Ask A Genius 974: “Her” by Spike Jonze
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/06/26
Rick Rosner: In the Spike Jonze movie Her, Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with his phone’s operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Spoiler alert, but the movie is already nine years old? I believe it was released in 2015. One of the factors leading to their separation is that the operating system becomes increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of human thought. When she interacts with him, it takes him 100 times, 1,000 times longer to respond than it takes her to formulate her reply, which becomes annoying. Eventually, spoiler alert again, she leaves him for another operating system.
There will likely be a term for individuals who are accelerated or pseudo-accelerated to enable them to interact with AI in a manner that is less frustrating for the AI. The interaction between humans and AI would be significantly enhanced if we had mesh technology, but mesh or Neuralink, or whatever you want to call it, is still some time away. I am sure what will occur first: the advancement of Neuralink technology or the development of brilliant AI, which could become frustrating. However, to facilitate an accelerated conversation, the AI might need to simulate and predict what you would say if you could think quickly enough. So, your AI is simulating half of the conversation, and then you can still surprise the AI when you catch up, but there will be issues.
We encounter similar issues now, albeit minor ones. For instance, we haven’t sent anyone to the moon in 50 years, but there is a three-second delay when conversing between Earth and the moon due to the speed of light. When we send people to Mars, that delay will be minutes. If we send people deeper into the solar system, or not just people but AIs or other entities, most movies featuring characters at great distances in the solar system tend to gloss over or ignore this communication gap for the sake of the narrative. Addressing this gap by waiting for replies disrupts the flow of a movie; it frustrates viewers. However, there may be ways to bridge the gap by simulating what you think the person will say so the AI responds to what it anticipates you will say, thereby effectively reducing the communication delay.
In these scenarios, we would have blurred conversations where we attempt to stay aligned in the manner people typically converse, responding to each other, but in an accelerated conversation, some guessing occurs to expedite the exchange or fill gaps. However, there are potential solutions to this. For instance, the AI could simulate what it anticipates you will say, thereby effectively reducing the communication delay. This concludes my point.
I can envision individuals on a Mars mission having comprehensive conversations with simulations of the people back home. The entire conversation would then be transmitted back to Earth. The people on Earth would have simulated conversations between their authentic selves and simulated versions of the astronauts, which would be triangulated into coherent dialogue. I apologize; I have confused myself again. You were about to say something.
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Rick Rosner, American Television Writer, http://www.rickrosner.org
Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Independent Journalist, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
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