We stand at the precipice of a new era. The convergence of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and open collaboration can dismantle the historical traps of asymmetry. This is a call to democratize creation, reproduction, and distribution.
Throughout history, wealth and power have been concentrated in the hands of those who controlled the means of production—whether land, factories, or intellectual property.
This chart illustrates the "Great Divergence." While productivity has skyrocketed due to technology, the benefits have increasingly accrued to capital owners rather than the contributors. This scarcity mindset is artificial in a digital age.
"If we apply the old rules of proprietary control to the new engines of AGI, we risk creating a caste system of unprecedented disparity."
Fig 1. Divergence of Productivity vs. Compensation (Indexed)
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and rapid software reproduction promise to drive the cost of intelligence—and the goods it designs—toward zero.
Just as open source software allowed code to be copied infinitely at near-zero cost, AGI allows solutions to be replicated instantly.
We face a fork in the road. Path A: Rent-seeking monopolies gatekeep AGI. Path B: We share the outputs of AGI to uplift humanity.
Inspired by the foundations of freedom, these principles apply to all domains—software, hardware, biology, and energy.
What happens when we adjust the levers of Open Access and Automation?