The Singularity
-Premise 1: There
will be AI (created by HI and such that AI = HI).
-Premise 2: If
there is AI, there will be AI+ (created by AI).
-Premise 3: If
there is AI+, there will be AI++ (created by AI+).
-Conclusion:
There will be AI++ (= S will occur).
This is the basic concept of the Singularity, the point in
time at which artificial intelligence exceeds human intelligence. AI denotes
artificial intelligence equal and created by HI which in turn denotes human
intelligence. This AI is capable, in principle, of forging the AI+, an
artificial intelligence above the level of the human one. Consequently the AI++
or super-intelligence will be created.
A division on this matter seems inevitable yet again. There are
the S-believers who argue that the Singularity will happen at some point, and
the S-sceptics who don’t see it happening ever, let alone in the foreseeable
future.
I would like to dive into to the S-believers point of view
as it seems more intriguing and to tell you the truth much more realistic.
Never is a very long period…
‘I guess they are also divided’
Exactly Aldo. There seems to be a never-breaking pattern about
division. Philosophers can never reach an agreement.
So the S-believers fall into the pessimists and the
optimists. The one thing they agree on is that the Singularity will happen well
before the end of this century. The main voice of the pessimists is Vinge who
argues that ‘’The Singularity itself can be foreseen: indeed, it’s inevitable.
But among the many (unknowable) consequences might be the destruction of
civilization, and even of humankind. We’re heading for a throwing away of all
the previous rules, perhaps in the blink of an eye, an exponential runaway
beyond any hope of control’’. On the other hand Kurzweil proposes that ‘’the
Singularity will have happened by 2045(way too optimistic, in my opinion) and
it will have defeated war, disease, poverty, and personal death. It will also
have engendered ‘an explosion of art, science and other forms of knowledge that
… will make life truly meaningful’’.
The pessimists might foresee that robots will turn evil and
start doing all in their power to thwart human hopes and lives, or that they
will get us to do their dirty work for them, even by using bribery or threats
to make some humans their slaves. ‘I would never do that. I have no such
intentions’. I know Aldo, but the problem here starts with the humans. You see
they are the first ring in the chain towards the Singularity. We have to create
the AI, which in turn will end up creating the super-intelligence. And to be
honest with you, I can’t be sure of the intention of any human being. In fact
everything started in order to get rid of human slaves and have the more
ethic-friendly robotic ones. I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point robots
strike back, in spite the fact that no malicious ideas would be planted in
them. However let’s suppose that they do not go full Anakin Skywalker on us and
they stay rather indifferent to us. Even in this scenario, their indifference,
if our goals conflict with their own goals, could be our downfall since we won’t
have any means to defend ourselves against them. This is pretty much the story
between homo sapiens and homo erectus.
‘These thoughts make me sad, we can’t be that evil’. Of
course the Singularity hides endless possibilities of prosperity and solutions
to major problems for the mankind. One very appealing to me is the end of death
and the beginning of immortality for all of us. Bodily death would still exist,
although much delayed by the aid of the advanced bioscience. But death’s sting
could be drawn by downloading the personalities, the feelings and the memories
of individual people into computers. This is depicted accurately in the ‘San
Junipero’ episode of the ‘Black Mirror’ series.
We are in the dawn of a new revolution. Its effect will be, in
my estimation, ten times bigger than the impact of the Industrial Revolution. It
shouldn’t sound as science fiction anymore as it is around the corner,
especially for the millennials. The questions that need answering like legal
issues or employment issues have been addressed to some degree but further
investigation needs to be done in this direction. If anything goes wrong who
holds the responsibility? The manufacturer or the robot? Will we allow robots
make their own decisions? What about jobs? Will we stop working and start
having more free time? Or will we starve?
Maybe a time comes where Aldo will do all the writing and I
will just be his friend contributing only by short questions to his narration.
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