{"id":6885,"date":"2017-02-21T03:30:36","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T03:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/?p=6885"},"modified":"2017-02-21T03:30:36","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T03:30:36","slug":"musk-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/blog\/2017\/02\/musk-machines\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk and Merging With Machines \u2013 Article by Edward Hudgins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"The<\/a>Edward Hudgins<\/span>
\n<\/big><\/big><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
******************************<\/div>\n
\n

Elon Musk seems to be on board with the argument that, as a news headline sums up, \u201cHumans must merge with machines or become irrelevant in AI age<\/a>.\u201d The PayPal co-founder and SpaceX and Tesla Motors innovator has, in the past, expressed concern about deep AI. He even had a cameo in Transcendence<\/a><\/em>, a Johnny Depp film that was a cautionary tale about humans becoming machines.<\/p>\n

Has Musk changed his views? What should we think?<\/p>\n

Human-machine symbiosis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Musk said in a speech this week at the opening of Tesla in Dubai warned governments to \u201cMake sure researchers don\u2019t get carried away \u2014 scientists get so engrossed in their work they don\u2019t realize what they are doing. But he also said that \u201cOver time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence.\u201d In techno-speak he told listeners that \u201cSome high-bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence.\u201d Imagine calculating a rocket trajectory by just thinking about it since your brain and the Artificial Intelligence with which it links are one!<\/p>\n

This is, of course, the vision that is the goal of Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis, co-founders of Singularity University. It is the Transhumanist vision of philosopher Max More. It is a vision of exponential technologies that could even help us live forever.<\/p>\n

AI doubts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

But in the past, Musk has expressed doubts about AI. In July 2015, he signed onto \u201cAutonomous Weapons: an Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers<\/a>,\u201d which warned that such devices could \u201cselect and engage targets without human intervention.\u201d Yes, out-of-control killer robots! But it concluded that \u201cWe believe that AI has great potential to benefit humanity in many ways \u2026 Starting a military AI arms race is a bad idea\u2026\u201d The letter was also signed by Diamandis, one of the foremost AI proponents. So it\u2019s fair to say that Musk was simply offering reasonable caution.<\/p>\n

In Werner Herzog\u2019s documentary Lo and Behold: Reveries of a Connected World<\/a><\/em>, Musk explained that \u201cI think that the biggest risk is not that the AI will develop a will of its own but rather that it will follow the will of people that establish its utility function.\u201d He offered, \u201cIf you were a hedge fund or private equity fund and you said, \u2018Well, all I want my AI to do is maximize the value of my portfolio,\u2019 then the AI could decide \u2026 to short consumer stocks, go long defense stocks, and start a war.\u201d We wonder if the AI would appreciate that in the long-run, cities in ruins from war would harm the portfolio? In any case, Musk again seems to offer reasonable caution rather than blanket denunciations.<\/p>\n

But in his Dubai remarks, he still seemed reticent. Should he and we be worried?<\/p>\n

Why move ahead with AI?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exponential technologies already have revolutionized communications and information and are doing the same to our biology. In the short-term, human-AI interfaces, genetic engineering, and nanotech all promise to enhance our human capacities, to make us smarter, quicker of mind, healthier, and long-lived.<\/p>\n

In the long-term Diamandis contends that<\/a> \u201cEnabled with [brain-computer interfaces] and AI, humans will become massively connected with each other and billions of AIs (computers) via the cloud, analogous to the first multicellular lifeforms 1.5 billion years ago. Such a massive interconnection will lead to the emergence of a new global consciousness, and a new organism I call the Meta-Intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does this mean? If we are truly Transhuman, will we be soulless Star Trek Borgs rather than Datas seeking a better human soul? There has been much deep thinking about such question but I don\u2019t know and neither does anyone else.<\/p>\n

In the 1937 Ayn Rand short novel Anthem<\/em>, we see an impoverished dystopia governed by a totalitarian elites. We read that \u201cIt took fifty years to secure the approval of all the Councils for the Candle, and to decide on the number needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proactionary!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many elites today are in the throes of the \u201cprecautionary principle.\u201d It holds that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm \u2026 the burden of proof that it is not<\/em> harmful falls on those proposing the action or policy. Under this \u201cdon\u2019t do anything for the first time\u201d illogic, humans would never have used fire, much less candles.<\/p>\n

By contrast, Max More offers the \u201cproactionary principle.\u201d It holds that we should assess risks according to available science, not popular perception, account for both risks the costs of opportunities foregone, and protect people\u2019s freedom to experiment, innovate, and progress.<\/p>\n

Diamandis, More and, let\u2019s hope, Musk are the same path to a future we can\u2019t predict but which we know can be beyond our most optimistic dreams. And you should be on that path too!<\/p>\n

Explore<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Edward Hudgins, \u201cPublic Opposition to Biotech Endangers Your Life and Health<\/a>\u201c. July 28, 2016.<\/p>\n

Edward Hudgins, \u201cThe Robots of Labor Day<\/a>\u201c. September 2, 2015.<\/p>\n

Edward Hudgins, \u201cGoogle, Entrepreneurs, and Living 500 Years<\/a>\u201c. March 12, 2015.<\/p>\n

Dr. Edward Hudgins is the director of advocacy for The Atlas Society<\/a> and the editor and author of several books on politics and government policy. He is also a member of the U.S. Transhumanist Party<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edward Hudgins ****************************** Elon Musk seems to be on board with the argument that, as a news headline sums up, \u201cHumans must merge with machines or become irrelevant in AI age.\u201d The PayPal co-founder and SpaceX and Tesla Motors innovator has, in the past, expressed concern about deep AI. He even had a cameo in Transcendence, a Johnny Depp film that was a cautionary tale about humans becoming machines. Has Musk changed his views? What should we think? Human-machine symbiosis…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[356,104],"tags":[270,4849,271,42,5089,3643,5090,1649,557,116,5091,1740,848,4422,95,575,2131,5092],"class_list":["post-6885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology-2","category-transhumanism","tag-ai","tag-anthem","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-ayn-rand","tag-brain-computer-interfaces","tag-cyborg","tag-digital-intelligence","tag-edward-hudgins","tag-elon-musk","tag-innovation","tag-johnny-depp","tag-max-more","tag-peter-diamandis","tag-proactionary-principle","tag-progress","tag-tesla","tag-transcendence","tag-werner-herzog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6885"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6887,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6885\/revisions\/6887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rationalargumentator.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}