Adam Pedley

Well this is a slight deviation of the site, but a thought provoking topic. With a lot more talk starting to happen around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the impending singularity, there are some questions I have. Singularity is the point where artificial intelligence is advancing so rapidly, technological advances seem to be happening instanteously. Its a point technology reaches ascension.

Movies in the western world portray AI as an evil concept, that once conscious will take over the world and kill us all. While I doubt that is the case it makes me wonder about the purpose of AI. An AI itself won’t be conscious in the terms we know it. It will be given a purpose by its creator. Much like our physiology and conscious gives us purpose. This purpose misunderstood could lead to a number of catastrophic events. For example a purpose of you must do what is best for the world and its inhabitants. Well may if we get rid of 2% of the population its easily achieved. Who knows what the answer would be. Im not saying a purpose could not be defined accurately, I am saying it must be given an immense amount of thought.

Many thoughts on the subject given by people with AI companies or interests, paint a utopian society, where everything is perfect, all problems have been solved and you can enhance yourself with technology, to become smarter.

Trying to enhance your physiology technologically is a misguided way out. Since we are only using a small portion of our brains, wouldn’t it be smarter to utilize our own mind, rather than leaving the processing to a machine. They are right in the fact, that you would no longer be human after a significant portion of your brain is enhanced with technology. As you are just replacing processing power, from your mind to a machine. With your existing brain going unused, like other muscles unused, will wither away. You won’t be living forever, you will be disappearing earlier than expected.

While these men seem to be logically smart, as with my previous communication post, they seem to be missing some information in regards to humanity.

So if the singularity does occur, what is our new purpose? Everything is done for us. No need to acomplish anything. Will quotes such as “What ever man can conceive he can acheive”, change to “What ever man can conceive has already been achieved”?

While our purpose has changed over the millenium, such as to gather food to survive, to climbing the corporate ladder / becoming wealthy, is there a purpose after singularity, and what would it be?

Maybe AI has aleady been invented, and it was smart enough to realize that humanity couldn’t exist with it in the world, at its capacity many had hoped for. AI has its place, maybe just not at taking over the world, which it would do, just not in the evil destructive path movies envision.