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The Industrial Explosion — LessWrong

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To quickly transform the world, it's not enough for AI to become super smart (the "intelligence explosion"). AI will also have to turbocharge the physical world (the "industrial explosion"). Think robot factories building more and better robot factories, which build more and better robot factories, and so on. The dynamics of the industrial explosion has gotten remarkably little attention. This post lays out how the industrial explosion could play out, and how quickly it might happen. We think the industrial explosion will unfold in three stages: The incentives to push towards an industrial explosion will be huge. Cheap abundant physical labour would make it possible to alleviate hunger and disease. It would allow all humans to live in the material comfort that only the very wealthiest can currently achieve. And it would enable powerful new technologies, including military technologies, which rival states will compete to develop. The speed of the industrial explosion matters for a few r

x The Industrial Explosion — LessWrong AI Frontpage 2025 Top Fifty: 14 % 131 The Industrial Explosion by rosehadshar , Tom Davidson 26th Jun 2025 AI Alignment Forum Linkpost for www.forethought.org 18 min read 70 131 Ω 52 Summary To quickly transform the world, it's not enough for AI to become super smart (the " intelligence explosion "). AI will also have to turbocharge the physical world (the " industrial explosion "). Think robot factories building more and better robot factories, which build more and better robot factories, and so on. The dynamics of the industrial explosion has gotten rem

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