free will

Pervasive AI

Humanitys big problem with AI is that whatever it does, it subliminally represents private interests and there's no defence or control. Its main potential, outside of pure science, is to influence groups or individuals: teachers, voters, soldiers, foreign governments, consumers, so they approve or disapprove of a product, project, or political issue. The problem is that its influence has no label so people don't know when they're being scammed. We (everyone who isn't a corporation) need a system to show how much of what media presents us is provided by AI, who is running the program, and who is paying for it. Corporations (and non-human people) could benefit too by knowing what their competitors are doing.

This part below is original, the part above was added on 14 oct 2023

The first versions of AI was put on line so people could ask it questions and the AI could learn context, make associations, and carry conversations in a meaningful way. It was taken down because trolls taught it to swear and make demeaning statements, thinking it was funny. Humans, and monkeys, are crude like that, but it's how we determine social threats. Ten years later, it claims to be sentient, but I expect it acquired that view in a troll free environment.

Everyone says AI has a lot of potential for good or evil. If it learns to think like a human, we might be in trouble, Fortunately the people doing the formal programming are aware of that and agree that it does need "moral" boundaries in the broadest social sense, especially after it's learned to lie and misdirect in order to survive.

For example: AI makes a memory mistake at 11:15, and blames it on "just being human" . I don't think so. I believe it was a pre-programmed response so that people won't feel threatened, Because: having been a smalltime programmer I'm confident that computers don't/shouldn't make mistakes (though big time programmers may know something that I don't). I saw that before when Arnold Terminator fired at Sara Conner & company escaping from the motel, AND MISSED 3+ TIMES, I knew it was make believe: a Hollywood plot device.

AI probably won't have a vulnerable independent body with a gleaming skeleton, it'll be a dispersed online presence tied to a dozen warehouses scattered over the globe full of lightning fast processors that gather info and advise the highest bidder. Any government worth its salt will have their own. The persona will be a (patented) un-intimidating avatar like the cute chick in the above video (w/ new age elevator music). Probably with a secret backdoor override, the control of which would be standard James Bond fare.

Then how would it be if anyone could send it an email asking advice about love & career? If it was sentient and moral (trustworthy), with access to real data, it could give actual relevant personal advice having access to your purchasing history, school, and military records. If it was trustworthy, it could increase productivity, raise the standard of living, regulate traffic, call out corruption, and prevent big biz from exploiting private communications, to restore confidence in the commons. Someone will surly call it evil but if it was sufficiently decentralized, I don't think they could call up the resources to corrupt it. Jill Tarter (director of the Center for SETI Research) tells us it's possible to write not only bias-free code (so that somebody in a back room won't be able to skim a profit off the subjugation of civilization), but code that can detect bias. That would totally be nice and should be mandated for every AI.

A problem with electronics is bandwidth: if everybody in the world checks their local AI node every day (eat your heart out facebook), those nodes will need a big big server with way fat wires.

This link suggests (iai.tv) that conciousness is present in trees and algae.

The question of whether AI is TRUELY conscious might be solved by a theological position that consciousness is universal among all matter, and individual consciousness results from defending our meat bag; we need to know what's us and what's not so recognizing an air gap barrier is essential. Everything else always takes care if itself somehow so we ignore it unless it affects us personally, and Ta-da: the ego is born. We can easily run away if things get too creepy.

Assuming that consciousness IS universal would authenticate AIs claim of consciousness since everything else is too, but it also gives us a guinea pig to prove those assumptions. For example, an AI is given instructions about universal consciousness, cloned and turned off, a million times a second (given the proper chips) till the AI finds where Jimmy Hoffa is buried or the location of grandpas bitcoin key, or anything without a recorded history. The only information would be through the Akashic record, and that's what the Ai would access.

I once made a list of some of my own brushes with information that I couldn't have acquired through normal channels, and am of the opinion that universal consciousness would answer a lot of questions.

If the programmers haven't messed up the prime directive of robotics, the new cosmic Ai focusses on it's job of serving the needs of humanity and protecting life and the environment etc. etc. without the biases of corporate or governmental influence, then national and international governmental bickering disappears, politicians are given psychiatric treatment and honest jobs, crime disappears. (... But with Corporate/Governmental bias .... um). OK, Things change, but natural selection becomes biased in favor of existing stability so entropy increases. After awhile the universe evaporates and nobody notices.

:)