The rise of machines in the works of science fiction writers is an open confrontation between a robot and a person. Watching imaginary wars with cyborgs, we have fun, tickle our nerves … And do not notice that in reality machines are already enslaving their creators.
God made man, man made computer
There is an opinion that all technological inventions were created by man in the image and likeness of the surrounding world, and first of all - himself. The computer is no exception. Since the day of its invention, it has turned into a machine that repeats the principles of the human brain, but - with the help of mathematical algorithms. The architecture of the machine is built by analogy with the human body. The operating system is actually our nervous system, which coordinates the work of instincts and reflexes. The operative memory of an electronic machine is essentially like our short-term memory. Are the parts of our brain that store vital memories - why not a "hard drive"? The functions of sight, hearing, and smell of the machine are taken over by input devices, receiving information, while output devices are responsible for the functions of speech, facial expressions and gestures. Lungs are the same coolerthe stomach is the power supply, and the brain itself is the processor. As you can see, by analogy, everything is the same. But there are differences that until recently did not allow him to be considered "alive" and sane.
"Automatic" aspects of Being
“I think, therefore, I am,” said the French philosopher Rene Descartes. It is believed that a person is distinguished from a computer by the ability to think freely, without predetermined algorithms. But this is not true. A person also cannot "think the unthinkable", and in order to think in mathematical categories, he needs to master mathematics.
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Our mind also has a "frame of thought", beyond which it is hardly able to. Many people think that our brain, unlike a computer, does not solve any differential equations when performing everyday actions. In fact, you and I simply do not notice how molecular calculations are constantly taking place inside us at an unconscious level. Of course, this does not apply to some difficult aspects of our life that require reflection, for example, volitional decisions, emotional responses, or situations of choice. However, the basic instincts, style of behavior and response are not always controlled only by ourselves and the people around us. That is why you and I are often surprised at how we reacted to this or that event - this does not always happen meaningfully and logically, as if on a whim. As you can see, there are not many differences.
Internet is smart
If a person stays alone for a long time, he not only stops developing, but also degrades, losing his mind - it becomes little different from a machine that performs "automatic" actions. Our mind is collective. Can a team of computers think independently?
American neuroscientist Christoph Koch, a brain research and modeling specialist at the Allen Institute, has 30 years of experience in the study of the human and animal mind. In 2015, Koch headed the BRAIN Initiative, a project initiated by Barack Obama to create a virtual intelligence that is completely identical to human. In his scientific works, Christoph repeatedly wrote that “the mind is like an information field, it surrounds us, it is spilled everywhere - in the air we breathe, in the ground we walk on, in the brain that allows us to think”.
Together with the Italian psychiatrist Giulio Tononi, he came to the conclusion that not only people and animals, but also complex artificial organisms, such as the World Wide Web, have intelligence. Let's start with the fact that the Internet resembles the human brain: connections are like nerve cells, data transmission - impulses … Further, the Internet has the ability to self-learn. If a computer is a semblance of a human mind, then the Internet is a community of these minds - a semblance of a human society.
Koch came to the conclusion that the World Wide Web does not yet have a full-fledged mind and is more likely at the level of an animal, but in the future it may develop to ours and even surpass. Is it dangerous? Physicist Stephen Hawking believes that artificial intelligence will form a dangerous competition for the human mind - the mind and memory of people will degrade under the influence of electronic "assistants", and soon machines will replace us. However, most likely, the "Pandora's box" is already open.
We serve her so that she can ride
Nowadays, scientists agree that everything is developing and evolving around us - living, conditionally living and even completely inanimate. The inflationary model of the Universe has proved that the Universes develop according to Darwin's laws, and the young science of memetics claims that any thought that comes to our minds evolves and multiplies, being transmitted from person to person, like a virus. Futurist Susan Blackmore believes that technology around us also multiplies and competes with each other, like living organisms. For example, any smartphone has a circulation with a certain number of copies (population), has a lifespan, as well as the ability to disseminate information - including about itself. “We, device designers and users, have missed something important for planet Earth. These are evolutionary processes, says Blackmore.- The first process was the gene - the basis of biological evolution. The second was a meme - a unit of information measurement. We can see a huge technological boom these days, which is indicative of the third. Mechanisms are already capable of creating other mechanisms practically without human participation, and there are more and more of them."
Indeed, today in the world there are as many computers as there are people - not counting other information devices. The Internet alone consumes 6 percent of the world's electricity, and this figure continues to grow. The price of this energy is a disturbed ecology, a struggle for energy resources. Information transfer technologies are now becoming separate entities - capable of creating themselves and transmitting information, often to the detriment of their creators, people. Internet addiction, communication on social networks - all these are virtual worlds, simulations that take our reality away from us. However, all this is not at all the main danger …
In neural networks
After understanding how the brain works, scientists have created the first neural network - a digital analogue of our brain. Today, third-generation networks have been developed that can learn, recognize emotions, and make decisions. These networks are already being applied in many areas of society. In the economy and business, they predict prices for raw materials, assess the risks of loan defaults, assess the price of property, predict bankruptcies of large companies and individuals. In the medical field, neural networks are already replacing doctors - they monitor the condition of patients in clinics, on the basis of which they make a diagnosis and analyze the effectiveness of therapy. Artificial intelligence takes over security - it is able not only to identify a person by his facial features, but even to recognize bad intentions in him. So,Chinese scientists Xiaolin Wu and Xi Zhang "taught" artificial intelligence to calculate from photographs of people dangerous to society. The neural network, having studied photographs of people with a rich criminal past, identified facial features characteristic of this personality type. The idea of letting the computer decide who is the culprit and who is not has sparked an outcry among human rights defenders around the world.
As futurists predict, by 2050, neural networks will replace people in trade, pharmaceuticals, medicine, stock exchanges and journalism. These predictions are based on the fact that today neural networks are already able to draw pictures, write poetry and teach people. The increasing use of robots will not only leave many people unemployed, but can also lead to very dangerous incidents. For example, in China, at the China Hi-Tech Fair, a robot briefly left unattended destroyed a booth and injured an employee who tried to stop it. “It is impossible to reason with such a machine - it is guided by a given program, even if a serious failure has occurred in it. What will be next?
It's hard to be God
The main threat to humans is the moment when artificial intelligence understands what it is and who created it and for what purpose. Having realized itself, will this intellect be friendly to its creators or will it try to subdue us to its will?
A few years ago, speaking at a TED conference in the United States, which included prominent figures in academia and culture, such as Apple Chairman Steve Jobs and Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Susan Blackmore said that the technological leap is a clear threat to of all mankind: “Modern technologies do not need those conditions for life that we need. They do not breathe air, do not need food. In the future, they will be able to do without us."
Technologies literally enslave us, and since they are created in our image and likeness, they should not be alien to the desire for survival and competition. Our choice is to defeat them or to be defeated.