Vitalik re-evaluates D/acc: evolution and future prospects a year later, suggesting the development of 'pause AI' capability.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote an article about technological optimism about a year ago, elaborating on his enthusiasm and cautious attitude towards technological progress. He proposed a concept called 'decentralization and democratization differentiation accelerated defense (d/acc)', aiming to prioritize enhancing defensive capabilities rather than destructive capabilities while promoting technological progress. After a year, Vitalik's concept has gradually matured and achieved initial results in multiple areas.

What is 'd/acc' proposed by Vitalik? How is it different from 'e/acc' (effective accelerationism)?

The core concept of d/acc

The core of Vitalik's d/acc concept is to "accelerate technological progress, but focus on defensive technology and ensure decentralization of power." He believes that technology should serve the freedom of individuals and communities, rather than being concentrated in the hands of a few elites. This concept can be summarized in the following three core principles:

Decentralized acceleration: Ensuring power dispersion while promoting technological progress.

Defense First: Technology should be more geared towards defense rather than offense.

Democratizing Technology: Technology should be open and widely accessible.

Vitalik emphasizes that the combination of these principles can avoid the risks brought by technological centralization and promote global freedom and security.

The achievements and progress made over the past year

Over the past year, Vitalik's d/acc concept has shown its effectiveness in multiple fields, including:

Open-source Vaccine: Promoting verifiable open-source vaccine development reduces the risk of medical technology monopolies.

Indoor air quality: Public concern about indoor air quality is increasing, and air filtration and ventilation have become common defensive measures.

Community Notes: As an information defense tool, help the community maintain high-quality discussions.

Application of prediction markets: Prediction markets are gradually becoming a powerful information tool.

ZK-SNARKs Technology: Applications in areas such as government identity verification and social media are enhancing privacy protection.

In the autumn of 2024, the "d/acc Discovery Day" (d/aDDy) held at Ethereum Devcon became an important event, attracting experts from fields such as biodefense, physical defense, network defense, information defense, and neural technology. This event not only promotes interdisciplinary communication, but also enhances the influence of the d/acc concept.

d/acc in real-world applications

The d/acc proposed by Vitalik is not only a theoretical concept, but also demonstrates potential in practical applications. For example, future epidemic response may include the following technologies:

Open source air detector can quickly detect viruses and provide real-time protection advice.

AI assistant uses encrypted data to recommend secure venues.

Open-source vaccine tools that enable any modern medical facility to generate vaccines quickly.

The goal of these technologies is to help society respond effectively to new challenges by reducing reliance on centralized commands.

Challenges of d/acc and AI security

The rapid development of artificial intelligence has brought challenges to d/acc, especially in the context of the increasingly apparent risks of AI. Vitalik acknowledges that the possibility of achieving 'superintelligent AI' in the short term forces people to slow down the progress of high-risk technology while accelerating technological development.

In response, he proposed two possible strategies:

Legal Liability Mechanism: Assigning responsibilities to users, deployers, or developers to encourage relevant parties to adopt higher security standards in technical use.

Hardware 'pause button': Establish a global computational hardware regulatory mechanism to temporarily restrict AI computing power in emergency situations, buying time to deal with technical risks.

However, he also emphasized that these measures are only temporary measures, and a more stable solution relies on a broader technical defense capability.

The role of blockchain in d/acc

As a co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik emphasizes the important role of blockchain technology in d/acc. He believes that blockchain technology not only embodies the core values of decentralization and resistance to censorship, but also provides technical support for multiple fields of d/acc, including:

Privacy protection: the application of technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-SNARKs).

Information defense tool: the transparency and democratization of social media and prediction markets.

Public funding mechanism: Promoting fair funding for open source technology.

As early adopters of technology, blockchain communities have become important testing grounds for d/acc technology.

Public Goods Funding and Future Prospects

Vitalik believes that financial support for public goods, such as open-source technology, is crucial for realizing the d/acc concept. He advocates for the use of decentralized and transparent funding mechanisms, such as Quadratic Funding and Deep Funding, to address the inefficiency and bias in traditional public funding.

He believes that a strong public product funding mechanism can promote the popularization of open source technology, reduce monopoly risks, and provide stable funding support for d/acc.

Challenges and Hopes for the Future

Vitalik is confident in the future technological progress, but he also pointed out two major challenges:

The rapidly approaching technological wave, such as AI and biotechnology, may bring unpredictable risks.

Weakening of global cooperation: More and more countries and organizations are adopting tribal self-prioritization strategies rather than actions based on common humanity.

However, he believes that the rise of decentralized technology provides solutions to these challenges. This includes AI-assisted governance, formal verification technology, and the popularization of open-source technology, creating a freer and more secure future for humanity.

(EP.207 Degen Big Brother's Vitalik Documentary Afterthoughts feat. 606, Little Raccoon)

This article Vitalik re-evaluates d/acc: evolution and future prospects after one year, suggesting the development of the 'pause AI' capability first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.