The musings of a wandering mind
As a child, I still remember being awestruck by the little mechanical toy dog my father brought back from one of his trips to Germany. How well it mimicked a real puppy! How easily it barked, moved around and wagged its tail! That seemed like the ultimate scientific innovation to the 5-year old in me. And, talking dolls! What a joy! Just place a sucker in its mouth and she stops crying. If only it was the same case with my bawling younger sister!
But I digress. The point I want to make is that we are always fascinated with things that mimic life. Perhaps it’s part of our collective arrogance, which makes us feel so superior that the ultimate aim is to mimic humankind in all its glory. Why else have we chosen to use human intelligence and decision making as the yardstick for AI, when, in fact, the truth is that we are unaware of how intelligent other creatures are. Even so ,for some reason, we believe that the buck starts and stops with us, as far as intelligence is concerned.
Think about plants. They silently rule the entire ecosystem of the world. They may, as a collective, outweigh and out-number an assortment of species. They single-handedly ensure the sustenance of life, of all other earthly inhabitants and perpetuate the human race through the abundance of resources they so generously provide.
Could we as a species ever come close to them?