a significant role in advancing d/acc principles by extending its core values—decentralization, censorship resistance, and openness—to broader technological domains.

1. Shared Values: d/acc builds on crypto’s foundational ethos, applying it to areas like biosecurity and collaborative tools.
2. Crypto Communities as Early Adopters:
   Crypto users’ alignment with d/acc values and their action-oriented approach make them ideal incubators for testing d/acc technologies, especially those designed for group dynamics (e.g., info and bio defense).
3. Crypto Technologies for d/acc Goals:
   Blockchain: Supports decentralized financial, governance, and social media infrastructures.
   Zero-Knowledge Proofs: Enhance privacy and security.
   Prediction Markets: Growing in sophistication, aiding decentralized and democratic decision-making.
4. Collaborative Opportunities:
   Technologies like formal verification, secure hardware/software, and robust governance improve crypto systems (e.g., Ethereum, DAOs) while aligning with d/acc’s civilizational defense objectives, such as mitigating cyberattacks and AI risks.

Vitalik describes crypto’s decentralized and innovative ecosystem as a natural ally in driving d/acc’s vision of a safer, decentralized, and collaborative future.

Speaking on public goods in d/acc, Vitalik Buterin wrote, “I would argue that strong decentralized public goods funding is essential to a d/acc vision, because a key d/acc goal (minimizing central points of control) inherently frustrates many traditional business models.”

In conclusion, Vitalik highlighted two key challenges for the future: the rapid rise of transformative technologies like AI, which come with risks, and a decline in global cooperation as powerful actors prioritize self-interest. However, he does see opportunities in leveraging AI, biotech, cybersecurity, and decentralized tools like crypto for progress. Vitalik underscored the importance of reclaiming shared principles to build a collaborative, resilient, and innovative 21st century while preserving humanity’s freedom, survival, and agency.