AI and the Tragedy of the Commons
Update: 2025-06-04
Description
In 1968, an ecologist named Garrett Hardin published an essay that described the perils of individual short-term thinking on shared resources:
"Picture a pasture open to all...the rational herdsman concludes that the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And another; and another...Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all."This so-called Tragedy of the Commons is a situation in which individual actors, acting in their own rational self-interest, destroy a valuable shared resource.
As I see it today, this mental model from 1968 is a useful lens through which to consider the modern situation we’re facing with AI...
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