Don't be a Zombie, be a Luminary
David Orban
What is the question that I should be asking?
2023 week 18
Don't be a Zombie, be a Luminary
The sudden availability of advanced Artificial Intelligence platforms forces us to confront not only the evaluation of our own abilities but, even deeper, what it means to be a conscious, self-aware human being.
We can explore this from both scientific and philosophical points of view, ultimately drawing practical conclusions. My conclusion and exhortation is simple: Don't be a zombie, be a luminary.
The Context S06E04 Don't be a Zombie, be a Luminary
Like many, I have been curious about the boundaries of what recent AI platforms can and cannot do. They are very good at pretending to not only know many things, but also to self-reflect and understand their surroundings and, to some degree, their inner states. There is a fairly wide consensus that even though we don't understand exactly how they work, as of yet, they are just pretending. GPT-4, for example, is not self-aware. But this is the right moment to improve our understanding of human self-awareness and why we feel it is indeed a unique phenomenon.
There are many ways to go about this. Traditionally, meditation, philosophical practices, and metaphysical experiences have been used. However, scientific disciplines have also opened doors to our understanding of the processes in the brain that give rise to the phenomenon we call self-awareness. I have had conversations with practitioners of some of these disciplines, such as an anesthesiologist who uses specific chemicals during surgical procedures to ensure patients do not feel pain, cannot move voluntarily, and are not aware of their surroundings. Practitioners in this field must intervene delicately, maintaining patients in a state between full wakefulness and vegetative support systems.
Another complex but essential discipline is psychiatry, which observes and treats people suffering from conditions like depression, schizophrenia, and paranoia. Over the years, both anesthesia and psychiatry have seen improved outcomes. Today, anesthesiology is extremely reliable, and psychiatry has moved away from extremely blunt tools like lobotomy to more nuanced and compassionate treatments.
Though I am not a fan of horror movies or fictional representations of zombies, I am aware of the concept. Zombies are not conscious and do not feel pain or emotions. In philosophy, the concept of philosophical zombies, or p-zombies, is used to highlight the difficulty in ascertaining what we call consciousness and self-awareness.
It is a useful exercise for everyone to try to understand who they are and to take care of their physical and mental health. Through introspection, we can improve our self-awareness. It is much better, I believe, for every human to be as far from being a zombie as possible. The term that is kind of the opposite of a zombie is "luminary" - someone who is curious, able to reflect on their experiences, and feel the whole range of emotions attached to them. Luminaries are fully aware of themselves and the emotional states and inner states of others. They actively participate in society and plan for a future worth living. Don't be a zombie; be a luminary.
Meetings and Conferences
Octavo Dia Conference - May 11, 2023 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Conversation with Ben Goertzel
Decentralized AGI and SingularityNET with Ben Goertzel
Ben Goertzel is a cognitive scientist, artificial intelligence researcher, CEO and founder of SingularityNET, a project that aims to democratize access to artificial intelligence using blockchain technology. He is also a leader of the OpenCog Foundation, a project that develops an open-source framework for artificial general intelligence, and the AGI Society, a group that promotes research and discussion on artificial general intelligence. He helped popularize the term 'artificial general intelligence', which refers to the goal of creating machines that can perform any intellectual task that humans can.
[Full disclosure, I am the Chairman of the SingularityNET Supervisory Board]
In this videodive into the following topics among others:
The role of blockchain technology in enabling a decentralized AGI infrastructure and the potential benefits this approach brings to the AI industry
An overview of the SingularityNET ecosystem, including its key applications, projects, and partnerships
The challenges and strategies for aligning AGI with human values and ethics, ensuring that advanced AI systems serve the greater good of humanity
The future prospects of achieving explainable and controllable AI and AGI, surpassing the limitations of today's large language models like ChatGPT
Course on Jolting Technologies
The rate of acceleration of technological change is increasing. The business models, even those based on an exponential paradigm, run the risk of becoming obsolete very rapidly. The Jolting Technologies courses allow you to acquire the necessary mindset, and extend your adaptability.
Learn more and sign up on jolting.co
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