Lorraine Ford
AIs have failed to take over the world in the manner predicted by the science-fiction-raised tech boys. What a surprise! (Not a surprise.) Reminds me of the fact that Jesus has failed to take over the world in the manner predicted by the bible-raised religious boys. Though both groups still fervently hope and believe that an ultimate takeover will happen.
So, what is the difference between genuine life, consciousness and agency on the one hand, and AIs on the other hand?
Man-made physical symbols are the difference.
Man-made physical symbols are things like arrangements of ink on paper and arrangements of pixels on screens; arrangements of sound waves in the air; and arrangements of voltages, transistors and circuits in computers.
Ink, paper, pixel screen elements, sound waves, voltages through circuits, and transistors are all subject to the laws of nature. But the special man-made ARRANGEMENTS of these physical things (i.e. man-made physical symbols) are not subject to the laws of nature because they are not “known” to the laws of nature; the arrangements are only known to people after they have analysed the light and sound waves that have interacted with their eyes and ears.
The thing that seems to bamboozle the physicists, philosophers and nerds is the fact that, in computers/ AIs, special man-made arrangements of voltages, transistors and circuits have been devised which, together with man-made computer programs, can symbolise the sort of analysis that people and other living things do.
Unfortunately, physicists, philosophers and nerds have shown themselves to be no different to the religious believers with their bibles filled with man-made symbols. Because physicists, philosophers and nerds have also made the mistake of believing that man-made physical symbols literally, factually, inherently carry their own meaning.
The only things that can potentially take over the world are genuine living things, from microbes to people, where living things are defined by their ability to analyse the physical arrangements they encounter (as opposed to AIs that can only symbolically represent this analysis).