An AI startup is making a radical case for accelerating the automation of all human labor, arguing that humanity has little control over how technology evolves.
In a manifesto titled Full Automation Is Desirable, Mechanize says the creation of AI agents that can fully replace human workers is inevitable because of deep economic and physical forces that dictate how innovation unfolds.
“Autonomous agents that fully substitute for human labor will inevitably be created because they will provide immense utility that mere AI tools cannot. The only real choice is whether to hasten this technological revolution ourselves, or to wait for others to initiate it in our absence.”
Mechanize rejects the idea that humans can meaningfully steer the direction of technology.
“Humanity is often imagined to be like a ship captain, with the ability to chart our course, navigate away from storms, and select our destination. Yet this view is wrong.”
Instead, the company likens progress to natural forces, claiming the shape of civilization’s “tech tree” is largely fixed.
“To a first approximation, the future course of civilization has already been fixed, predetermined by hard physical constraints combined with unavoidable economic incentives. Whether we like it or not, humanity will develop roughly the same technologies, in roughly the same order, in roughly the same way, regardless of what choices we make now.”
That argument extends beyond AI to the entire history of human invention. Mechanize cites examples of simultaneous discovery — the Hall–Héroult process for aluminum, the parallel invention of the jet engine, and Bell and Gray’s race to patent the telephone — as proof that innovation follows a predetermined path.
The startup contends that once a technology offers overwhelming advantages, society cannot stop it. Mechanize argues that AI exemplifies such an unstoppable dynamic.
“Since any task can, in principle, be performed by a machine, AI promises to increase productivity in virtually every conceivable domain of economic activity. In the short run, AIs will augment human labor due to their limited capabilities. But in the long run, AIs that fully substitute for human labor will likely be far more competitive, making their creation inevitable.”
The company goes further than inevitability, calling full automation desirable. It argues that replacing human labor entirely could unlock “vast material abundance.”
“The upside of automating all jobs in the economy will likely far exceed the costs, making it desirable to accelerate, rather than delay, the inevitable…
It includes the development of medical cures that could dramatically extend the lifespans of billions of people alive today. Fully automating the industries that support innovation will spur an age of invention so profound that it has no precedent. We might even gain the ability to eliminate chronic pain and suffering, elevate our own cognition, sculpt our emotional states with precision, and enhance our capacity for joy. Today’s peak experiences may one day feel like pale shadows in comparison to what will one day be possible.”
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