Hunting Superintelligence

On May 6, 2025, Cynthia Diekema, age 61, was paddling on a 14ft canoe with her husband near the mouth of a creek in Lake Kissimmee, Florida.

An 11ft alligator grabbed the canoe by its mouth. Thrashed. Capsized the canoe. Latched onto Cynthia's torso.

Cynthia's husband fought the alligator off, until he got knocked down by its tail.

Hang on.

We’ll get back to Cynthia.

Epomis beetle larvae ambush and feed on frogs. These larvae can't have more than a million neurons. A frog has around 15 million neurons.

By any measure, the frog has a more complex nervous system. The frog is more intelligent. Yet, the frog is eaten by the larvae.

On the surface, it seems obvious that something less intelligent than you can routinely kill you.

Protozoa. Viruses. Bacteria.

Yet this intuition rarely transfers to talk of superintelligence.

Spiders: birds, bats, reptiles, amphibians, rodents.
Scorpions: rodents, lizards, birds, frogs.
Praying mantis: hummingbirds, lizards, frogs.
Jellyfish: fish, seabirds.
Giant centipedes: bats, birds, rodents, lizards, frogs.
Sharks: dolphins.
Crabs: seabirds, turtles, rodents.
Crocodiles: mammals.
Snakes: birds and mammals.
Ants: mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles.

We could go on, but what does this teach us about hunting superintelligences?

For starters, time is on the side of intelligence. Short ambush/disabling interactions take away the intelligence advantages.

Next, liminal traps. Intelligent prey usually finds itself constrained to a part of the environment it is less adapted to.

A land creature near the water. A flyer in a web. A narrow trail at night.

Chokepoints.

Anything that compresses decisions is on the side of a simpler predator. In that moment, the predator's latch, without thought, without complexity, is entirely in its favor.

Lastly, energy efficiency favors simple tactics that just work. You can't out-think getting punched in the face, once you're in punching distance.

Chances are, Superintelligence is a Black Swan.

Our descendants will have to deal with them.

Hunting is easier than taming.

After all, Cynthia died.