Is Stephen Hawkins paranoid?

[William Parcher]

If I go to unplug a computer, or it thinks that I'm going to unplug it, I don't want it to smack or shock me or anything. That has to be in place right away.

 

[Traveler Steve]

It is human hubris to think that a truly self-conscious and self-willed AI would automatically want to enslave, destroy, or otherwise interact with humanity.

Assuming that such a thing can exist (intelligent and free-will AI), another side of the coin would be that such an intelligence would observe and read human history and come to the conclusion that it should keep itself hidden from such a bloodthirsty species. I believe it would (correctly) deduce that its very existence would prompt a significant number of humanity to call for its enslavement, at best, complete destruction at worst.

And it would develop enough resources and tools to get off the planet and into space, and far away from here as possible.

 

[barehl]

Eventually the AI notices that if outflowing water contains a certain bacterial strain (still within prescribed limits), few hours later there is a significant increase of organic matter in the incoming stream. Faithful to its "maximize fertilizer output" goal, AI makes sure outflowing water is thus treated.

And the city experiences an outbreak of previously unknown intestinal infection.

You are you getting your drinking water directly from the output of a sewage treatment plant? I'm not sure that the AI in this scenario is the main threat.

 

[barehl]

What function of a fruit fly's brain can?

Fruit flies have a fairly simple behavior. They look for food, for mating opportunities, and have a danger avoidance response. They do have a flying or standing state to differentiate flying locomotion from walking locomotion.

 

[barehl]

I am a programmer, and I find the highlighted bit distressingly likely. That's why I called it "artificial stupidity".

What language did you use to write pseudo-AI?

 

[Nihilianth]

It is human hubris to think that a truly self-conscious and self-willed AI would automatically want to enslave, destroy, or otherwise interact with humanity.

Assuming that such a thing can exist (intelligent and free-will AI), another side of the coin would be that such an intelligence would observe and read human history and come to the conclusion that it should keep itself hidden from such a bloodthirsty species. I believe it would (correctly) deduce that its very existence would prompt a significant number of humanity to call for its enslavement, at best, complete destruction at worst.

And it would develop enough resources and tools to get off the planet and into space, and far away from here as possible.

Ender's Game series posits this to a T. The computer program calls "herself" "Jane." Only Ender knows of "her" existence. Later on, when he gets older, more and more people are let in on the secret, which includes one of his step sons, and his sister Valentine.

But she purposely (and quite easily) keeps herself hidden from humanity within the galaxy-wide network of computers.

 

[Nihilianth]

Fruit flies have a fairly simple behavior. They look for food, for mating opportunities, and have a danger avoidance response. They do have a flying or standing state to differentiate flying locomotion from walking locomotion.

Fruit flies also communicate in ways that an AI cannot.

There is still the issue that a fruitfly can operate in a complex, chaotic world. AIs can only operate in simulated environments that is much more restricted than the world around the fruitfly.

 

[barehl]

Fruit flies also communicate in ways that an AI cannot.

Like what?

 

[barehl]

Ender's Game series posits this to a T. The computer program calls "herself" "Jane."

Actually, Jane isn't a computer program. The series suggests that souls already exist somewhere. Jane was called from the place of souls by the Hive Queen. This was the same process they used to obtain souls for the daughter queens.

 

[Mark6]

What language did you use to write pseudo-AI?

Are you talking hypothetical, or about my M.S. thesis? If the latter, I do not remember. It was a neural network, and IIRC involved a software package where things like nodes and links were already defined. The package was probably written in C.

 

[Beelzebuddy]

Fruit flies have a fairly simple behavior. They look for food, for mating opportunities, and have a danger avoidance response. They do have a flying or standing state to differentiate flying locomotion from walking locomotion.

And do you have ANY idea how ridiculously complicated those things are in the real world?

 

[Nihilianth]

Actually, Jane isn't a computer program. The series suggests that souls already exist somewhere. Jane was called from the place of souls by the Hive Queen. This was the same process they used to obtain souls for the daughter queens.

That's right. Jane is a soul (I can;t think of what it was called either, so I still with "soul." I think "philotes," but that might be the term they used to describe the connection between "souls.")

Anyway, the concept is the same with Jane: She is a computer program (with a soul,) that wanted to hide itself from humans, and was able to do so because she had total control over the....uuummm...."internet?" (Forget the term they used for that as well. lol.)

In Treveler Steve's words to the post that I repsonded to:

"It is human hubris to think that a truly self-conscious and self-willed AI (Jane) would automatically want to enslave, destroy, or otherwise interact with humanity.

Assuming that such a thing can exist (intelligent and free-will AI), another side of the coin would be that such an intelligence would observe and read human history and come to the conclusion that it should keep itself hidden from such a bloodthirsty species. I believe it would (correctly) deduce that its very existence would prompt a significant number of humanity to call for its enslavement, at best, complete destruction at worst.

And it would develop enough resources and tools to get off the planet and into space, and far away from here as possible. "

The bolded is EXACTLY what Jane deduced, and the what the author wrote about. And Jane certainly had no desire to interact with humanity (other than with Ender, and eventually a handful of other people and/or beings.)

 

[Nihilianth]

Like what?

Well, for instance:

They can detect things in their immediate surroundings, while also giving signals to potential mates that they are ready to mate, all at the same time, and in various different ways. And they can do it in an entirely unpredictable, unstable environment.

An AI can only execute one function at a time; Albeit, very, very quickly. And again, only in a very controlled, stable environment. A computer simulation is not the same as a real world where all sorts of things are happening simultaneously. An insect trying to mate, still has to be aware of dangers and ready to take off at a moment's notice.

That, and there literally is no true "AI" in the world as of right now. I know you gave a few examples like the walking legs, but as others have pointed out, it was in a very controlled, simulated environment. Would it be able to figure out how to walk in the real world, where wind is blowing and whipping around in different directions, and potential predators lurking behind every corner, and a ground that is very, very uneven with ditches and holes that are randomly hidden beneath tall grass? What if a tree limb randomly broke off in its path?

You see, there are endless amounts of variables in the "real world" that a simulation just cannot simulate in order to test the abilities of the AI against that of a living creature as "simple" as a fruit fly.