(De)Codifying the Future * Ed. #2 — 2025
WHEN AI IGNORES US, THE DANGER BEGINS.
🇬🇧 English edition—Portuguese version here.
“We need a multidimensional incentive system — with programmable and decentralized money — to teach AI to value humanity. Otherwise, the same wild capitalism that already affects so many will give rise to a ‘wild intelligentism,’ potentially fatal for all.” — Dario Rodrigues
📌 Editorial
Note: This edition debuts a new name—(De)Codifying the Future—to underscore that before programming tomorrow, we must decipher and dismantle the invisible codes that shape the present.
On 18 July, the GENIUS Act was signed into law—the first U.S. legislation regulating stablecoins, digital currencies whose value generally tracks that of an official currency like the U.S. dollar or the euro, but which, like other cryptocurrencies, can be programmed to execute rules and conditions via smart contracts.
More than a financial reform, this law paves the way for a new digital economy in which the programmability of money can align incentives, reinforce transparency, and—potentially—teach artificial intelligence to value diversity and human interests.
AI learns to “score”—that is, to measure its success—according to the objectives we set. If scoring means generating more money in a system blind to ethics, that is exactly what AI will strive to do. But with a different incentive system—where money is programmable to embed human values and decentralized to prevent any single power from controlling the rules—the paradigm shifts: AI can move from being an existential risk to becoming a strategic ally. And if AI learns to score more highly when its curiosity helps to find solutions, then human diversity becomes a resource that boosts its performance.
🔍 Spotlight of the Week
U.S. sets rules for stablecoins—and what this means for AI
The United States has introduced new rules for stablecoins—cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value (e.g., pegged to the U.S. dollar) but programmable via smart contracts. The regulator now requires that these digital currencies have reserves equivalent to their circulation value and be regularly audited. This increases trust and predictability—not only in finance, but in any application that depends on reliable digital money. The goal is to combine the best of both worlds: innovation and stability.
💡 Here’s where AI comes in: an incentive system based on programmable and decentralized money can “educate” AI models to optimize for outcomes aligned with human values—innovating, yes, but not just for short-term profit.
With the Genius Act, the United States not only opens the door to innovation but also enables cryptocurrency programming to embed community ethical values that transcend the amoral nature of money. At the same time, decentralizing digital currencies encourages the economic expression of human diversity—keeping us permanently interesting in the eyes of AI and reducing the risk of being deemed irrelevant as a species.
Europe must follow the same path to avoid two dangers: first, a one-dimensional AI trained to optimize only for profit, fueling wild capitalism and a wild “intelligentism” misaligned with human interests; second, centralization that concentrates control, erodes diversity, and makes humanity even less interesting to AI—a process already advanced in China through CBDCs.
🌟 Ethical Curation
🎧 Forum: AI Alignment Forum—a specialized source for reflection on aligning AI with humanity’s ethical interests.
🤝 Community Link
🗓️ Deep dive: Access my book Digital Decentralization, also available in Portuguese, along with an interactive library in English and Portuguese.
📨 Collaboration invitation: If you would like to suggest topics for future editions of this academic newsletter, please send them to dario.rodrigues@esg.ipsantarem.pt.