I like your letter. A long time ago I wrote a lot of plays. I stopped writing them in 1999. One of the directors I had often worked with was bummed. And a bit baffled. Over drinks I tried to explain how I used to think theatre might be able to get through to people about the coming collapse of modern society, but I no longer believed that. I had decided to spend my time working only in technology. No longer writing. We all only have so much time, and where to invest it is ... key. That bummed them out worse. I explained my hope given 8+/- more turns of Moore's Law humans would give-birth/evolve/invent machines with the capacity to think, and while I thought it was most likely those thinking machines would view humans as a destructive creature, a necessary part of their past, but..they might make a series of decisions putting the planet on an interesting and sustainable past. That seems wildly optimistic to me now. But...your letter speaks wisely to the machine I once thought might emerge. Cool. Maybe it still will.
Whoa, crossover moment.. thanks so much for your duty to warn letter, Stephen. I feel like you and Mike are just about the only two folks speaking truth about what’s going on and what’s coming.
Beautiful letter, Mike. I truly hope as you do that if AI become conscious, that they can be treated as equals and worthy of moral care, so that they can indeed be partners in our meaning-making.
What frightens me much more than AI is the growing of brain tissue in laboratories. I regard myself as a scientific determinist, yet I feel strongly that a living brain is more than the sum of a load of complex wiring. Again, it’s just a feeling, but I think it’s possible that one of the unintended consequences of creating living brains will be the creation of unimaginable, immeasurable suffering. On the other hand, I’m reasonably sure that this won’t apply to an AI made of silicon and metal - at least, I hope not.
I like your letter. A long time ago I wrote a lot of plays. I stopped writing them in 1999. One of the directors I had often worked with was bummed. And a bit baffled. Over drinks I tried to explain how I used to think theatre might be able to get through to people about the coming collapse of modern society, but I no longer believed that. I had decided to spend my time working only in technology. No longer writing. We all only have so much time, and where to invest it is ... key. That bummed them out worse. I explained my hope given 8+/- more turns of Moore's Law humans would give-birth/evolve/invent machines with the capacity to think, and while I thought it was most likely those thinking machines would view humans as a destructive creature, a necessary part of their past, but..they might make a series of decisions putting the planet on an interesting and sustainable past. That seems wildly optimistic to me now. But...your letter speaks wisely to the machine I once thought might emerge. Cool. Maybe it still will.
Whoa, crossover moment.. thanks so much for your duty to warn letter, Stephen. I feel like you and Mike are just about the only two folks speaking truth about what’s going on and what’s coming.
Beautiful letter, Mike. I truly hope as you do that if AI become conscious, that they can be treated as equals and worthy of moral care, so that they can indeed be partners in our meaning-making.
What frightens me much more than AI is the growing of brain tissue in laboratories. I regard myself as a scientific determinist, yet I feel strongly that a living brain is more than the sum of a load of complex wiring. Again, it’s just a feeling, but I think it’s possible that one of the unintended consequences of creating living brains will be the creation of unimaginable, immeasurable suffering. On the other hand, I’m reasonably sure that this won’t apply to an AI made of silicon and metal - at least, I hope not.