Month: January 2020

Categories
AI Eternity God

AI will do what we ask it to (and that is bad)

https://www.quantamagazine.org/artificial-intelligence-will-do-what-we-ask-thats-a-problem-20200130/

‘Powerful artificial intelligence is like the proverbial genie in a bottle. A seemingly innocent wish — “make my home eco-friendly” — can lead to unintended consequences.’

Perhaps this is why many prayers go unanswered.. at least in the way we want them too. It reminds me of when the ancient Israelites asked for a king “like the other nations”. After a stern warning from God about how that was going to turn out for them.. they asked anyway. And God said, “Give the people what they want”… and of course it was a disaster for them.

How many people have asked for fame and riches only to be destroyed by them? Why would having an all powerful AI “genie” be any different? Cure all the diseases? Death by over population and war. Infinite life can easily be an infinite hell.

 

Categories
multiverse philosophy Physics

Boltzman Brains

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_brain

TLDR: It’s more likely that a human brain (complete with human thoughts/memories) snaps into existence than it is for our Universe to exist with us in it. It’s actually more likely that we are all Boltzman brains.

It’s completely bonkers, and that’s the point. The fact that our Universe is exists in the way it does is completely bonkers. This example is meant to highlight that.

Categories
philosophy

Does Consciousness Pervade the Universe?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-consciousness-pervade-the-universe/

“Human beings have a very rich and complex experience; horses less so; mice less so again. As we move to simpler and simpler forms of life, we find simpler and simpler forms of experience. Perhaps, at some point, the light switches off, and consciousness disappears. But it’s at least coherent to suppose that this continuum of consciousness fading while never quite turning off carries on into inorganic matter, with fundamental particles having almost unimaginably simple forms of experience to reflect their incredibly simple nature. That’s what panpsychists believe.”