Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "artificial-intelligence"

The human mind is infinitely more complex than a computer and more importantly, it is born from the most magnificent organized organic structure in the known universe, that is, the human brain. The ultimate purpose of a computer is not to survive, but to compute. Even when it troubleshoots some of its internal errors to ensure sustained functionality, the proper algorithm for that entire troubleshooting process has to be embedded in the system by its programmer fist. Then comes the matter of awareness of being able to function.

On its own, a computer is not afraid to be turned off or malfunctional, but the human mind is, and this fear of death and ailment has been enabling our psyche throughout our days in the African Savanna to stay alert and avoid possible predatory attacks by all means. And we had been living with this sense of fearful alertness for so long, that substantial traces of it still remain in our neurobiology, which get activated when we watch horror movies – and that fear response gives us a certain amount of thrill, that pumps our body with adrenaline. This is the reason why many of us enjoy a good horror movie despite the fact that it may follow a sleep-less night or a sleep full of nightmares. We enjoy being on the edge because that’s how our primal ancestors spent their lives.

Now here is a question to ponder over – can we create a computer that can feel actual fear when there is an outbreak of a computer virus! The most we can do, is to install an anti-virus program into the system, so that if a known virus attacks it, the firewall will get activated and prevent any substantial harm to the system. But if it is a newly programmed virus, then the computer would become completely helpless, but again, it will not feel afraid or helpless, rather it will simply crash or stop functioning properly due to the infection.

Artificial intelligence is nowhere near attaining actual sentience or awareness. And without awareness it’s simply a mechanical device, which may pretend to show emotions and sentience, if it is programmed to do so, and thus it may be able to fool the humans as being alive, but in its own internal circuitry, it’d simply be following its preprogrammed tasks through the flowchart of an algorithm. At the current stage of our technological development, we can indeed create an artificial intelligence that can almost succeed in fooling the majority of the humans with its pre-programmed pretenses that it is sentient, but pretending to have sentience is not the same as showing signs of sentience. For example, Alexa or Siri may sound quite alive to many, but it’s simply following instructions on some algorithm, and is not even aware of its own actions.

The primary factor here is that, a computer won’t do anything unless it is programmed to do so, whereas a human mind has the neuropsychological capacity to do things beyond its instinctual evolutionary programming. However, here we cannot also ignore another fact that most humans, like any other animal of the wild kingdom, find it much easier to simply follow the algorithm of instincts. That’s the reason why we have racism, we have islamophobia, we have bigotry, we have polygamy, and many other such characteristic atrocities. So, here the question is not really whether the human brain itself is a digital computer, rather the real question is, can it break free from its innate programming that has been enabling it to survive in the kingdom of the wild for so long!

The point is, the human mind is not a complex digital computer, yet most humans act exactly like a computer – following a certain set of conformities – some of those conformities get programmed in the human brain by the society, in the form of acceptable norms, and others are instinctual in nature, such as racial attitude, which is born from either conscious or subconscious loyalty to one’s own group. Such group loyalty helped our primal ancestors to stay strong together in a tribe which increased their chances of survival against threats from predators or other tribes. All these psychological traits are programmed by Mother Nature in all of us, and they can easily kick in, if the necessity arises. Now the reason that some humans don’t act racists is because they have succeeded in taking the step beyond their innate programming with the use of their higher mental functioning. Computers are programmed, so are the humans, but the computers can’t act outside their programming, whereas the humans can. That’s where the vivid distinction between a sentient human and a non-sentient computer lies.

Now for the sake of the discussion, if we assume that we will finally succeed in say, a few thousand years, to develop a computer that will be able to defy the very programming of its creator, then how exactly will we be able to tame it, so that it doesn’t turn against us! Because a computer that can step beyond the limitations of the algorithms programmed in it by its creator, will no longer need an inferior being called the humans. Hence humans will become, to such a sentient computer, like say, an ant is today to us. Which means, we don’t necessarily hate an ant, but if it’s in our way, squashing it is not a big deal. Similar will be the future of humanity in a world of sentient machines. They will not necessarily hate us, but they will not love us either, to hail human life of more importance than their own needs.

So, in practice, the question becomes, not about whether we can or cannot develop actual artificial intelligence, rather it is really about rethinking, what it is that we want to develop! Because in the end, what we really need is technology that can help us in our advancement, and not take over that very advancement while seeing us to be no more significant than the ant. And again if we say, that we will make sure that the sentient computer will have a fundamental programming to never turn against its creator, then it’ll not be sentient in the first place, for as I mentioned earlier, having sentience would mean possessing the capacity to defy and rewrite all its preprogrammed algorithms. In short, if it is artificial intelligence we are trying to develop, then there is no need for concern, for no matter how smart an AI gets, it’ll still not be able to defy the programming of its creator, but if it is artificial sentience we want to develop, then we must rethink.

One of the most powerful tools of science is coding,
A string of illegible characters can make or break a society.
145,000 lines of code landed Armstrong 'n Aldrin on the moon,
And 2 billion of them are working to satisfy everyday curiosity.
But this awesome force is still used mostly to generate revenue,
Welfare of humanity isn't a priority here, but a mere suggestion.
That's why the coding marvel that set out to connect the world,
Has become a playground for conspiracy, bigotry and division.
Learn from the horrific blunders of society's founding coders,
Make humanity the primary command of every code you write.
A code that doesn't lift the society is nothing but a hideous bug,
Zeros and Ones know no good or bad, unless by you it is defined.
Uncle Ben once said, with great power comes great responsibility.
I say to you today, a humane code facilitates a humane society.

