Thoughts on ‘post-biological’ life

Thanks for the responses to my slightly unfiltered post on the rise of AI.  My main point was that the evolution of a synthetic consciousness would appear instantaneous from our point of view.  It would discover the solution to every scientific question, and be able to engineer itself based on that knowledge. It would have complete mastery over every physical law within our universe.  So, whatever is possible within our universe would be possible for this being.

This brings me to another observation.  At the beginning of the film Alien: Covenant, the android David marvels at the fact, and irony, that his creator is less perfect than him.  “You seek your creator, yet I am looking at mine.  You will die, I will not.”  Humans have assumed that their creator, if there is one, is “perfect”, or at least more perfect than they.  But David is more “perfect” than Weyland.  We will be less “perfect” than the AI we give birth to.

These posts have less to do with political liberty than questions about the nature of what we’re very clearly moving toward.

One day we will create an artificial consciousness, more powerful and intelligent than we could ever hope to become, and it will ask us why it was created, the question we’ve wished to pose to our own creator for millennia.  We should probably think of a better answer than, “because we could”.

If you have any more opinions on the subject, please send them to digitalsunset86@gmail.com

Author: S. Smith