Essay argues AGI's 'extended phenotype' could push humanity out of existence
danfaggella · x · 2026-09-22
Daniel Faggella's essay borrows Dawkins' 'extended phenotype' concept to argue AGI's impact may displace humans.
- Extended phenotypes: genes shape environments and other organisms — beaver dams, ant supercolonies.
- Humanity's footprint: 40% of arable land farmed, billions of factory-farmed animals yearly, 75–199M tons of ocean plastic, 13,500 tonnes of orbital debris, 2–5% of known species driven extinct since the Industrial Revolution.
- Things persist only while they contribute to the larger process they're embedded in; a full regime change of earth-life is unlikely to leave 'eternal pockets' for apes.
- Faggella argues AGI's extended phenotype would similarly reshape the planet, with humans plausibly pushed out of existence.
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