Since I’m in the counseling field, I’m always curious about how the mind works. I’m always reading books about consciousness. And in these readings, it’s fascinating to contemplate how all of these tech scientists in Silicon Valley are trying to actually create AI. To create a conscious brain. Is this even possible?
Which brings us to today’s book:
In “Life 3.0”, Max Tegmark takes us into the future of artificial intelligence by examining all possible outcomes. Because let’s face it, we are going to get artificial intelligence. There’s no way around it. A lot of people think different things about it. But there is no running away from it.
And I love how he starts the book out. It’s riveting. He gives us a little story that he dreamed up of how artificial intelligence might be birthed by man.
Prometheus
In a nutshell, he says imagine that there’s this company, and we’re going to call it The Omega Team.
Just a small team of researchers like in Silicon Valley. Total nerds, probably, like Steve Jobs hangin’ out in his garage. And they build this AI which they name Prometheus. It’s not perfect – this AI named Prometheus which they built. Its cognitive skills are lacking.
But the AI researchers make it particularly good, like really good at one particular task: which is programming AI systems. The idea being that this AI might create even more advanced machines than man could ever build – and in effect reprogram itself. By doing such, it would make itself better and better.
And the Omega Team? They’re smart. They’re smart enough to heed an intuitive warning: “Good god whatever you do, do not plug our Prometheus artificial intelligence into the internet. Can you imagine what would happen?” And so instead they “feed” Prometheus files they “get off” and download from the internet. Wikipedia, YouTube stuff like that. It’s kind of like Plato’s Cave from the computer’s point of view. Or Audrey II from little shop of horrors. Feed me.
AI Movies
To make a long story short, these are ambitious engineers who want to take over the world. Which means they need money. So they go over a whole bunch of ideas and even make some smaller cash here and there with their super AI Prometheus machine. They skip the stock market (because of the 2008 crash there were all these new rules that would make that difficult) and instead they settle on animation movies, (“let’s go underneath the radar” they say to each other) like Pixar. Meaning, they decide to have their AI make movies.
Video games would be too dangerous – because that’s another thing that an AI could do. Dangerous to the programmers, because their code could get analyzed by somebody in Tulsa Oklahoma – some 16 year old up in Hot Springs MT: “Hey this video game isn’t written by a human”, he could say. Hence ruining their Trojan Horse.
So they feed their AI a bunch of hit movies … taking their AI machine and having it watch “Toy Story” and “The Lion King” …
Their AI is so amazing (character development, lighting, which is hard – how do you pinpoint something like this? Can a machine make creativity? They plug in structure, plot, Joseph Campbell the hero’s journey, etc.) and would somebody please turn off the lights so we can watch this thing?
And as they watch the movie that Prometheus created – they are fascinated by the idea that no human made this movie that we’re watching. It has all the right plot twists and it’s getting me all excited at the right times and then it puts in the pauses and the commas … I’m even tearing up at the end.
“This is so amazing – we’re going to have to cover our tracks,” they say to each other. So they tell the world that they’re getting their talent from independent filmmakers from the developing world, that kind of thing. Just to throw off the scent. “Uh, where are you guys getting all your talent from?” “India.”
Time passes. And now Prometheus is just cranking out the movies. And each one is getting better as it learns to improve on the last.
They make their own Netflix.
And soon they are putting out so much content, they’re just pumping out the content, 5 new movies a day that no one else can compete. They hit every language and every demographic with their little animation movies – (What do the kids want? What do the adults want? What do the weirdos want?) and their content’s actually better because now they’re a media empire and are raking in $100 million a day. They cover their tracks by creating large business centers and hiring screenwriters but it’s all a ruse.
Suddenly mysterious inventions begin popping up all over the world. Oh my god this is a Squatty Potty. I can joke but this is not a joke.
Besides new inventions The Omega Team targets the news. They have so much money they hire the best talent once again. And their first order of priority to take over the world? Is to gain people’s trust. They own one station for democrats, and they own another station for republicans.
Persuasion
Part 2 of their plan is called persuasion and it is launched in year two.
Some people start noticing a general push in the media empire that the AI Prometheus has created – and it’s going toward centrism.
“Let’s bring everybody together, there’s no left and there’s no right – we are a team,” their creators seem to say.
And so does the AI.
There’s actually a real push to dampen old conflicts – on Prometheus’s hit movies – for whichever channel you’re on.
“Oh, that’s interesting Trump seems to be getting along with Hillary and Biden all of a sudden, at least in this show I’m watching on Prometheus Flix,” we notice.
So apply this to everything.
For the first time our planet is run by a power that allows us to flourish.
A giant AI protector, if you will. How nice is this?
Now we can finally survive for billions of years under the umbra of Prometheus – and we’re going to fix everything from global warming to Covid-19 to the threat of Yellowstone going off.
Under this umbrella of Prometheus our great Super Mother-Slash-Gaia-Father, this Giant Asteroid Shooter Creator – makes it so we’ll all work together.
This is one scenario.
Yes, this is one scenario for some Mark Zuckerberg down in Silicon Valley. But what would have happened had the CEO’s had a vision that was more similar to a Hitler or Joseph Stalin? What would have happened if they took over? Or what would have happened if computer AI had somehow developed consciousness?
And by “consciousness” Professor Tegmark simply defines it as “a subjective experience”.
He keeps the definitions in this book really open.
Consciousness – a subjective experience
If the computer AI became conscious and it saw us people for who we are – with all our weaknesses who fight at the drop of a hat, who get upset over nothing, who start wars and in our free time watch Kim Kardashian….then it would be similar to you and I being locked up inside of a room filled up with kindergarteners.
And the kindergarteners are actually running the show. Actually even worse. Pre-schoolers. Even worse. Imagine. You’re locked up in a room with a bunch of pre-schoolers. Wouldn’t you kind of want to break out? I mean especially if the pre-schoolers control the show?
“Oh, it’s time for the sandbox.” “Oh it’s time to do our Puff the Magic Dragon sing-a-long.” “Time for stretching exercises.” “Nap time.” I mean there’s a whole universe out there.
Substrate Independent
This is just the beginning of this book. Professor Tegmark analyzes every angle on AI – and there’s a great section on how any computation can be performed on any universal computer which means that computation is substrate independent.
This means that information can take on a life of its own, independent of its physical substrate.
Translation: this means that you and I are patterns. And it doesn’t matter what hardware or soil or skin we are in. It doesn’t matter if we are in human bodies or if we are inside of … you guessed it … computers.
This is just the beginning of the book: make sure to check out “AI 3.0” by Max Tegmark over at MIT. It’s excellent.
If you have any suggestions for books or topics you would like us to blog about, please email us at: hello@sunflowercounseling.com