From: phil osborn (philosborn@hotmail.com)
Date: Tue Aug 29 2000 - 23:39:00 MDT
Just a few thoughts: The other night I accidentally tuned in to "Red
Dwarf." The computer convinced one of the characters to erase part of its
"memory." Problem was that it had read every single book ever written -
supposedly stored in its "library" - and was bored. So it wanted all the
Agathe Christy novels erased so that it could have the pleasure of reading
them again.
Question: What is the precise difference between having the novels in
"memory" and in "storage?" Presumably the computer could access the
information in the library via any number of algorythmic searches or even
spawn intelligent agents to do more sophisticated access to the actual
informational content and meaning. What additional factor is involved in
actually reading it that isn't present in intelligent transclusion?
In terms related to uploading, what would be the difference between my
moving the library of congress - or just a single book - into my RAM or the
equivalent and my actually "reading" the material in question?
From: "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience@pobox.com>>Subject: Re:
Borganization
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 22:15:51 -0400
Dan Fabulich wrote:
>
>So, right now, I think borganization is my very best chance to survive the
>death of my body. What do you think?
If nanotech shows up and nobody has a seed AI around, then we might want to
try hacking up some kind of neural-computer interface, or hack up an
interbrain connection by yoking random neurons together. The trouble is, I
don't see how an interbrain connection could be implemented on the
necessary
scale - say, a hundred-million-neuron crossover - without nanotechnology or
something similar.
But if someone figures out how to yoke neurons together using optical
fibers,
and automate the implantation process so it can be done on the necessary
scale
- then I say go for it! Get a dozen suicide volunteers; try yoking
together
one neuron in every minicolumn, or one minicolumn in every macrocolumn, or
select an entire macrocolumn and wire it up. Either you'll get telepathy,
or
the volunteer will keel over and die, or nothing will happen, or the
cognitive
processes will be damaged in ways that range from the subtle to the
horrific...
Obviously this is a measure of desperation. Realistically, I don't see
anyone
getting a permit to use the necessary medical nanotechnology before
military
hell breaks loose. I got my start in human IE, and neurohacking is a
bona-fide path to the Singularity, but currently I'm sticking with seed AI.
-- -- -- -- --
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://singinst.org/home.html
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
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