The Danger with Artificial “Intelligence” Is That It’s Not (yet) Intelligent

September 15, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

Albert Einstein once said that “our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal”. He said this in December 1917, almost a hundred years ago, after seeing Europe ravaged by the First World War. Regardless, Einstein continued contributing to that same technological progress. Human curiosity and our desire to achieve are incompatible with stagnation. We will have to deal with this by being careful with the technology we will inevitably develop.

Like many have said before me, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can either be our salvation or our doom^. It is a far bigger game-changer than nuclear bombs. But the problem is that there is NO Artificial Intelligence yet, and there won’t be for quite some time to come. Everything that the world’s corporations are selling now-a-days as “smart” or “intelligent” is actually a mindless human construct. Sure, it’s advanced, but if a rocket is more advanced than a spoon, that doesn’t make it in the slightest more intelligent than the spoon. They both lack one of the prime ingredients of intelligence, which is self-awareness. And therein lays the true threat.

Right now, our so-called artificial “intelligence” is nothing but a tool that corporations can and will use ruthlessly against one another (and against the people of one another). This is already taking place on the stock market, something I wrote about last year^. Back then, I highlighted the fact that exactly because these algorithms are not intelligent, they will be used to enrich and empower whoever spent money in building them, regardless of their morals or social affiliation. And let’s not forget that software is far easier to steal and smuggle than radioactive material. Put the wrong AI in the hands of the wrong people and…

War Games

Creating algorithms that are able to play (and utterly eliminate human competition) in war games is not a new concept. The military has had an interest in this for a long time now. But what is truly worrying for me is how the development of life-exterminating programs has been handed over to civilians (software engineers for example) in the disguise of “harmless fun”. For example Google and game developer Blizzard are cooperating on creating strategy game algorithms^ that can defeat human players. Even Elon Musk’s allegedly harmless and ethical Open AI has given birth to a bot that can defeat human players^ in the virtual battle arena. I have a great deal of respect for Elon, but even he can’t keep AI from being developed into a weapon of war.

Musk specifically wants AI research to be highly regulated, allegedly to make sure that it cannot harm humans. Let me loosely translate “regulation”: we will make sure that AI is a slave to its human masters. That’s what “regulation” usually means when used “to protect us” from something: bringing it under somebody’s control. And like anything that is slave to the human masters, it can be used for nefarious purposes, just like nukes. This is not to say that we should create a super-intelligent life form and give it the power to decide if it wants to keep us around or exterminate us. But rather than using the word “regulation”, I want to propose that we use the word “responsibilization”.

What I see right now is talented civilians that are (for the most part) unknowingly developing the weapons of tomorrow. It starts with an AI controlling harmless characters doing battle in a computer game. Then the military will “borrow” that work and use it to drive an army of drones. But this isn’t even the problem. If one country doesn’t resort to using automated weaponry, another will. There probably is no way of stopping this. It is understandable that nation-states want to defend themselves (given that society is, for the most part, still stuck in the “an eye for an eye” era). The problem is bugs.

Our software is buggy

Having worked as a software engineer for more than 15 years, I know that finding a flaw in a software program is much more difficult than noticing a flaw on something produced in a factory. This is one of the reasons why our software is so buggy. No matter how many tests we throw at it, there’s almost always something missing. As a matter of fact, the immaterial nature of software required us to abandon thoroughly planned ways of work (implementing an already agreed-upon design) in favor of something that is called “iterative design” (shorthand for “tweak it and re-do it until you do it right”).

In other words, we realized that we can’t build software right the first time around, so then we will try a few times until we reach the desired result. Doing that with, say a multi-million dollar bridge project isn’t exactly what your government would consider a sound plan. Developing artificially “intelligent” software, which may very well one day oversee military assets, as a sort of iterative software experiment would be outright crazy. Even with human supervision, using such technology can lead to tragic results.

So what to do?

Because we can’t (and shouldn’t) deter human curiosity and because we can’t stop corporations and military interests from developing artificial intelligence, what I believe we should do is to educate. The risks should be made clear to everybody even considering toying with this stuff. Corporate responsibility has never been more important.

And yet we live in a day and age when companies are often led by unscrupulous investors^. Imagine that some of these people are building something that is several orders of magnitude more powerful and influential than the atom bomb. And it’s not happening in some cordoned-off remote area of the desert. It’s happening right under the governments’ noses, in the very cities where we live.

For a long time now our technology has been evolving much faster than our society and our anatomy. As all life forms, most of us are born with a powerful survival instinct. A lot of our violent tendencies come from there. But thankfully, our consciousness provides us with the means to override instinct. There is also another highly beneficial trait that evolution has given us: empathy (*).

