So he compared modern computers to 4 year old and then said worries of superhuman AI are overblown? That's kind of worrying. 4 year olds typically get a lot smarter.
Decentralized anything will never work. Keep your trust in the banks and the corporations and the gov. They would never do anything that wasn't in your best interests.
That would be interesting. Basically instead of companies existing, make every project in the world an open source project on a blockchain and people get compensated for contributing directly as a consequence of how the blockchain works.
The problem of figuring out whether someone is the real person or an imposter (problem of identity) is a completely different problem from verifying a person's circumstances.
You gain control over the platform you're using. That's illustrated in the first paragraph of the Wired article.
People are getting pretty sick of getting pushed around by these mega corporations whether it's when they're telling you what software you're allowed to have on your cell phone or what you're allowed to write on a social media site. I think the next decade is going to be defined by an explosion in decentralized technologies.
Articles like this are more about suppressing the masses than anything else. You think the rich and powerful want the populace to be smart, able, and healthy? Think again bud.
What we should really do is drop all grading systems and test scores entirely. They are flat out bad for people's self esteem. So long as people show up to class sometimes they should get a special badge they can put on that says "I went to college!"