The AI Leviathan: From Social Contracts to Smart Contracts

Thomas Hobbes, a 17th-century philosopher, introduced the concept of a Leviathan—a centralized authority essential for preventing chaos and maintaining order. 

During the turbulent times of the English Civil War, Hobbes presented his vision out of fear of social collapse. His seminal work, "Leviathan," proposed a centralized power to manage the chaos resulting from divided governance. Hobbes's political theories centered around two interconnected ideas: the inherently selfish nature of humans necessitating a civil social contract and the need for absolute state power to enforce this contract.

As we step into the era of omnipresent artificial intelligence, it's imperative to examine how today's social contracts are evolving and what this means for our digital future filled with a promise of generative and agentic AI that could liberate and empower us.

Hobbes viewed human nature as fundamentally mechanistic and self-serving. He believed that without a powerful sovereign to enforce a social contract, society would descend into a "war of all against all" (Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes). Although controversial, his ideas laid the groundwork for modern political thought, emphasizing the necessity of a centralized authority to maintain social order.

Despite initial resistance, Hobbes's ideas gradually influenced the development of nation-states and the rule of law. However, even democratic societies often conceded significant control to prop up powerful legacy economic structures. 

In today's digital age, the concept of the Leviathan has morphed into new forms. We now rent almost everything from the digital Leviathan, rarely owning the fruits of our labor. This digital Leviathan, represented by tech giants, governs our interactions, speech, data, and identities through their terms of service (TOS). They package our social and economic relationships as bundles to subscribe to, gatekeeping our productive output, and rationing our ideas to their liking.

The centralization of power within tech behemoths raises significant concerns about power concentration, bias, and lack of transparency. These digital Leviathans reify historical patterns, prompting us to question whether we're repeating past mistakes or if there's a path to a more ethical digital social contract.

Enter decentralized onchain AI—a promising alternative to the centralized AI power structure. This model distributes control and ownership across networks, promoting transparency, accountability, and resilience. Just as historical progress favored decentralizing power to create fairer societies, decentralized AI seeks to ensure a fairer digital life.

Instead of languishing under autocratic central entities, we can build the AI Protocol ecosystem - a smart contract latticework that relies on the trustless absolutism of freely consenting parties to access AI services. This approach mirrors the historical movement towards republics, rejecting totalitarianism in favor of more equitable governance structures.

Hobbes couldn't foresee the challenges of modern absolutism, but he was right about the need for a robust social contract. Decentralized AI offers an opportunity to create a digital social contract grounded in the ethics of freedom and trustless transactions.

A decentralized AI tech stack relies on distributed clusters of compute and storage resources. It allows for AI data, models, and services that can be owned by their creators, and for participants in its ecosystem to be rewarded equitably. The network effects of distributed AI onchain present opportunities for markets to form, liquidity to flow, and communities to flourish-free from censorship, permission, and control.

We can move towards a digital society that transcends the chaos Hobbes feared. It's a step towards ending the "war of all against all" and establishing a more harmonious digital existence.

The evolution from Hobbes's Leviathan to decentralized onchain AI represents a significant philosophical shift. As we navigate this transition, we must strive to create digital social contracts that uphold the values of freedom and transparency. Decentralized AI offers a path towards a fairer, more accountable digital society, echoing the historical progress towards more equitable governance.

We are presented with an opportunity to reshape our digital social contracts, ensuring they align with the values of freedom and fairness. The future of AI holds the promise of a more equitable digital world, transcending the limitations of the Leviathan. 

It’s only natural.

Join the movement toward decentralized onchain AI in the AI Protocol Discord