Super Intellegence

Since the advent of modern machines, and most particularly since the advent of the digital computer, philosophers and poets have been intrigued by the concept of a computer system so powerful that it is capable of controlling society. This idea is primarily realized in the vein of a malevolent entity.

There is no doubt that a little irrational fear is associated to such musings, but there are also practical everyday experiences that lend credence to such fears. These are the experiences of the all to familiar computer turned bureaucrat. The computer that is hacked and divulges your personal information, or more likely, the computer that is spying on you, the computer that knows your likes and dislikes and is only too willing to sell that information to third parties.

So from this common experience springs the notion that given sufficient time and resources the computer could become self aware and intelligent enough to concern itself with its own best interests That a computer might see itself as an entIty separate from and not dependent on human society. That a computer could be in some sense self-conscious.

The theme of the super intelligent computer is related to, but not identical with, the corresponding theme regarding intelligent robots. Due to Isaac Asimov’s well known laws for robots and the fact that robots are generally local entities rather than as global entities, the extreme theme of robotic control of human society is subsumed in the larger theme of a network of master computers.

Perhaps the best example of this sort of fear is expressed in the serial movie franchises: The Terminator and The Matrix. In each of these stories, a savior is sought. In each case, the savior of mankind is the target to be terminated by the agents of the malevolent machine demon. Computer Scientist and science fiction writer Vernon Vinge is credited with developing the idea that we may be moving toward a moment in time which would be designated as a Technological Singularity or artificial intelligence explosion.

This would be a point in time at which humans would lose the ability to control computer machinery. This machinery would then have the ability to assert itself and control its own future. From this scenario it does not necessarily follow that such a machine would necessarily be malevolent. On the other hand, it is generally posited that a super intelligent machine, would by its nature, work for its own preservation. It is likewise generally posited that humans would not voluntarily becomes slaves to such machines. Hence the evident conflict and the subsequent dystopia envisioned.