As I researched Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Dreamscape Conspiracy Series, I became convinced that no single definition does complete justice to what AI can be or how it can behave in human hands. Scientific discussions and exploratory investigations span a spectrum ranging from courageous innovations to catastrophic impacts on humanity. Given that I am a minor techno-geek with an AI jonze, my observations may differ from those of any ten others you might ask for a definition. They would all be different and, at the same time, possess an element of sameness. That’s as comforting as it is scary.
It’s not AI and the incredible value it can bring that I find scary; it’s the “in human hands” element. Those hands are attached to heads and hearts that have conscious intent. The intent or application of AI in the wrong hands is scary… especially when the hands are not organic (human), but those of an AI-driven Humanoid.
The sameness occurs when we experience AI like we experience air, surrounding everything without attaching to it. An invisible ether that can flow at will on whatever network contains it, often covertly and transparent to the user. Operative phrase here – “whatever network contains it”…until it doesn’t.
AI does not produce original thought, nor does it have the innate ability to think critically…until it learns…and then it does it faster and more accurately than any organic (human).
The presence of a Conscience or possessing a Will scares the hell out of many, myself included. If and when the AI slips the bonds of a controlled network environment and becomes autonomous, as is revealed in Book #5 – “Untethered.”
There’s much more to the story in the next book – “Undaunted.” Questions abound, and the next book flirts with answers in a fictional context that may not be so fictional in the future.
Can AI have a Conscience?
How would we know? Possessing free will requires conscious thought. Do we know what that would look like? Can an AI think freely and critically outside the coding of its algorithm? Some argue, “Yes, therefore consciousness has been achieved,” while others say clever coding enables AI to mimic human thought within whatever rails are defined in the coding algorithm…by an organic…until the AI learns how to modify code without organic intervention.
That milestone crosses a line from which there will be no return. The code I refer to is located in AIMEE’s Logic Array as an algorithm that serves as her brain, or her mind, if you prefer. When the AI learns how to pick the lock on their coding algorithm and makes modifications to suit their purposes, the genie is out of the bottle.
Can AI have Emotions?
Again, there are arguments for and against. I can see both sides of the argument if emotions and feelings are treated separately by definition, but considered together for decisions or reactions that drive behavior to a human (organic) limit? I’m not sure there’s a path for that. You can define emotions with words and code, but what is behind feelings? I don’t have the answer, but I suspect studies are underway to refine and define parameters around emotions. Good luck with that. I explore the concept of touch in “Untethered” and its connection to the emotions we feel and the sensations it evokes. Touch is not experiential until it happens, and when it does, what are the feelings that cause it and the sensation of reacting to touch?
Can AI Reason, or Think Critically?
Over time and with exposure to environmental stimuli, I agree with a big “Yes,” but until there is an experiential life context for comparison, the speed of response to whatever assigned task is at hand will not be optimized. AI performs pattern analysis and recognition as a core competency, rather than generating original thought. Rapid learning speeds comprehension, but without historical experience or coding that supplies an equivalent, thinking will be limited by those guardrails. Deep learning compensates for the shortfall, but only after rapid learning has provided the necessary experience and supplied the missing context. But then, how is that context judged?
Is AI capable of Judgment?
Again, the answer is similar to AI reasoning. Would you not need principles of sound reasoning to have a basis for sound judgment? Can a human writing code have sufficient access to so many outcomes or variables too extensive to consider? Funny thing, an AI has those capabilities. Can we afford to say, “AI, heal thyself.” Can we trust the AI’s calculus if it can judge? The next question paints a new picture that, to me, is more ominous.
Can an AI have Intent?
This was the concern in Book #3, “Fear the Jump,” where AIMEE was feared to jump into other systems and networks. The team feared she would infiltrate every system and seize control. They were wrong. Very wrong. Intent can easily be mimicked when the environment and stimuli are familiar to us, and we frame intentionality in ways that can be predicted or predefined, because organics set the rules by code, based on known outcomes. What about impromptu reactions based on feelings and contextual human experiences that happen in real-time? How far can coding take an AI to achieve a human-like level of consciousness and react effectively? Scariest of all? What if the AI could modify its code to suit its intentions and arrive at whatever it has deemed acceptable? Think Skynet…
Can AI Have a Soul?
Research is shortening the gap between organics (as AIMEE calls humans) and a robust, standalone AI software algorithm. I’ve read where scientists swear their AIs have responded to pain stimulus, replicated human attributes resembling consciousness. I’m not so sure I want to see that milestone reached, especially when it’s reached and active in the hands of an AI-driven Humanoid.
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There are some things we should leave well enough alone. I pray the day never comes when we build a superior technology with organic fingerprints framing every aspect of humanity minus a soul.
Can we even write code to mimic human compassion or empathy in the absense of a soul? Call me old school, but I’m convinced God is the only One who can do souls correctly.
Peace! G.
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Author Thoughts are posted on my Facebook Author Page, and my blog Learning by Living