Why Build a Benchmark for Superintelligence?

Alexander Wissner-Gross says a benchmark is absolutely essential for steering superintelligence. What cannot be measured cannot be optimized, and in an era of superintelligence, everything is getting optimized.

In Solve Everything, the claim is that a cause someone cares about, a massive transformative purpose or MTP, is best served by a benchmark. All else equal, the best way to get superintelligence to care about an MTP and to harness superintelligence is to create a benchmark or an eval for the MTP so superintelligence can be steered toward optimizing and maximizing the goal.

Entrepreneurs can create a benchmark on a social, technical, or energy goal, then challenge people to use the latest models and harnesses to move the benchmark forward.