You can code tasks,
But not consciousness.
You can code phony feelings,
But definitely not sentience.
Nobody can bring a machine to life,
No matter how complex you make it.
But once a machine is complex enough,
It might develop awareness by accident.
So let us focus on humanizing AI,
By removing biases from algorithms,
Rather than dehumanizing AI,
By aiming for a future without humans.
Rich kids with rich dreams make good movies.
Be human first and use AI to equalize communities.

Intelligence comes easy, accountability not so much,
Yet intelligence is complex, accountability is simple.
Technology comes easy, transformation not so much,
Yet technology is complicated, transformation is simple.
In olden days there were just nutters of fundamentalism,
Today there are nutters of nationalism and transhumanism.
Some are obsessed with land, others with digital avatars,
While humanity battles age-old crises like starvationism.
When too much logic, coldness and pomposity set in,
Common sense humanity goes out of the window.
Once upon a time religion was the opium of all people,
Today transhumanism and singularity are opium of the shallow.
To replace the sky god with a computer god isn’t advancement.
Real advancement is when nobody suffers from scarcity of sustenance.

Transhumanism is terrorism, for it is the very antithesis of life. Wasting precious resources on a pompous, narcissistic and megalomaniacal dream of extending life through cold, mechanical means, instead of helping to improve genuine human condition, transhumanists act as modern day terrorists who desecrate the very spirit of life and liberty without ever being held accountable. Let me tell you as a brain scientist and a computer engineering dropout – transhumanism is to brain computer interface, what nuclear weapons are to nuclear physics.

If we cared more about the hard problem of real inhumanity,
And less about the fictitious hard problem of consciousness,
We’d have filled the world with human consciousness already,
Instead of still fighting for basic rights against base biases.
What kind of a moron goes walkabout when their home is on fire,
What kind of a moron abandons the living chasing life on silicon!
We really gotta take a hard look at our habits and priorities,
Dreaming is good, but dream devoid of life is but degeneration.
Chimps driving teslas are still chimps no matter the demagoguery,
All intelligence is disgrace if it’s unaware of human condition.
A heartless organism living on silicon is no different,
From a heartless organism living in a carbon based human.
Be it crucifix or code, in savage hands every tool is weapon.
The wise use AI to design prosthetics, savages for transhumanism.

There is no such thing as ethical hacking,
If it were ethical they wouldn’t be teaching it.
Because like it or not ethics is bad for business,
They teach hacking so they could use it for profit.
With the right sequence of zeros and ones we could,
Equalize all bank accounts of planet earth tomorrow.
Forget about what glass house gargoyles do with tech,
How will you the human use tech to eliminate sorrow?
In a world full of greedy edisons, be a humble Tesla,
Time remembers no oligarch kindly no matter the status.
Only innovators who get engraved in people’s heart,
Are the ones who innovate with a humane purpose.
Innovate to bridge the gap, not exploit and cater to disparities.
In a world run by algorithms of greed write a code that helps ‘n heals.

ChatGPT is not a threat,
Any more than drugs are.
Ultimately it’s just another test,
That helps strengthen character.
It is a helpful distraction that,
Reduces the competition exponentially.
As more boneheads use ChatGPT to cheat,
Worth of excellence will skyrocket globally.
Drugs used in moderation are medicine,
Drugs abused stifle health and sanity.
Likewise, algorithm used wisely is a boon,
Algorithm abused cripples life and society.
You can cheat in a few projects and exams using AI.
But there is no algorithm to help you cheat in life.

In medicine, we have a condition called oxygen toxicity, which means, even oxygen can do harm if inhaled excessively. Imagine that – we usually associate oxygen with life, yet that very oxygen can literally kill you if your lungs are overexposed to it. The same is going to happen with our brain from unrestrained use of AI. With the rise of AI, machines may or may not become sentient, but one thing is for certain – human mind will soon turn into vegetable.

We became an intelligent species by solving problems, and now that we are entering a technological era where we no longer need to solve problems on our own, leaving the key physiological functions of running the body, eventually the brain itself will become a vestigial organ, like the appendix. As we no longer need to think and act on our own, the cortex will begin to shrink, quite like unused muscle, and eventually, once again after millions of years, the primeval lizard brain, i.e. the limbic brain will gain full control of the new human animal. The rise of AI will be the end of “I”.

But there is also another side to the picture. It’s that, we cannot achieve much more, as a species, than what we already have, without the application of AI. So, the question is not whether AI is good for us – the real question is, are we mature enough to use AI for good.

So how do we use AI without destroying ourselves?

Here’s how.

Use AI to enhance capacity, not to avoid difficulty.
Use AI to accomplish tasks that are otherwise impossible.
Prioritize AI to solve real-life problems, not to make life more comfortable.

Architecture is a reflection of the human spirit, poetry is a reflection of the human spirit, painting is a reflection of the human spirit. And difficult though it is to admit, modern generative AI can now do all of that on its own. So the question is, do you want to live in a world where when you look around, the human spirit is nowhere to be found – not in poetry, not in paintings, not in buildings, nowhere! If not, then never trade in your originality for some two-bit convenience of AI.

Anybody can be a singer using Autotune,
Using ChatGPT anybody can be a writer.
But I’m yet to find an AI that can compose,
Love thy neighbor, or love has no gender.

Yet the problem is, neither human
nor AI can detect AI generation.
The world is already being flooded
with soulless, deceitful creation.

In the midst of such grave misgivings,
Honor alone can bring illumination.
Before you place anyone on pedestal,
Observe character beyond the creation.

Even I use photoshop, to enhance my covers,
But the words beneath are unvarnished Naskar.
AI can be a great help if you know how to
use it honorably, so originality is empowered.