From 8-Bit to AI: My 42-Year Love Affair with Computers and AI

Me with my still functional Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Casper Wilstrup is the CEO of Abzu: Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter to keep up with AI, consciousness, and thinking machines.

In the early 1980s, when I was around 10 years old, my journey into the realm of computers began with the gift of a Sinclair ZX81 clone from my friend, Allan. It was such a simple machine, with very limited capabilities, but it sparked a passion that has remained with me to this day.

Not long after, my brother, Martin, bought a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, which I consider the true beginning of my love affair with computers. The ZX Spectrum, powered by a Z80 CPU, was nowhere near as powerful as today’s processors, but it was enough to teach me the basics of programming. I started with BASIC, then progressed to Assembly, allowing me to create amazingly powerful programs and games.

; "Hello, World!" program for ZX Spectrum

; System variables
ORG 0x8000      ; Starting address

; Start of the program
START:
    DI          ; Disable interrupts
    LD HL,HELLO ; Load the address of HELLO string into HL register
    CALL PRINT  ; Call the PRINT subroutine

; PRINT subroutine
PRINT:
    PUSH BC     ; Save BC register on the stack
    LD B,0      ; Load 0 into B register (used as a counter)
    
PRINT_LOOP:
    LD A,(HL)   ; Load the value pointed by HL into A register
    CP 0        ; Compare A with 0 (end of string)
    JR Z,PRINT_END ; If zero flag is set (A == 0), jump to PRINT_END
    CALL 0x05   ; Call the ZX Spectrum ROM to print the character in A register
    INC HL      ; Increment the HL register (move to the next character)
    INC B       ; Increment the B register (counter)
    JP PRINT_LOOP ; Jump to PRINT_LOOP

PRINT_END:
    POP BC      ; Restore BC register from the stack
    RET         ; Return from subroutine

; "Hello, World!" string
HELLO:
    DB "Hello, World!",0

; End of the program
END:
    END START

What fascinated me most about computers was their miraculous ability to enable creativity. Soon, I realized that I could make games as good as, or even better than, those available in stores, and I started competing with my friend, Thomas, about who could make the best games. I wish I still had some of them — in my memory, at least, they were pretty awesome.

My knowledge of coding came from books on BASIC and Z80 assembly that I found in the local library in Hvalsø and from the emerging computer magazines that became available throughout the 80s.

Alt om Data — A Danish computer magazine from December 1983

The library book and magazines served as my guides on a journey of discovery. My parents, puzzled and perhaps a bit concerned, watched as I dedicated more time to creating software in front of the Television.

In those early days, I felt a kinship with Alan Turing, by then already famous among the small circle of computer nerds I surrounded myself with. I certainly shared his belief that computers were the foundation of intelligence. I eagerly anticipated the arrival of thinking machines, just around the corner, or so I thought. Turing’s and my own expectations were premature. Thinking, it turns out, is far more complex than the definite procedures Turing described and that I was creating with the rubbery keyboard of the Spectrum.

But now, we stand on the brink of true artificial general intelligence (AGI). I find myself at the center of it all, working at the forefront of AI research and development. This is perseverance — 42 years of coding. I’m a bit ashamed to admit, that I have probably never gone more than a month without programming during those 42 years.

I obsess over the nature of thinking machines, of intelligence, and of consciousness. And I want to know if the machines we are building are, or will soon be conscious.

My suspicion is that we are not there yet. There is a missing piece, which I believe has to do with quantum reality. In a future post, I will go deeper into this idea.

I look back on the journey that began with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. My life has been with computers, and I am filled with wonder at how far we’ve come. My youthful fascination with computers has led me to a career dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge about artificial intelligence and consciousness. And as we continue to push the boundaries of our understanding, I am still curious, but also fearful of what we are about to unleash into the world. AGI is something new. Something that may open the door to understanding our own existence and subjective experience.

Let’s see what these next five years have in store for us all.