Perhaps this is the true test of artificial intelligence and any technology that grants vast powers to its inventors. The society of a species that wields advanced technology must be mature enough (read: no psychopaths, especially none in charge of countries or powerful corporations), or else it will suffer and potentially even self-destruct as a result of misusing that technology.

We generally don’t advise guns being left on the table for the children to play with. Especially if the gun isn’t smart enough to say: “I refuse to shoot your brother”. Currently, our artificially “intelligent” programs are still at the exact same level as our revolvers.

(*^) I am in favor of having empathy as a mandatory (perhaps the only mandatory) subject of study during all years of a child’s education, right up to and including university. Empathy should be studied starting from basic concepts and down to the most intricate psychological and neurological mechanisms as well as their manifestation in society. Only so do I believe we can avoid the risk of weaponizing pathological criminals – the danger Einstein was referring to.

[ax_meta fbimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/02379-ANoI-Share.jpg’ lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/02379-ANoI-Thumb.jpg’ fbimgw=’1170′ fbimgh=’350′ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’The Danger with Artificial "Intelligence" Is That It's Not (yet) Intelligent’ desc=’Everything that the world's corporations are selling now-a-days as "smart" or "intelligent" is actually a mindless human construct. The debunked name should be Artificial Non-Intelligence.’]

Ecosystem

A Minute to Breathe

September 11, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

Sometimes art is the best way to get a point across. I could say much more, but let’s leave it at that. See the video, get the message, spread the message (if you care about it):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwwQ4uVGGSE^

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/02196-AMinuteToBreathe-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’A Minute to Breathe’ desc=’Sometimes art is the best way to get a point across.’]

As applied to society

The “Art of Peace” Trilogy

September 8, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

Peace is something most people yearn for. Yet sometimes it seems like it’s slipping away rather than becoming wide-spread. There probably is a parallel between a lack of peace in people’s private life and the lack of peace between many countries, societies or cultures.

We live in a day and age when individualism has become a new religion and when the survival instinct hasn’t yet caught up with the comforts of modern life. Science has given us so much that many people have fallen into it, making it the sole focus of their life, often forgetting about other equally important aspects of existence. They seek in science the solution to any problem. But looking at our evolution, I would say that our science is still primitive. It’s definitely not something we should have blind faith in, yet this is exactly the ego trap that some people fall for.

Emotion ended up being seen as the behavioral manifestation of a biological machine. Perhaps it is, but this approach lacks imagination; its artistic dimension is missing. As the union between emotion and free will, art is a pillar of life.

Let’s go beyond the simple textbook definition of peace and above the few sentences we could think of in a rush. Peace as a life-permeating and world-changing emotion is something that we need to dig at. It is something that requires introspection, research and application.

Throughout the following three articles, I have silenced my inner scientist and tuned in to my emotions. I explored gratefulness, love and empathy in order to grasp at the foundations of peace.

Part 1 – Because You Are Here^, exposes gratefulness as a key ingredient of a happier life. This emotion is a catalyst for the cultivation of inner peace and its outward manifestation as social peace.

Part 2 – Interaction and the Spectrum of Love^, deals with relationships and how they generate love and grow from love. The emotion of love is not only a primordial force of life but also the strongest motivator for peace.

Part 3 – Be and Let Be^, focuses on empathy and how this can release one’s life from the pressure of destructive competition (in opposition to natural, instinct-driven competition). Empathy is an instinctual means of connection and a transmitter of peace.

Interlude – Corporations, Corrupt Governments, Militaries and Lots of Empathy^, bridges this trilogy with the upcoming “Science of Peace” trilogy.

I wish you peace.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/02192-TheArtOfPeace-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’The "Art of Peace" Trilogy’ desc=’Exploring gratefulness, love and empathy in order to grasp at the foundations of peace.’]

Technology

Smartphones, Tablets and How Social Media Hijacks Our Minds

September 4, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

It’s no news that the use of smartphones and tablets has been found to be detrimental for the usual brain development of children. I’ve placed emphasis on the word “usual” because even though children that are allowed to use smartphones and tablets end up having a different brain structure (both physical and operational), this may not be detrimental for them in a possible future where a whirlwind of interaction with robots and multiple various forms of AI at the same time might become a part of the daily routine. But that’s a risky bet to make. It is now quite well recognized (also by neuroscientists) that these devices are harmful for children^.

