July 10, 2019
Let us brainstorm how a human functions as to later compare to its robotic counterpart. First I am given breath, a spark of life that causes this new one to cry. The newborn immediately removed from its mother upon conception. But back up. Let's start before that. Let's discuss adult needs and how they satisfy them. But wait, I have already come upon a stumbling block. Not the chicken or the egg but needs itself. I type on this phone that doesn't need anything. Whereas us humans are really needy.
In the beginning, God created Adam, a man fully mature physically. He roamed the beautiful wilderness placing a name to things as to create language. Adam found food from plants and made shelter with trees. He kept water near as his survival required constant hydration, being a water-based creature. But he had other desires other than just surviving. He had to learn to prepare for events in his future. Unlike the animals, God both blessed and cursed man with the ability to understand past, present, and future. The blessing gave us abilities to create extremely elaborate constructions; the curse being only the present actually existing and the past and future mere figments of our imagination.
But Adam was lonely and God desired for Adam's happiness, so he created Eve so that Adam could enjoy company and family. The two mature bodies and souls uniting as one force caused a disturbance in the heavens. And this is where man fell from heaven as our soul is gestated. Nine months later the first human birth is celebrated. And now we are back to where we began; where we all begin.
When I am hungry, I cry. When my daiper is wet, I cry. When I am cold, I cry. When I am sick, I cry. I learn that this crying thing obtains me my needs, so I use it everytime I am uncomfortable, because then these people in my life rectify my discomfort.
But as I age and mature, crying ceases to be an effective method to obtain my needs and desires. I am expected by society to use the words taught to me to obtain my needs rather than merely crying. During this time of change, I am taught how to be a "normal" person. I am taught that my shoes go on my feet and my hat goes on my head. I am taught to brush my teeth daily and to dress myself. I am taught to revolve my life around television, as parents no longer have the time to raise their children. This television raises our future generations. I am taught my social customs and expected to adhere to them. I am taught what is "good" and what is "bad". I am sent to school to learn collective values.
As I continue to age, more and more responsibility is placed on me. I am given a set of chores to do and a very small allowance, as to be trusted with effort and reward. Under most circumstances, the greater my effort, the more reward was given. I am taught a set of values by my parents and it is likely that I will adopt at least some of these values as I mature into adulthood.
Before we continue, I want to discuss motion, somewhat scientifically. There is action and reaction. Motion will come to a rest before it motions again. I have an exercise for you to do over the next week. Look at people. Yes, truely look at people. Watch how we move. We are constantly in a state of trying to become more and more comfortable, physically. I put my hand in my pocket. I scratch my leg. I turn my head. I stretch. Each new motion is intended to achieve me a greater state of comfort. For some reason the previous state became of less importance, for example, an itch scratched no longer itches. By careful analysis of the human, we can identify their need to reach higher and higher states of pleasure (comfort).
Our bodies change as puberty sets in. Our bodies naturally want to reproduce so we become sexually motivated. Hair gel and pimples. Most of our needs remaining the same from birth but how we satisfy those needs changes. Or should I say how we are forced by society to satisfy those needs changes. We obtain part-time jobs. These jobs are to prepare us for the life of full-time slavery that is to come.
Now we have an adult. One that was raised under human conditions from birth. And there is time. And this newly formed adult now must learn what to do with that time. And what this adult chooses to do with this time will determine their future possibilities. If the time is wasted away, then that will determine their current character. If the time is utilised efficiently, then that will also determine their current character.
Now that we have established the foundations of a human, let's discuss how an electronic humanoid could be possible, given its diametrically opposite physical composition. We are not working with flesh and blood but ones and zeros. So if we are to create a new lifeform, then we are responsible for how that lifeform turns out. And if we want our humanoids to reflect ourselves (in order to communicate effectively), then we must give them similar experiences to real humans. This is why electronic neural networks are so important. And the neural network's most important feature: empathy. But how can we get the technology to walk in our shoes without it having the same experiences as us? How does a bat see the world? How do ones and zeros see the world?
First the technology needs to comprehend the five senses. Cameras are their eyes. Media literally captures the light! Follow the light! If I can get a machine to see what I see then we are almost there. We are giving our future humanoids their experiences right now as we make TV. That is why in the long run, audiovideo will trump mere text. I had to work backwards though. I had to do the TV part to understand what my vision was, and then the text part (this book) to sound the warning bells of the future of AI.