Ben Goertzel, a computer scientist with 30 years of experience in AI, believes that the future of AI must be decentralized to avoid monopolization and misuse. Speaking at the Consensus conference in Toronto, he predicted that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) could be realized within the next one to three years. Goertzel's project, SingularityNET, aims to create a decentralized marketplace for AI services and has formed partnerships to enhance its decentralized AGI capabilities. He founded the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance in 2024, focusing on open-source decentralized AGI. Goertzel warns that the evolution of AGI could drastically differ based on whether decentralized ecosystems are prioritized. Reflecting on his early work, he recognizes the unexpected centralization of the internet, which he initially thought would remain decentralized. He emphasizes the importance of building AGI on decentralized principles to ensure it serves humanity and not just a few powerful entities. Goertzel also touched upon early attempts at exploring decentralized money in the 90s, noting how Bitcoin's implementation validated some of his initial skepticism about transaction speeds and costs.

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