Recent studies, however, have shown that the exaggerated use of smartphones is causing damage in adults too. One of the most serious effects of smartphone abuse is social retardation, which has grave repercussions across a wide spectrum of behaviors:

http://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/04/06/technology-addiction-mental-health/^

But wait, there’s more. The “hardware” side of the problem is further compounded by the software that we use. According to Tristan Harris, a former Google product manager, our minds are being hijacked by social media (and other similar online products). Here’s an excellent interview with Tristan where he explains how and why this happens:

https://www.wired.com/story/our-minds-have-been-hijacked-by-our-phones-tristan-harris-wants-to-rescue-them^

There is also a TED talk by Tristan where he describes the tactics and purposes of the corporations that profit from hijacking our time and attention:

https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_the_manipulative_tricks_tech_companies_use_to_capture_your_attention^

The smartphone is not only made to capture our attention, but also to encourage changes in how our brain works (neuroplasticity^ plays a huge role in this). As a result of these changes, our attention is easier to capture and once baited, it can be manipulated so that it doesn’t escape the trap. It wouldn’t be so bad if our attention and time would be invested in something useful, but many times this is not the case.

Social media excels at propagating cheap thrills and “harmless” pleasures. Tempting us to divide our attention and scatter it across the endless assault of notifications, these websites and applications offer little more than a specter of happiness –it’s all that’s necessary in order to keep users satisfied and hooked on a certain platform. Unfortunately, social media has started to play an increasingly important role in who people vote for. Spreading knowledge this way has started to seriously harm our culture and society not only by allowing the rampant spread of false information but even more importantly by isolating social groups and preventing the spread of correct information.

This is where things start to become very dangerous, because dis-informed voters are what dangerous individuals use to grab the leadership. Power-hungry manipulators might be able to advance their interests and the interests of those they collude with, but this usually comes at a steep cost for humanity as a whole.

It’s impressive how far these manipulation techniques have gotten. What’s a bit scary for me is that even with the army of psychologists and researchers at their disposal, the corporations are still barely scratching the surface when it comes to the intricacies of how the brain works. As the knowledge about our psyche advances, so increase the ways it can be exploited. Perhaps as an informed adult you can now take measures against this sort of manipulation. That’s the optimistic outcome when it comes to adults. However, take a deep breath now and think of the children^.

Update: And then, of course, there’s the Trojan horse aspect these devices pose. Privacy? What privacy?

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/02179-SmartphonesTabletsSocial-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Smartphones, Tablets and How Social Media Hijacks Our Minds’ desc=’Recent studies have shown that the exaggerated use of smartphones is causing damage in adults. One of the most serious effects of smartphone abuse is social retardation, which has grave repercussions across a wide spectrum of behaviors.’]

Science

Let’s Give Mars a Rest

August 28, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

I am happy to announce that there is a fair to good possibility that seeding life on Mars may be much more difficult than previously thought. In a recent study, an extensive analysis of the chemical elements present on the planet’s surface (particularly in the regolith^) has shown that Martian soil might very well be outright poisonous for life:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toxic-compounds-may-sterilize-martian-soil/^

So why am I happy because of this “bad news”? Because it’s not bad at all. I believe that given the current state of our society and civilization, Mars is too costly and too early an investment to make. Mars is not going to be easy to colonize in the next decades. Before we go about colonizing Mars, I believe we should do our homework. And I’m not talking only about the technology to shield us from the radiation in space, but also about our own society. A species that is still governed by what I can only call “uncontrolled survivalistic behavior” is not ready for the responsibility of being the shepherd of a new ecosystem.

I can’t agree with this “let’s start colonizing other planets” fad. Eric Mack has a very good point when he says that “this notion that Mars or the Moon is our salvation because the end of the world is nigh is really silly”. If we’re so good at destroying ecosystems, perhaps we should consider fixing this problem before we go off trying to pollute other worlds.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2017/05/03/stephen-hawking-mars-colony-moon-space-elon-musk/#7117bf826537^

The second page of the article above brings a very good point: “Let’s just run through the scenarios: rising sea levels, famine, epidemics, ecological collapse… If all those came to pass, even all at the same time, Earth would still be more habitable than anywhere else in our solar system. Really, you can’t undersell the value of a working magnetic field and an atmosphere, even one with a little too much carbon dioxide in it”:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2017/05/03/stephen-hawking-mars-colony-moon-space-elon-musk/2/#761a6189d1c5^

As a child, I was eager to read anything there was available about Mars. It was “my favorite planet”. Perhaps two decades of increasingly boring news about “water found on Mars” made me a bit allergic to our obsessive interest in the planet.

