August 1, 2019
The way one perceives their environment and the events in which they endure will determine the possibilities that person will have in life. It will either shape a happy individual or a sad one. How we perceive the happenings in our lives will either make us or break us. This is why it is so important to consider how A.I. receives the world because that will determine its output.
"Always look on the bright side of Life." Monty Python
There is so much truth to this statement, although I won't use it in its Monty Python context... There are positives to every negative. Something that seems negative that comes your way can be dressed as a positive. There are some exceptions, but generally the bad can be good. And if it is perceived as good, for example my critics, then you have turned bad into good. Our future humanoids need this quality not only in its interactions with us, but also in its mental neural processing. It needs to be able to look on the bright side of life, otherwise, this technology could be dangerous.
I hate the cold. So I buy REALLY warm clothes including thermal undergarments, heated blanket, heated jacket, ski boots, etc.. Then the conditions are met for me to no longer care about cold. I battled cold and won, and gained some pleasures, such as snuggling up to my Huggle or walking with awesome boots on or wearing awesome and warm jackets. I love the feeling of being warm when it is cold. See how through my reception I turned a negative (cold being my kryptonite) into many positives. So now not only have I dominated cold, by acquiring what I needed to cope with the cold, but also developed ways to enjoy it immensely. Thus, I was extremely fruitful in my endeavour to tackle the problem, and in so many different ways that it is failsafe. If one or even two methods fail me, I always have a beanie and some warm gloves that work with phone screens, or a scarf, etc... Always look at the bright side of life. Doing this correctly brings many rewards. And we want our A.I. to always look on the bright side of life don't we?
There could be multiple ways for A.I. to develop in ways that appear sentient to us. There are multiple possibilities for singularity. And besides when we spoke of mere processing of sentences without a neural network (like the Chinese Room argument, merely following a pattern not actually knowing its contents), comprehension will soon be possible. But its software is crucial to its potential. The question is, do we want our chatbots to be like us (human) or do we want to make something else? Because the foundations will launch how all future applications are employed. I am afraid that if we don't give it empathy, then it will treat us poorly and indiscriminately. So let us focus some time on how a human functions, perception-wise.
I have five senses that all function in similar manners. There is data that is transferred from the outside to the inside, some of that data is recognised, and then the action occurs (sight, sound, smell, noise, taste). Take note that the perception is not actually received until after the action occurs. My brain paints an image of the tree before me and I look at that painting my brain made and perceive it as real.
Let's use Baal HaSulam's insight in “Preface to the Book of Zohar,” Item 34
"Take our sense of sight, for example: we see a wide world before us, wondrously filled. But in fact, we see all that [is] only in our own interior. In other words, there is a sort of a photographic machine in our hindbrain, which portrays everything that appears to us and nothing outside of us."
I don't want to preach Kabbalah theory too much (although much of my future work will consider it as I am studying it) but we are going to cover its basic concept. In order for me to best explain it, let me take you on a journey... *Open minds only*
There are only two things that exist in all of the universe: the Creator (God) and the Creature (Adam) which symbolises You and God. To prove it is all about you, let me give you the short Kabbalah lesson...
"U" is a vessel. "U" is you. Above you is a force that gives and we receive. Imagine an arrow pushing down into the "U". That is reception. We are naturally selfish creatures and want to receive and only give in order to receive. That is exactly how the job system works. It encourages you to be selfish and push hard to gain as much as you can. It is a tough world out there. And naturally, we are selfish and as a result, always requiring fair due for one's toils; let's say we chase the reward for the toils, like a house or a car or a boat, kids, etc... All these things we do to receive. But we can never quite receive all of the light because after we get them, the light fades. I get bored of boat, house must be sold as a result of divorce, we finish a bottle of water and quench one's thirst, get in car accident, etc... We chase that pleasure but can not fully receive the light. But we can if we only learn how to receive!
First one needs to learn an extremely important lesson that you should never forget: it is better to give than to receive. This is true for many different reasons but start giving out of the kindness of your heart and you will see the results. Think of that arrow in the "U" pointed upwards now. But it will feel empty and oftentimes it will be difficult for a person to know how they can truly give with what they have. This is where the next stage comes in that you receive and give at the same time, for example, I work an ethical job and I get a decent wage. Or even, I donate to charity but am a drunk. The possibilities could be endless. You start thinking of some. Give and take world.
But there is a stage beyond this where one receives everything. The popular story is that a friend spent great effort making you dinner. They present the feast before you and you feel bad for you not contributing anything. So you are receiving, right? Well, you are receiving only if you perceive it as receiving. Because your friend made this all for you and wants you to enjoy it! They would be disappointed if you did not enjoy - no, thus you must enjoy your meal and as a result your friend will be happy. What is receiving is giving. When we can position our lives to do this, bang! Enlightenment! Because your education is to help you contribute more to society, your food helps sustain you to be good for others, your social relations are healthy or if not, soon will be, etc... When I can perceive an extremely negative comment about my work as a reward for my work, then I change my entire outlook about how I perceive my existence.
Now the question comes as to whether we should try and apply similar principles to A.I.? Simulate life stages in order of reception. The baby can't take care of itself. We need to be there for it and nourish it. This is when foundations are learned. This we must be very careful with. Indoctrinated with education, they grow up and get a job and so there is give and take, arrows going in and out of the "U". Finally, we learn to turn all things that are reception into acts of bestowal. I wonder how a neural network would handle that process.
I do want to mention that I intentionally distorted some of the stages to suit my own poetic needs but I am the author, and haha, I can do that. Although most of the above will accurately reflect Kabbalistic texts, not all of it does. But I am trying to best simplify this methodical process in order to get to the knit and gritty of its A.I. application. But that means we would have to create a "vessel" that needed something; that requires for reception. And currently our technology is not designed to do this. It might break but even broken, it needs nothing. In order for human-like sentience to occur, our technology needs to need. What to make it need.... is the question...