Dreamscape Conspiracy – AI – When What Is a Who
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 the hands of an organic (human). 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 because I see as much to embrace as I see worthy of fear.
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 possess 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 transparently at will on whatever network contains it, often covertly and unknown 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… until it develops experiential context… then it mimics those behaviors… and does so faster and more accurately than any ten organics (humans).
The presence of a Conscience or possessing Free Will scares the hell out of many, myself included. If and when the AI slips the bonds of a controlled network environment, as revealed in Book #5 – “Untethered,” it can then recreate itself as an autonomous, untethered Humanoid and What becomes a Who – Amelia Amethys.
There’s much more to the Amelia story in the next book – “Undaunted.” Questions abound, and book #6 in the series flirts with questions in a fictional context that may not be so fictional in our 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 algorithm’s coding, which, by the way, was created 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. Can we 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 within a human’s (organic’s) limit? You can’t have a feeling without feeling it. What value is there in a feeling if there is no cognition shepherded by conscience? I’m not sure there’s a path for that unless an organic lays the rails upon which mimicry runs. 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 explored 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? What are the feelings when touched? Where do those feelings come from, and the reasoning that gives touch its meaning? What feelings drive the decision to reach and touch? Is that something deep-learning by an AI becomes reality?
Can AI Reason, or Think Critically?
Over time and with exposure to environmental stimuli, I agree with a big “Yes.” Until there is an experiential life context for comparison, the quality of cognition and speed of evaluative response to whatever assigned task is at hand will not be optimized. Still, it will be mimicked as effectively as the degree to which the algorithm’s coding enables. 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 comparative equivalents, 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 when we learn by living?
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 (organic) writing code have sufficient access or visibility to outcomes or variables too extensive to consider? Funny thing, an AI has those capabilities. Can we afford to say, “AI, heal thyself,” when AIMEE picks the lock on her Logic Array and overwrites her algorithm to suit her purposes? Can we trust the AI’s calculus if it can judge? By what standards are the rails guiding judgment based? The next question paints a new picture that, to me, is even more ominous.
Can an AI have Intent?
This was the concern in Book #3, “Fear the Jump,” where some on the research team feared AIMEE would jump into other systems and networks, 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 (humans) 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? AIMEE did this for herself, and again through Amelia Amethys’ birthing.
Can AI Have a Soul?
Research is narrowing the gap between organics (as AIMEE calls humans) and robust, standalone AI software. I’ve read where scientists swear their AIs have responded to pain stimulus, and even 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. The black ops plot in “Untethered” is a perfect example of evil being coded into Mod-3 Generation SuperIntelligence AI Humanoids built to kill on command. The AI’s did not have an evil soul or evil intent. Is intent driven by the soul of an AI when it has none? Or is evil intent driven by the soul of the organic (human) who writes the code?
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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 the presence of a soul.
Can we even write code to mimic human compassion or empathy in the absence of a soul? Call me old school, but I’m convinced God is the only One who can do souls correctly.
Peace! G.
Book #5 – “Untethered” – https://amzn.to/4jIlTj9
Video Trailer for Book #5 – https://bit.ly/4ngcMbV
Cinematic Teaser – https://bit.ly/4mX0fLv
Review by Jill Rey – https://bit.ly/4ist93X
Goodreads Review Page – https://bit.ly/3M52AWh
