Co-Founder, Executive Vice President & Chief Technical Officer, Viasat
Search every verified Mark Miller interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a February 2025 fireside chat at Foresight's Vision Weekend 2024, Mark Miller discussed the risks and opportunities of superintelligent AI systems, drawing parallels to human institutions. He stated that "the world will have super intelligences in it that are very very different than human beings" and that "things could go very badly if the power to do bad things is distributed badly to elements that have mal intent." Miller noted that human institutions, which he described as "super intelligences with mind architectures very different from humans," have historically been "tools of terrible oppression, counter-aligned with human good." He advocated for building on existing civilization rather than aiming for a perfect system with a single aligned AGI, a strategy he said "resonates with the decentralized movement." Miller also addressed computer security, arguing that "the current computer security infrastructure that civilization rests on is insecure, giving attackers the advantage." He pointed to the seL4 operating system as an example of rigorous engineering giving defenders an "absolute advantage over attackers." Miller discussed the Norm Hardy Prize, which he said addresses "the alignment problem in the small" by helping users interact securely with systems so that authorized actions fulfill their intentions. He cited the cypherpunks' victory in the first crypto wars as a model for establishing "facts on the ground" that centralized powers must accept, and noted that the modern crypto world is adopting a similar strategy with smart contracts and blockchains designed to be "incorruptible even by nation-state attackers."
“The world will have super intelligences in it that are very very different than human beings, very different mind architectures, and things could go very badly if the power to do bad things is distributed badly to elements that have mal intent.”
“Human institutions, both public and private, are super intelligences with mind architectures very different from humans, and historically these institutions have often been tools of terrible oppression, counter-aligned with human good.”
“We've come up with institutional innovations like democracy, rule of law, separation of powers, individual rights, and auditing mechanisms, which are systems for dividing power and formulating rules so that divided power can be recomposed to better align with human benefit.”
“Computer security is widely believed to be impossible to fully achieve, but that is demonstrably wrong; for example, the seL4 operating system has a very good track record with no known flaws, showing that by rigorous engineering, defenders can have an absolute advantage over attackers.”
This video was recorded at Foresight's Vision Weekend 2024 in The Bay Area, California* https://foresight.org/vw2024us/ Our ...
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