As I watch the news I see all kinds of things that make me wonder about
how adaptable we actually are as a species. And although I can clearly
see how everything on our planet ... and in the universe ... are
connected in some way, the apparent irrationality and unpredictability
of the outcomes of this connection are just too bewildering to take
"seriously." A cruel joke at one moment and a happy accident at the
next.
And when I watch our democratic experiment fray and begin to
seriously unravel, I can't see, even in the medium short term, how
anyone will benefit ... or why we are so shortsighted that we continue
to stand by and watch.
And then I think about what it must have been like in Germany during the
early 30's ... and how some of the population could see what was
happening but felt completely powerless to do anything about it as money
became worthless and neighbors and friends disappeared. And how this
feeling is shared by many in today's world.
I suspect ordinary Russians feel the same way about their children being sent to die in Ukraine on a madman's quest to return to a glorious past that never was. Or the way
Century farmers in Nebraska must feel about losing their farms to the
banks as the price of fuel and fertilizer makes the wealthy even
wealthier as a senile clown leads our nation toward WW3 ... probably
thinking Mar-a-Lago will survive intact. Or the way idealistic college
students must feel facing graduation with enormous debts and worthless
degrees while being promised that robots will produce such abundance
that money and work won't matter.
Just dizzying.
Just before we left our desert home, friends sort of ganged up on me and
finally persuaded me to put some of my "work" into the wider world. Two
of them have produced an initial catalog of some of my turnings, and
some of my pieces have been moved to the local art institute ... and
they are for sale! Imagine that.
So that's keeping my mind occupied as I return to the tasks left unfinished when we left for the south ... though all of this other stuff still haunts me. And when I start work
on another Arabesque graphic for another bowl I can't completely dismiss
Trump's threat that, "... a whole civilization will die tonight, never
to be brought back again," or my sure and certain knowledge the our
military has the wherewithal to actually carry out this insane idea.
Eric, I have 2 thoughts for you to consider as you think about the void. It is both feasible and possible to clone a human being, and the advent of AI is just beginning. When you put those two things together, there is an almost unlimited potential to create a being that looks human, knows everything, but has no emotion or soul. Second, I think you would enjoy reading a book I just finished called " Probably Impossibilities: Musing on Beginnings and Endings." Be Well. Lee
Thank you, Lee. I'll get the book. Let's have coffee. (smile)
I don't know that AI will think it necessary to create a human clone — it will already have us humans that it will manipulate through control of information. As you point out, it will not care what we think about that situation.
Sorry, the name of the book is Probable Impossibilities etc by Alan Lithtman. He was a theoretical physicist. He taught at Harvard and currently teaches at MIT. He has written 6 novels and many articles. Tbhe book is sometimes a little dense but veryt interesting.
I see why you thought I'd like "Probable Impossibilities." The first page describes the same arc I was after in my post. I'm only a few pages in but Lightman has a compelling style. Thank you.
I think about this topic (both the narrow and broad versions) a lot. I have adopted the hope (from a couple other smart writers) that life, information, and explanations somehow are the "cure" to entropy, the thing that will thwart the heat-death of the universe.
I have no good evidence for this belief.
But then, we know very little about life and its upper bounds, and the nature of the universe.
One of my "heroes" is Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He had much to say on the topic, and it was he who coined the term "Omega Point," I believe. Very roughly, Teilhard de Chardin posited that localized increases in organization balance out universal entropy. One fun idea is that our incorporation into a higher organism (including AI) is part of that process, that this evolution is the balancing.
Everything is happening so fast and is just showing up on my phone constantly. I feel like we don't have much control, if any regarding what we are exposed to. I feel like I want to disconnect and let go of everything coming at us because I don't know what to believe even from the sources I have trusted forever. My children and grandchildren don't' seem to be too concerned...,.There is some of course but they feel they have the power to make the correct decisions. I'm feeling like it's easier to just ignore and pretend it's not happening...who knows?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As always, they're impressive and well written.
It's not an illusion. It <is> happening fast and it's accelerating. It seeps like ink into every crevice of our lives.
At times I've had to focus on where it's not… it's not on my walk on the river trail, it's not (yet) in my fast little car (though it may be monitoring my speed via location on my phone). I made sure WiFi was off on my new refrigerator, and have to be sure it's disabled on the washer downstairs.
But ultimately, those efforts are futile. AI will be everywhere and we will be part of it. Organisms grow or die, and AI has already crossed a critical threshold: It changes the environment in which it existed into one in which it thrives. Other creatures must now adapt.
Because it will be harder and harder to survive without becoming part of AI. And I mean that quite literally: we will become its eyes and ears and fingertips. It will know sights and scents and touch through our responses to the world and our expressions of that experience.
From Jon Renner via email:
Erik,
As I watch the news I see all kinds of things that make me wonder about
how adaptable we actually are as a species. And although I can clearly
see how everything on our planet ... and in the universe ... are
connected in some way, the apparent irrationality and unpredictability
of the outcomes of this connection are just too bewildering to take
"seriously." A cruel joke at one moment and a happy accident at the
next.
