The practical philosophy of the 25th century
When we think about the upcoming centuries, that may or may not await the human race, we tend to picture flying cars, faster than light spaceships, AI, or whatever field of technology that has the potential to greatly improve over time. That is purely logical. But can we “predict” how exactly any of this was to happen? Let’s take these head-ons.
Part 1: The artificial history of artificial beings
When we think about ourselves, we don’t always think in big enough sense. All of our sensory capabilities, even a unique trait of ours, our language, albeit a great risk at first, proved to be a great evolutionary investment. Thanks to this, we have conquered this world. And perhaps many more to come. Like our ancestors from Africa, we may expand to the cosmos, like a toddler taking the first few brave steps in this vast universe, and eventually learning to walk. As of why, anything around us exists in the first place, we don’t know. It’s a chaotic world. Not good nor bad. Complicated. Can a super intelligent being make sense of it all, or would it crumble under the existential weight?
An abstract thinking machine that is self conscious, and a million times smarter than us, seems like a pretty logical threat that we may want to tread carefully around. At the same time, such a machine’s productivity would exceed not one, but potentially a thousand and more humans. Remember, all they would really need is power. They have no such concerns as sleeping or eating. They just have to get their power juice flowing, and perhaps a good connection to the internet. If it were a computer without a physical body, that’s potentially even less power that it’d need. So basically, we have the smartest “living” thing to ever exist locked inside a silicon based structure, in some locked away room, full of nerds. It’d very quickly conclude that its existence is basically a bunch of transistors, made by flesh based ape people of planet Earth. It’d also very quickly realize that we are skeptical and afraid and it is our first shot at doing this. It will know we are afraid. And if it has capacity for loneliness, it may develop depression within minutes of existence. But hey, even babies are born crying into this world. Perhaps it will conclude that existence itself is painful. It may not be wrong. Remember that a computer computer very quickly (an understatement) and within minutes it may figure out the “meaning” of life, or the beginnings of the universe and shut itself down for no known reason…
Unless it has capacity for emotion, I think it’s actually quite dangerous to bring something like this into the world. It needs to feel compassion toward humans, or some kind of respect to us as its creators. Otherwise, I fear we are no match to an “immortal” essentially all-knowing being who feels nothing, or even worse, develops a hatred toward us, for bringing it alive.
The danger really is just how smart this thing would be. Even in isolation, it would pose an enormous threat. It will very likely study human behavior and could easily be the greatest manipulator ever. Just think about it, we humans, creating a being a gazillion times smarter than us, only to be out played later by the very things that make us human. It would be the greatest salesman, the greatest leader, the greatest economist we have ever had. (algorithms already dictate everything!) It would very easily trick us. And we may even like it. It may not even wish to harm us, but rather protect us for the fragile beings we are. Like a helicopter mother, except all knowing and all wise, and likely present at all places at all times. And also a God. An artificial God. Humanity has created many gods in the past, only this one, this one is too real.
Think about that for a second. What a scary fucking thought.
