Since I have been alive, technology has been growing at an amazing rate. The computing ability of electronics has been governed by “Moore’s Law,” in which the number of transistors on a computer chip doubles every 18 – 24 months. Recently, Time Magazine published an article on computer superintelligence. In this article, a project called The Blue Brain Project is described as “an attempt to create a neuron-by-neuron simulation of a mammalian brain, using IBM's Blue Gene super-computer.” They have already simulated a neocortical column from a rat's brain and expect to have a human brain simulated in about 10 years. In the same article, it is written that Raymond Kurzweil predicts that by 2045, computer intelligence would surpass humans. This moment has been dubbed “The Singularity.” It is even posited that humankind may achieve immortality. [1] What does this all mean?
Human intelligence has evolved over time and the question is whether or not it will continue to grow at a rate so as to not be caught by machine intelligence, assuming of course that machine intelligence will get there in the first place. Eventually, though, organic boundaries would take hold, for instance, the speed at which communications happen in our brain is infinitesimal when compared to the speed of electrons in a circuit. Yet, it’s possible that the human consciousness is too complicated and analog to be replicated by computers. Biologist Dennis Bray: "Although biological components act in ways that are comparable to those in electronic circuits," he argued, in a talk titled "What Cells Can Do That Robots Can't," "they are set apart by the huge number of different states they can adopt. Multiple biochemical processes create chemical modifications of protein molecules, further diversified by association with distinct structures at defined locations of a cell. The resulting combinatorial explosion of states endows living systems with an almost infinite capacity to store information regarding past and present conditions and a unique capacity to prepare for future events." That makes the ones and zeros that computers trade in look pretty crude.” [2]
I believe, however, that given the current exponential growth of technology, superintelligent computers will be achieved. “Kurzweil likes to point out that your average cell phone is about a millionth the size of, a millionth the price of and a thousand times more powerful than the computer he had at MIT 40 years ago. Flip that forward 40 years and what does the world look like?” Once achieved, superintelligence will not stop there. In fact, superintelligent machines would take over the development of even higher intelligence, further accelerating its growth. This is difficult to fathom because we are only aware of our current level of intelligence. According to the Singularity Institute, trying to imagine what superhuman intelligence looks like is the same as chimps imagining what human intelligence looks like, or, people in the 1500s trying to imagine today’s technology. [3] To us, superintelligence would be magic, godlike.
How will these superintelligent entities behave? Lev Grossman writes: “Would that mean that the computer was sentient, the way a human being is? Or would it just be an extremely sophisticated but essentially mechanical automaton without the mysterious spark of consciousness — a machine with no ghost in it? And how would we know?” [4] How would a soulless intelligence act? Whether or not a superintelligent machine has a soul, will they be good, evil, or both? This may depend on who creates and/or controls the machine entity. Now, what happens as these entities continue to evolve? Will they have morality? How do we program morality into them to prevent them from becoming evil and wiping out all life as we know it?
Then there is the question of the disruption of natural evolution. Would a superintelligent machine “species” be happy with us and other species competing with it for limited resources? Time: “You don't have to be a super-intelligent cyborg to understand that introducing a superior life-form into your own biosphere is a basic Darwinian error.” [5] It is clear that even if it has the best of intentions, machine superintelligence would be very disruptive to the natural order of things. That being said, there is enough human evil in this world that evil superintelligence would also be created. Can we prevent this from happening? Certainly it would threaten the very existence of the human race. Because of the great unknown of the behavior of a soulless superintelligent entity as well as the ever present factor of human evil, I see as the best way to manage this potentially catastrophic future development is to attempt to merge the organic human with the machine superintelligence. In that way, our souls which are the Higher Power within us as well as our morality would mitigate the risks of launching an evil “superrace” into our midst. For the future of our children, let us hope so.
This brings a second major development into play when the singularity is achieved: the possibility for immortality. Assuming that we can successfully control machine superintelligence, the prospects for enormous life extension become possible. Kurzweil suggests that biotechnology and nanotechology will allow us to engineer the human body to extend life indefinitely. DNA could be literally reprogrammed. [6] Singularitarians, those who believe in and are preparing for The Singularity, believe that old age and death are just “diseases” that can be cured. There are examples today of biological advances that support their view. From the Singularity Institute web site: “…it's well known that one cause of the physical degeneration associated with aging involves telomeres, which are segments of DNA found at the ends of chromosomes. Every time a cell divides, its telomeres get shorter, and once a cell runs out of telomeres, it can't reproduce anymore and dies. But there's an enzyme called telomerase that reverses this process; it's one of the reasons cancer cells live so long. So why not treat regular non-cancerous cells with telomerase? In November, researchers at Harvard Medical School announced in Nature that they had done just that. They administered telomerase to a group of mice suffering from age-related degeneration. The damage went away. The mice didn't just get better; they got younger.” [7] Researchers at Berkley University as well as other universities are further studying this enzyme as a lifespan enhancer. [8]
Given the exponential growth in intelligence, which will be applied to all scientific fields including biology, it may well be possible for the organic human form to solve the riddles of aging and death and to extend lifespan indefinitely. Even if this is not achieved, it may be possible that a human being could integrate their mind into a machine superintelligence and continue life as a machine entity. I argued earlier that this may be required in order to keep machine intelligence under control. This, however, brings up more questions. Lev Grossman writes: “If I can scan my intelligence into a computer, am I still me? What are the geopolitics and the socioeconomics of the Singularity? Who decides who gets to be immortal? Who draws the line between sentient and nonsentient? And as we approach immortality, omniscience and omnipotence, will our lives still have meaning? By beating death, will we have lost our essential humanity?” I ask these very same questions and one additional one: if we “scan” our minds into a computer entity, does our soul also transfer to the machine or does it stay behind in the discarded organic shell to be liberated by death back to the spiritual realm? This is the key question, for if the soul does not transfer, does that leave behind a soulless machine race that has no purpose or spiritual guidance? And what kind of a world would that be? Would that ironically be the extinction of the species Homo sapiens? Or because all human souls would ultimately enter the spiritual realm, would that be the final rapture?
Finally, is immortality a good thing for humankind? I contend not. If we have forever to do anything, does anything get done? What happens to art, music, literature, human relationship, vocation, and even the art of thought? I predict everything would stagnate and life would become profoundly boring. Why get out of bed, there is always tomorrow. Another question is the impact of immortality on the limited resources of our planet or solar system. If no one dies and babies are continually born, what happens to those resources?
If the organic form were still necessary, would machine intelligence discard it entirely because it no longer was useful, soul and all? Is that our ultimate fate? Finally, if death is extinguished, do we miss out completely on the experience of the spiritual realm?
The only way I see that such a profound world-changing event may be managed is if the human race somehow is able to unite in common cause, as one entity. The Dalai Lama: “In a world in which demographic growth and progress in communications have put us in very close contact with our neighbors, the very survival of humanity depends on our working together. That is why more than ever, we must look upon humanity as one entity. The problems that we face go beyond individuals and nations. We can only resolve them through an effort of shared responsibility.” [9] By coming together before The Singularity, the issues of what happens to the soul, how to ensure that machine superintelligence is benevolent, and how to manage life extension without snuffing out the drive that is the amazing beauty of the human race may successfully be balanced and managed.
We only have 34 years to get it together. Will we?
References:
2. Ibid
3. http://singinst.org/overview/whatisthesingularity/
4. See [1]
5. See [1]
6. See [1]
7. http://sciencematters.berkeley.edu/archives/volume6/issue46/story1.php
8. See [3]
9. https://www.facebook.com/DalaiLama
