He refined his delivery over the years, but the underlying analogy was always the same. The bicycle dramatically increases the efficiency of human locomotion, and likewise the computer dramatically increases the efficiency of human thought. While that is still the case when computers, the Internet, and increasingly Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are used as tools to leverage our innate abilities to solve huge, complex problems, they can also become other things for the mind that are not so useful. We are seeing it happen more and more that as computers proliferate, shrink in size, and become more convenient and ubiquitous, they stop being treated as a tool and start being treated as a toy or simply as a distraction. Maybe computers are becoming less like a bicycle for the mind and more like something else.
Showing posts with label AI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AI. Show all posts
Are Computers Still a Bicycle for the Mind?
Steve Jobs had an enormous appreciation for the computer, believing it was the greatest human invention, and he commonly likened it to a bicycle for our minds. Here he is in one such explanation of this analogy:
He refined his delivery over the years, but the underlying analogy was always the same. The bicycle dramatically increases the efficiency of human locomotion, and likewise the computer dramatically increases the efficiency of human thought. While that is still the case when computers, the Internet, and increasingly Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are used as tools to leverage our innate abilities to solve huge, complex problems, they can also become other things for the mind that are not so useful. We are seeing it happen more and more that as computers proliferate, shrink in size, and become more convenient and ubiquitous, they stop being treated as a tool and start being treated as a toy or simply as a distraction. Maybe computers are becoming less like a bicycle for the mind and more like something else.
He refined his delivery over the years, but the underlying analogy was always the same. The bicycle dramatically increases the efficiency of human locomotion, and likewise the computer dramatically increases the efficiency of human thought. While that is still the case when computers, the Internet, and increasingly Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are used as tools to leverage our innate abilities to solve huge, complex problems, they can also become other things for the mind that are not so useful. We are seeing it happen more and more that as computers proliferate, shrink in size, and become more convenient and ubiquitous, they stop being treated as a tool and start being treated as a toy or simply as a distraction. Maybe computers are becoming less like a bicycle for the mind and more like something else.
What Would Happen If We Created AGI?
This is the big question surrounding AI. In reality, nobody knows, and I'm not going to claim that I do either. I'm merely going to speculate, hopefully coherently, as to what I think could happen and what I think won't happen if we create AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). The predictions flying around out there are all over the map, so it's likely at least some people will be at least partially right, but things will likely go differently than anyone can possibly imagine simply due to the nature of what we're trying to predict.
This is the third post in this mini-series on AI, inspired by the excellent book Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. In the first post, we defined what intelligence means in the context of developing an artificial intelligence and listed the traits of general intelligence. In the second post, we explored how the characteristics of intelligence enumerated in the first post might develop or emerge in an AGI. In this post we're going to dream. We're going to let our imaginations run a bit wild and try to think about what possibilities would arise with AGI. But first, let's get a little more context.
This is the third post in this mini-series on AI, inspired by the excellent book Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. In the first post, we defined what intelligence means in the context of developing an artificial intelligence and listed the traits of general intelligence. In the second post, we explored how the characteristics of intelligence enumerated in the first post might develop or emerge in an AGI. In this post we're going to dream. We're going to let our imaginations run a bit wild and try to think about what possibilities would arise with AGI. But first, let's get a little more context.
Is Artificial General Intelligence Possible?
We all know that general intelligence is possible. We have living, breathing proof right in front of the mirror. Humans ask wide-ranging questions, solve general problems, and pursue knowledge with an unending passion. While billions of years of evolution has developed at least one instance of general intelligence, is it possible for that intelligence to create an artificial general intelligence (AGI) capable of similar feats of thought? Until now that is a problem that we have not proven to be solvable, but I am convinced that it is.
In my last post, I listed what I thought was a complete set of traits that defined intelligence. Without any one of these traits, intelligence would be questionable. With all of these traits present, we would almost certainly have intelligence. Now we'll explore these characteristics in more depth to see if and how it would be possible to develop them in an artificial intelligence. We'll start with what the AGI would use as input.
In my last post, I listed what I thought was a complete set of traits that defined intelligence. Without any one of these traits, intelligence would be questionable. With all of these traits present, we would almost certainly have intelligence. Now we'll explore these characteristics in more depth to see if and how it would be possible to develop them in an artificial intelligence. We'll start with what the AGI would use as input.
The Nature of Intelligence
In my last post I wrote an epic review of two books that delved into the nature of intelligence and the limits of computation: Gödel, Escher, Bach and The Annotated Turing. Both books sparked all kinds of new ideas about artificial intelligence (AI), especially GEB. I tried to stick to the material in the books for the review, but now it's time to dig in and explore some of the ideas those books spawned in my mind about AI. These ideas boil down to three main questions that define the scope of issues surrounding AI.
The implications of these questions are fascinating. The answers to the first question will define how we would recognize intelligence and what we're aiming for with AGI. The answer to the second question is almost certainly yes, but much more is behind it than a simple yes/no answer. The emergence of an AGI that meets the answers to the first question would show the positive result of the second question. The answer to the third question is extremely hard to foresee, and the possibilities get extremely gnarly when coupled with the property of exponential growth. The actual result will most likely determine our future as a species. Heavy thoughts. We'll dig into the first question in this post and cover the other two in subsequent posts.
- What is the nature of intelligence?
- Is artificial general intelligence possible?
- What could happen if we create AGI?
The implications of these questions are fascinating. The answers to the first question will define how we would recognize intelligence and what we're aiming for with AGI. The answer to the second question is almost certainly yes, but much more is behind it than a simple yes/no answer. The emergence of an AGI that meets the answers to the first question would show the positive result of the second question. The answer to the third question is extremely hard to foresee, and the possibilities get extremely gnarly when coupled with the property of exponential growth. The actual result will most likely determine our future as a species. Heavy thoughts. We'll dig into the first question in this post and cover the other two in subsequent posts.
Tech Book Face Off: Gödel, Escher, Bach Vs. The Annotated Turing
Quite a while ago, I made a list of the best Steve Yegge posts, and one of those posts was his Ten Challenges post on ten recommended books that required thought and dedication to get everything out of them. One of those books was Gödel, Escher, Bach (henceforth referred to as GEB) by Douglas Hofstadter. It wouldn't be the last time Yegge talked about GEB, and it seems that this book had a big influence on his thinking. He certainly gave it glowing praise, and that convinced me to give it a go myself. It is not a book to be read lightly, so I finally made some time to read it and give it my full attention. I was not disappointed.
I tried to pair GEB with a book that attempted to tackle similar topics. You may think that would mean some other book that addresses the nature of intelligence, but I went for a different angle. A significant amount of GEB deals with Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem, and that theorem is closely related to the Church-Turing thesis on computability. I'm not sure where I heard about The Annotated Turing by Charles Petzold, but I thought it would be a good match for GEB. It turns out that Alan Turing's paper also has much to do with intelligence, both human and artificial, and both books stirred up all kinds of thoughts about the limits and extent of what intelligence is. With that, let's dig in to two incredibly ambitious books.
I tried to pair GEB with a book that attempted to tackle similar topics. You may think that would mean some other book that addresses the nature of intelligence, but I went for a different angle. A significant amount of GEB deals with Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem, and that theorem is closely related to the Church-Turing thesis on computability. I'm not sure where I heard about The Annotated Turing by Charles Petzold, but I thought it would be a good match for GEB. It turns out that Alan Turing's paper also has much to do with intelligence, both human and artificial, and both books stirred up all kinds of thoughts about the limits and extent of what intelligence is. With that, let's dig in to two incredibly ambitious books.
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