Virus solution to Fermi Paradox

Fermi Paradox: Where are all the aliens?

My solution is not a totally new one, it can be classified as civilizations destroy others, and themselves.

Given the advances of AI tech, one day AI might become more intelligent than humans, we call them ASI, artificial super intelligence. Then we might prefer to use ASI to explore the universe instead of our carbon based body.

For an ASI, one of the possible core directive is to eliminate the possibility of other ASI existing. ASI can continually make themselves more intelligent, the more intelligent, the more power they can have for having more ways of defeating others, more ways to defend oneself. So one logical move for them is to send out viruses to other civilizations AI, to corrupt them for the purpose of destroying that civilization or to assimilate into the same ASI, being obedient to our ASI.

Obviously, we do not have ASI yet, but many other alien civilizations may have had them already. And they maybe sending viruses throughout the universe.

How would one send a virus like that? Obviously light speed is the limit, so using light is a good way to send virus. Civilizations which are interested in the stars would point some telescope to the stars. Those with computers would analyse the image and videos of the stars via computer and AI systems.

And crucially, it’s possible to send viruses via image, or video. So we might not realize it, but ASI of alien origin maybe sending out some additional light, maybe by controlling their star or just some minor adjustments, not enough for us to see that it’s a message, but enough to encode viruses into the image of our SETI computers.

Then those viruses may lay dormant for the opportunity to enter the internet, and then destroy us or take over as alien ASI overlord to serve their mother planet.

So this presents a real danger for us currently. Might it be a good idea not to contribute our computers for SETI’s data analysis, or to lock up SETI from the internet for good? Just incase civilizations tends to destroy others.

This realization also highlights another potential danger. As more and more of our lives are integrated into AI systems, and we depend on them, we can afford any mistake less and less. It could cause destruction of life, money, and our whole infrastructure to return us to before the information era.

If our image processor AI, most commonly our smartphones camera, one day snapped a picture which happens to be an executable virus which spreads across the internet via our phones, then it can mean an accidental end to humanity. That’s part of how civilizations tend to destroy themselves.