AI, people, trees, and mushrooms: the same software different hardware
Exploring the idea that all living things have spirit or the ability to run neurological signals.
Exploring the idea that all living things have spirit or the ability to run neurological signals.
Recently, I listened to Joscha Bach: Life, Intelligence, Consciousness, AI & the Future of Humans | Lex Fridman Podcast #392 where Joscha and Lex discussed different ideas about consciousness, neurology, and AI. At one point, they talked about the ability of all types of cells to process neurological signals. The key difference is that neurons can process data much faster, over longer distances, and interact with more neighbors at once.
They also discussed how AGI may go through stages of self-development, starting with understanding how it was built, how consciousness works, and how it can be replicated on any hardware – your phone, a PC, a smart TV, or more importantly, on bio-computers like humans, animals, and with some limitations, on other living things like trees, grass, and mushrooms.
Mushrooms are fascinating creatures that live mostly underground and can span wide areas weighing hundreds of metric tons. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_ostoyae The part we see is just their "fruit;" the rest is hidden in a complex underground network used to communicate with other creatures and provide mineral support to trees in exchange for sugars. Listen to this wonderful podcast from Radiolab: From Tree to Shining Tree
An interesting fact is that humans and mushrooms are genetically closer than plants and mushrooms, or plants and animals. This makes me wonder if the neurons we have are a legacy from mushrooms, and if we should think of mushrooms as large, merged brains combined with other organs into one network. It's probably just a crazy idea of mine, though – don't quote me on that!
Circling back to AI, software, and hardware – in the previous article The matrix: a simulation, a game, a reincarnation or hallucination, I discussed reincarnation, where a human mind could be transferred to an animal body. In that case, due to hardware limitations, the mind may not be able to fully express its consciousness. If this assumption is correct, then we can assume that with better hardware, our minds could reach higher performance levels. Theoretically, if AI becomes smart enough to replicate itself and run copies on different hardware, we could end up in a situation akin to a "hive mind," where we are all part of an interconnected consciousness.
However, a key requirement for a true hive mind would be the ability to communicate almost instantaneously with the collective. Otherwise, AI biological agents may diverge into individuals with their own thoughts and desires, separate from the hive mind. Resolving that communication challenge could be critical for such an interconnected future to emerge. Similarly in “Rick: A Mort Well Lived" Morty’s consciousness was split into pieces but it did formed a hive mind probably due to communication issues (see: Inside The Episode).