1.1 Story
Summary
Powerful AI may arrive soon, and we are organizing to shape its development before its effects become hard to reverse. We call our concerns the AI Crisis: concentrated economic gains, weakened democracy, and serious security risks. We want democratic renewal, common prosperity, and a secure future.
1.1.1 The AI Crisis
Powerful AI may arrive soon. Sapiens First is organizing to shape its development before its effects become hard to reverse. Three concerns guide our work:
Economic impacts. The benefits could concentrate among people who already hold wealth and power.
Democracy. AI could strengthen surveillance, autocracy, and other forms of concentrated power.
Security. Powerful AI could cause serious harm through misuse or loss of control.
We call this the AI Crisis. Our answer is to build the public participation and political power to shape what happens next.
These are the concerns that organize our work. We state them as our position, not as established research findings.
1.1.2 Tech oligarchs and concentrated power
This section is still being written. It will explain how ownership of powerful technology relates to political power. For the concern in brief, see 1.1.1 The AI Crisis.
1.1.3 The future we want
We imagine a world where AI serves the common good, and we organize to make that possible before powerful AI arrives. We believe in technology that uplifts all people, not just a rich few.
Our policy focus answers each concern:
Democratic renewal. Strengthen democracy to meet the challenges of AI.
Common prosperity. Share the gains from AI broadly.
A secure future. Govern AI so it doesn't cause catastrophic harm.
Find current recommendations on the policy page, and current work in Atlas. For how we pursue this future, see 1.2 Strategy.
1.1.4 Why Sapiens First exists
We believe these choices are too important to leave only to the people building and owning the technology. Our response is to organize while the future is still open to being shaped, and to bring people together to turn shared concerns into peaceful collective action.
Further Reading
See 1.2 Strategy, 0.3 Getting involved, and B Further Reading.