Joshua Achiam says people confuse personal reward with causal power over the future

Joshua Achiam, an OpenAI researcher posting on X, argues that people misunderstand what "power" means in a post-singularity future.

He says people conflate personal reward, such as wealth and pleasant experiences, with causal power to shape how matter and energy are organized. According to Achiam, people are on track to gain the former at the expense of the latter, and many people do not see the difference. He says the future is not necessarily bad, but that specific choices should be made with this distinction in mind.