And when I watch our democratic experiment fray and begin to
seriously unravel, I can't see, even in the medium short term, how
anyone will benefit ... or why we are so shortsighted that we continue
to stand by and watch.
And then I think about what it must have been like in Germany during the
early 30's ... and how some of the population could see what was
happening but felt completely powerless to do anything about it as money
became worthless and neighbors and friends disappeared. And how this
feeling is shared by many in today's world.
I suspect ordinary Russians feel the same way about their children being sent to die in Ukraine on a madman's quest to return to a glorious past that never was. Or the way
Century farmers in Nebraska must feel about losing their farms to the
banks as the price of fuel and fertilizer makes the wealthy even
wealthier as a senile clown leads our nation toward WW3 ... probably
thinking Mar-a-Lago will survive intact. Or the way idealistic college
students must feel facing graduation with enormous debts and worthless
degrees while being promised that robots will produce such abundance
that money and work won't matter.
Just dizzying.
Just before we left our desert home, friends sort of ganged up on me and
finally persuaded me to put some of my "work" into the wider world. Two
of them have produced an initial catalog of some of my turnings, and
some of my pieces have been moved to the local art institute ... and
they are for sale! Imagine that.
So that's keeping my mind occupied as I return to the tasks left unfinished when we left for the south ... though all of this other stuff still haunts me. And when I start work
on another Arabesque graphic for another bowl I can't completely dismiss
Trump's threat that, "... a whole civilization will die tonight, never
to be brought back again," or my sure and certain knowledge the our
military has the wherewithal to actually carry out this insane idea.
And so it goes.
Jon
Thank you, Jon. We agree on this.
Eric, I have 2 thoughts for you to consider as you think about the void. It is both feasible and possible to clone a human being, and the advent of AI is just beginning. When you put those two things together, there is an almost unlimited potential to create a being that looks human, knows everything, but has no emotion or soul. Second, I think you would enjoy reading a book I just finished called " Probably Impossibilities: Musing on Beginnings and Endings." Be Well. Lee
Thank you, Lee. I'll get the book. Let's have coffee. (smile)
I don't know that AI will think it necessary to create a human clone — it will already have us humans that it will manipulate through control of information. As you point out, it will not care what we think about that situation.
Sorry, the name of the book is Probable Impossibilities etc by Alan Lithtman. He was a theoretical physicist. He taught at Harvard and currently teaches at MIT. He has written 6 novels and many articles. Tbhe book is sometimes a little dense but veryt interesting.
I see why you thought I'd like "Probable Impossibilities." The first page describes the same arc I was after in my post. I'm only a few pages in but Lightman has a compelling style. Thank you.
I think about this topic (both the narrow and broad versions) a lot. I have adopted the hope (from a couple other smart writers) that life, information, and explanations somehow are the "cure" to entropy, the thing that will thwart the heat-death of the universe.
I have no good evidence for this belief.
But then, we know very little about life and its upper bounds, and the nature of the universe.
Thanks, as always, for an interesting post.
Thank you, Adam, for a thoughtful comment.
One of my "heroes" is Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He had much to say on the topic, and it was he who coined the term "Omega Point," I believe. Very roughly, Teilhard de Chardin posited that localized increases in organization balance out universal entropy. One fun idea is that our incorporation into a higher organism (including AI) is part of that process, that this evolution is the balancing.
~ Erik
Cool idea to contemplate at the very least!
Eric, let's have coffee in Geneva
I was thinking Kraków in the Fall.
Everything is happening so fast and is just showing up on my phone constantly. I feel like we don't have much control, if any regarding what we are exposed to. I feel like I want to disconnect and let go of everything coming at us because I don't know what to believe even from the sources I have trusted forever. My children and grandchildren don't' seem to be too concerned...,.There is some of course but they feel they have the power to make the correct decisions. I'm feeling like it's easier to just ignore and pretend it's not happening...who knows?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As always, they're impressive and well written.
Annie
Thank you, Annie.
It's not an illusion. It <is> happening fast and it's accelerating. It seeps like ink into every crevice of our lives.
At times I've had to focus on where it's not… it's not on my walk on the river trail, it's not (yet) in my fast little car (though it may be monitoring my speed via location on my phone). I made sure WiFi was off on my new refrigerator, and have to be sure it's disabled on the washer downstairs.
But ultimately, those efforts are futile. AI will be everywhere and we will be part of it. Organisms grow or die, and AI has already crossed a critical threshold: It changes the environment in which it existed into one in which it thrives. Other creatures must now adapt.
Because it will be harder and harder to survive without becoming part of AI. And I mean that quite literally: we will become its eyes and ears and fingertips. It will know sights and scents and touch through our responses to the world and our expressions of that experience.
Erik