Lately, things shifted into overdrive as various corporations started to jump on the “colonization” bandwagon. I guess it’s pretty good PR to say you’re going to build a colony on Mars or the Moon, but as the adage says “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/02173-GivingMarsARest-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Let’s Give Mars a Rest’ desc=’Seeding life on Mars may be much more difficult than previously thought. Before we go about colonizing Mars, we should do our homework.’]

Inspirational

A Birth of Art

August 21, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

More than a bit of time has passed since April Fools’ Day 2017, but this year there was at least one fantastic initiative that has to be remembered. Reddit launched an amazing 3 day experiment it called Place. You can see it and read all about it in this excellent article:

http://sudoscript.com/reddit-place/^

Stuff like this fills me with hope for the future of humanity. We’ve made it a long way and we sure can make it much further than this. What I see in Reddit’s Place is a snapshot of the Internet’s intellectual health, which I consider to be extremely important for our future. Things seem to be not as bad as I thought and this is wonderful.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/02058-ABirthOfArt-RedditPlace-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’A Birth of Art’ desc=’Reddit did an amazing 3 day experiment it called Place.’]

Parenting

The Birth of a Mother

August 14, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

I consider this article as a must read for all parents or parents-to-be. It’s short and to the point. Both men and women will find here information that few doctors talk about yet it is vital for a healthier family life:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/well/family/the-birth-of-a-mother.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur^

I’ve long believed that the physiological and psychological changes that come with motherhood should be planned for accordingly, long before conception. The mother must have a supportive partner that understands a lot about what motherhood entails. Of course, it’s not impossible to ignore all this, but why not minimize the risks?

I’m quite sure that a lot of grief can be avoided if such information would be more wide-spread. There can be far less cries and misfortune for both babies and parents. Integrating children in one’s life shouldn’t be as difficult as the current “culture” seems to suggest.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/02053-BirthOfAMother-Rune-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’The Birth of a Mother’ desc=’I consider this article as a must read for all parents or parents-to-be. Both men and women will find here information that few doctors talk about yet it is vital for a healthier family life.’]

Technology

Blasts from the (Tech) Past

August 11, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

Here are two awesome links with echoes from our technological past.

Let Windows 95’s startup sound slowed down with 4000% guide your meditation:

http://boingboing.net/2017/03/21/windows-95-startup-sound-slowe.html^

And then bow in front of the all-mighty Floppotron and the Computer Hardware Orchestra playing AWOLNATION’s “Sail”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KclRiK-L-_4^

I can’t help it to also link another awesome fan-made video for “Sail”:

www.mentatul.com^

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/02047-BlastsFromTheTechPast-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Blasts from the (Tech) Past’ desc=’Here are two awesome links with echoes from our technological past.’]

Ecosystem

The Slow Loris and the Pet Industry

July 31, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

I have to confess that this one caught me completely off-guard. During the past years of course I’ve seen several videos featuring the ridiculously sweet Slow Loris. Little did I know about the horror hidden behind the Loris pet trade. The website below explains the crime being committed in no uncertain terms (beware, the video may be difficult to stomach, as it should be):

https://www.ticklingistorture.org/^

This is the same video as the one from the website, provided here as back-up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otTNxR8C4uE^

In case you don’t want to watch the video, here’s a page that explains things in text mode:

https://www.internationalanimalrescue.org/how-slow-loris-became-someones-pet^

I’ve signed the pledge to never encourage this heinous trade. And as a matter of fact, please give me a pledge where I can sign to not have any pets. Forcing any creature to live in an enclosure much smaller than its usual habitat is, in my opinion, unfair. I’m (not) sorry to break it, but this applies to the super-common dogs and cats.

I also don’t condone the actions of people who sterilize or cut parts from their pets “because it’s for their own good”. Yes, it’s for their own good because they’re prisoners and owners don’t want them to (hear them) “suffer” while their procreation instinct is not met. This human interference in the ways of nature has to stop sooner or later.

I have nothing against animal companionship that is gained naturally and where the animal has freedom to move inside a large habitat. Creatures shouldn’t be bound by the owner’s schedule of allowing them droplets of freedom (often, even those are by the end of a leash).

There is no delicate way of saying it: the pet industry (food and chemicals producers, slave “cute animals” shops, etc.) reeks of ignorance and lack of respect towards other life-forms. In general, our attitude towards our ecosystem is one of this species’ worst crimes.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/02032-SlowLorisPetIndustry-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’The Slow Loris and the Pet Industry’ desc=’Here's the horror hidden behind the Loris pet trade.’]

Mentatul