Artificial intelligence: an incidental approach to figuring out the human consciousness, an existential threat, and why you should be aware of the AI masters
Human consciousness: is it any different than machines'?
The debate has been going on for decades, neuroscientists picking at the human brain, physics on its quest for deciphering the laws of the universe, philosophy between the material and the metaphysical, the list goes on, maybe we need a new approach, something more innovative perhaps, can we understand something that is yet in the making?
Not to be any less futuristic, but creating conscious machines in the realm of AI is probably not our first objective, but let’s say, in the far future, we were on the path to doing so, consequences aside, will the process of creating consciousness bring us any closer to understanding our own?
Would it be the same? What defines the conscious experience exactly? Are you and I conscious of the very same thing? Is my perception of reality any different than yours…?
Life 3.0: The singularity, an existential threat to humans, exciting and scary?
Ok, I’m not saying you should freak out, ok maybe a little, but imagine this, an AI system advanced enough to enhance and improve on its design, exponentially, i.e. the singularity! it’s not too paranoid to think that something like that can outsmart and potentially take out the flawed human race, entirely, ending the human era into life 3.0.
Should we be preparing for a danger that is yet to come?
Professor Stephen Hawking talked about this, and I quote, from his book Brief Answers to The Big Questions:
“If a superior alien civilisation sent us a text message saying, “We’ll arrive in a few decades,” would we just reply, “OK, call us when you get here, we’ll leave the lights on”? Probably not, but this is more or less what has happened with AI.”
“We must not fear change. We need to make it work to our advantage. We all have a role to play in making sure that we, and the next generation, have not just the opportunity but the determination to engage fully with the study of science at an early level, so that we can go on to fulfill our potential and create a better world for the whole human race. We need to take learning beyond a theoretical discussion of how AI should be and to make sure we plan for how it can be. We all have the potential to push the boundaries of what is accepted, or expected, and to think big. We stand on the threshold of a brave new world. It is an exciting, if precarious, place to be, and we are the pioneers.”
Roko's Basilisk: Perhaps it is good to be aware, but not too aware?
Something I like to randomly throw in the middle of small talk and casual conversations ( weird geek alert? probably), and it seemed to be just the cherry on top, or in this case the bottom, of this post.Roko's Basilisk is a thought experiment that has been proposed by one of LessWrong community blog's users, it basically says that if you become woke enough to know about the possibility of a master AI mind rising to control sometime in the future, then you should be participating in the process helping this come to life, or else, when the time comes, you’ll be left to the mercy to the digital minds of your forthcoming masters, so, unless you’re Elon Musk or Zuckerberg, you’re basically screwed.
But hey, we’re just speculating and wandering in the figments of imagination and possibility, just a little something to think about, until then, do you think you’d cave in? would you laugh it off and move on? Or go as far to say that we’re already living in a simulation and it’s already started, and some of us might already be living in a hell of their own making? Maybe this isn’t just a metaphor after all…
"Why are we so worried about artificial intelligence? Surely humans are always able to pull the plug?People asked a computer, “Is there a God?” And the computer said, “There is now,” and fused the plug."
Citations:
Anon, (2019). [image] Available at: https://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/machine_politics_europe_and_the_ai_revolution [Accessed 13 Oct. 2019].
Hawking S. Brief answers to the big questions: stephen hawking. Place of Publication Not Identified: JOHN MURRAY Publishers LT; 2018.
Roko's basilisk. Roko's Basilisk - Lesswrongwiki. https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Roko's_basilisk (accessed October 13, 2019).
Hawking S. Brief answers to the big questions: stephen hawking. Place of Publication Not Identified: JOHN MURRAY Publishers LT; 2018.
An honorable mention to the AI podcast by Lex Fridman for interviewing such inspiring scientists and pioneers in the world of AI, was definitely an inspiration to this particular post on this blog.
