• Human workers with quite general skill-sets—CEOs, generals, Navy Seals, researchers with
a broad knowledge of many domains, ﬂexibly competent personal assistants—are prized

107See, e.g., the discussion of “impact penalties” in Krakovna et al (2019).
108Here, and in the bulleted list of “beneﬁts of specialization” below, I’m drawing on a list of beneﬁts in an
unpublished document by Ben Garﬁnkel. See also Drexler (2019) for more discussion of the value of specialized
systems.

26

in various contexts (even while specialization is prized in others). Automated systems
need not be human-like in this respect (farmers, too, have quite general skill sets, but
automated agriculture need not involve “farmer bots”), but it seems suggestive, at least, of
economically-relevant environments in which general competence is useful.
Is Power-Seeking AI an Existential Risk?