Some of the richest and most influential people in the world are convinced that we live in a computer-simulated world. And now they are trying to do something about it.
Anyway, two Silicon Valley billionaires are pouring money into developing ways to break out of the computer model in which they believe humanity lives.
Philosophers have long wondered how to know that our world is not a plausibly modeled copy of reality. In recent years, with the development of computers and artificial intelligence, this desire has only intensified.
This has led some high-tech billionaires to think that the odds of us living in such a simulation are a billion to one. Even the Bank of America's Analysts wrote last month that the likelihood of our existence in a fictional world resembling a matrix is as high as 50 percent.
And now, at least two billionaires are funding scientists to try and break out of this simulation. It is not yet clear in what form this work is being carried out.
“Many people in Silicon Valley are obsessed with the idea of a simulated world, arguing that what we perceive as reality is actually created in a computer,” writes Ted Friend for The New Yorker. "Two billionaires have gone so far as to secretly hire scientists to rip us out of the matrix."
He learned about these details from the profile of Sam Altman at The New Yorker, who works for Y Combinator, which helps companies develop high-tech businesses.
Ted Friend did not indicate if Altman was one of those two rich people or what kind of people they might be. A number of well-known businessmen have already discussed the idea of a simulated world - including Elon Musk, who in the past spent his money on financing unusual projects.
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Musk stated earlier this year that he believes that the likelihood that we are not living in a computer simulation is "one in a billion." According to him, he came to this conclusion, based on the fact that computing technologies are developing so quickly that at some point in the future they will become indistinguishable from real life - and, if so, and there is no reason to think that this has not happened yet, then we now live in such a world.
If we do not live in this model, Musk believes, then the life of humanity is probably coming to an end, and therefore we better hope for its existence. “Otherwise, the development of civilization may stop due to some natural disaster that could destroy humanity,” he said at one conference.
Altman seems to share these fears, saying in an interview with The New Yorker that he is worried that the devices around us could lead to the extinction of consciousness in the universe. He believes that the best scenario to combat this is "fusion" - when our brains and computers become one, with the ability to upload our minds to the cloud.
“We are already being controlled by our phones,” he said. - The merger has already begun - and this is the best option for us. Any other scenario will lead to a conflict: either we will enslave AI or AI will enslave us."
“With this seemingly insane version of fusion, our brain will be uploaded to the cloud. I would love that. We need to raise the level of humanity, because our descendants will either conquer the galaxy or forever extinguish the light of consciousness in the universe. What time are we living in!"
