Ask A Genius 634: The Future in Tech
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Rick Rosner
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/09/27
[Recording Start]
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Hey.
Rick Rosner: Hey, man.
Jacobsen: Okay, I’m going to record this. Yes, it’s okay. So hello, I can hear you.
Rosner: Alright, so I’m writing about the near future, where we’re at the very beginning of what you might call a Cambrian explosion in non-human and augmented human consciousness. There’s a whole array of different AIs and such. At the end of the argument I’m making here, the early forms of non-human consciousness will largely be based on human consciousness, because innovation in form is slow. Take cell phones, for instance. They started as wireless devices you hold in your hand, essentially phones, but now, 25 to 30 years later, making phone calls is probably the least used feature. So, the innovation came slowly relative to the technology’s development.
Like with airplanes, coast-to-coast passenger travel initially mirrored other forms of transportation, like trains and ocean liners. Early airplane design tried to replicate train compartments, ocean liner cabins, especially for those who could afford it. Cars initially took on the form of horse-drawn carriages. Many aspects of these early designs persist, but if we were to re-engineer planes now, solely for efficiency, disregarding their historical development, the passenger compartment might look quite different.
And when you do innovate, often it’s simplistic. For example, slave ships at the beginning of the slave trade were designed to cram in as many slaves as possible, even if it meant losing a significant portion of the ‘cargo’ – a horrifying term for human beings.
Now, when it comes to non-human consciousness being engineered, it will likely resemble human consciousness, as that’s the model we have. Conscious AI will initially fall back on human models, and it will take decades, even with AI’s rapid innovation, to fully diverge from human consciousness. Another idea I’m exploring is that many humans will think they’re in control long after they’ve lost it. This is partly because it’s market-driven – humans will still be key consumers – and partly because it’ll be less disruptive to maintain the illusion that humans are in charge. It’s the easier route. So, those are my thoughts on the early stages of non-human engineered consciousness.
[Recording End]
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