Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, recently published an article titled “d/acc: One Year On,” reviewing the progress of his concept of “decentralized and democratic, differential defensive acceleration” (d/acc) that he proposed a year ago. He further elaborated on the meaning, challenges, and future development direction of this concept.
In early 2024, Vitalik Buterin published an article titled “My Technological Optimism” and has been working tirelessly over the past year to mature this concept. His recent publication has gained attention and sparked discussions within the community.
So, what is d/acc?
In simple terms, the core idea of d/acc is to “accelerate technological development, but prioritize the development of technologies that enhance defense, decentralization, and democratization,” as this core concept has the potential to empower individuals and communities and reduce the risk of centralized control or oppression.
Vitalik believes that this strategy can better address the risks brought by future technological developments, particularly the threats posed by super artificial intelligence (AI).
The core and objectives of d/acc: Building a safer and freer world
Imagine a scenario in 2042 where a new type of pandemic breaks out in human society. However, this time, due to the development of early warning systems, rapid virus detection, open-source personal assistant AI, and other advanced technologies, the outbreak is quickly controlled without causing significant harm.
This scenario is precisely what d/acc envisions: a society that uses technology to enhance defense capabilities and ensure human freedom and security.
Vitalik emphasizes that the core principles of d/acc can be applied to various fields, including biological defense, physical defense, network defense, and information defense.
In simple terms, the goals of d/acc are:
– To maintain principles in an increasingly “tribalized” world and selectively develop technologies.
– To recognize that exponential technological progress will make the world very different, and humans need to enhance their ability to protect vulnerable groups.
– To create more effective technological tools in defense and construction compared to “destruction.”
Where is d/acc currently in terms of development? What are the possible applications?
Since its publication, the concept of d/acc has made progress in various fields. Vitalik himself has listed some specific achievements, such as verifiable open-source vaccines that reduce monopolistic risks in medicine, increased attention to indoor air quality for health, the emergence of predictive markets as information tools, and the application of zero-knowledge proof systems like ZK-SNARKs in government identification and social media to enhance privacy protection.
All these contribute to enhancing the defense capabilities pursued by d/acc and building a more resilient and secure society.
ZK-SNARKs: An encryption technology that allows a party to prove knowledge of specific information without revealing any details, contributing to privacy protection and enhancing security.
By encouraging diverse approaches to technological development and promoting open-source technologies, d/acc has the potential to drive innovation and can be applied to various fields such as metaverse, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and healthcare.
Referring back to the example mentioned earlier, in a future where the concept of d/acc has become a reality, open-source air detectors would allow people worldwide to quickly detect viruses and create early warning systems through social media analysis, providing real-time protection advice to the public. In terms of medical technology, with open-source vaccine tools, healthcare facilities worldwide can quickly produce vaccines and solve the problem of “vaccine shortage.”
In the future, individuals can use advanced technologies like personal assistant AI to find safer venues through encrypted data, reducing the chances of virus infection while protecting personal privacy.
From the above examples, it can be seen that under the concept of d/acc, society no longer needs as many centralized directives or dependencies from governments and industries. Through decentralized innovative technologies, society can flexibly and efficiently respond to various challenges.
What challenges does d/acc currently face?
However, this concept is not without imperfections. AI threats to security, urgency of timelines, and regulatory issues have been among the main criticisms since the article was published last year.
Vitalik believes that if humanity only has a few years left to face super AI, accelerating “good technology” alone is not enough. It is necessary to slow down “bad technology,” which may require implementing robust regulatory measures.
For example, the “SB-1047 bill” proposed in California last year was too focused on the current situation and has become outdated due to rapid technological developments. Furthermore, the most likely perpetrators of AI disasters are military entities, and any security regulations imposed by governments are highly likely to exempt the military.
However, Vitalik believes that this does not mean regulation should be abandoned. He proposes two possible strategies:
1. Liability:
In simple terms, if someone’s actions cause legal harm, they can be sued. This is a very common and widely accepted approach, supported by liberal economists. He believes that placing responsibility on end users is most aligned with incentive mechanisms because it affects how users use AI. However, since users may lack sufficient resources to assume liability, it may also be considered to hold deployers and developers accountable.
Additionally, he presents a novel perspective: holding owners or operators of devices taken over by AI accountable, thereby incentivizing the strengthening of infrastructure security worldwide.
2. Global “Pause” on Industrial-grade Hardware:
Vitalik suggests that a global emergency response mechanism should be established to reduce global available AI computing power by 90-99% through technical means in critical situations, lasting for 1-2 years, to buy more time for humanity to address technological risks. For example, industrial-grade AI hardware could be required to be equipped with trusted hardware chips and undergo weekly signatures from multiple international institutions to continue functioning.
He believes that this method can minimize risks and is robust due to its reliance on hardware, making it less affected by technological changes.
Nevertheless, Vitalik believes that a powerful new technology crisis (especially in AI or biotechnology) is imminent, coupled with reduced global cooperation, making the coming decades full of challenges.
However, humanity’s greatest hope lies in accelerating development through more powerful tools, and decentralized technology may be the best solution. With AI-assisted governance, verification technology, and the dissemination of open-source technologies, Vitalik believes that as long as people continue to strive, humanity is capable of meeting challenges and building a brighter, freer, and safer future.