Technology

A Paradigm for AI Consciousness

Author: Michael Johnson
Date: June, 2024
Area: Biology, Physical Sciences, Psychology, Scientific Ethics, Technology
Text: PDF, Substack

How can we create a container for knowledge about AI consciousness? This work introduces a new framework based on physicalism, decoherence, and symmetry. Major arguments include (1) atoms are a more sturdy ontology for grounding consciousness than bits, (2) Wolfram’s ‘branchial space’ is where an object’s true shape lives, (3) electromagnetism is a good proxy for branchial shape, (4) brains and computers have significantly different shapes in branchial space, (5) symmetry considerations will strongly inform a future science of consciousness, and (6) computational efficiency considerations may broadly hedge against “s-risk”.

Attitudes Toward Artificial General Intelligence: Results from American Adults in 2021 and 2023

Author: Jason Jeffrey Jones and Steven Skiena
Date: February, 2024
Area: Social Sciences, Technology
Text: PDF, Substack

A compact, inexpensive repeated survey on American adults’ attitudes toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) revealed a stable ordering but changing magnitudes of agreement toward three statements. Contrasting 2021 to 2023, American adults increasingly agreed AGI was possible to build. Respondents agreed more weakly that AGI should be built. Finally, American adults mostly disagree that an AGI should have the same rights as a human being; disagreeing more strongly in 2023 than in 2021.

Taxonomies of Intelligence: A Comprehensive Guide to the Universe of Minds

Author: Roman V. Yampolskiy
Date: October, 2023
Areas: Biology, Psychology, Technology
Text: PDF, Substack

This paper explores the landscape of potential mind architectures by initially conceptualizing all minds as software. Through rigorous analysis, we establish intriguing properties of this intellectual space, including its infinite scope, variable dimensions of complexity, and representational intricacies. We then provide an extensive review of existing taxonomies for mind design. Building on this foundation, the paper introduces 'Intellectology' as a new field dedicated to the systematic study of diverse forms of intelligence. A compendium of open research questions aimed at steering future inquiry in this nascent discipline is also presented.

How to Escape From the Simulation

Author: Roman Yampolskiy
Date: March, 2023
Areas: Physical Sciences, Scientific Ethics, Technology
Text: PDF, Substack

Many researchers have conjectured that humankind is simulated along with the rest of the physical universe – a Simulation Hypothesis. In this paper, we do not evaluate evidence for or against such a claim, but instead ask a computer science question, namely: Can we hack the simulation? More formally the question could be phrased as: Could generally intelligent agents placed in virtual environments find a way to jailbreak out of them? Given that the state-of-the-art literature on AI containment answers in the affirmative (AI is uncontainable in the long-term), we conclude that it should be possible to escape from the simulation, at least with the help of superintelligent AI. By contraposition, if escape from the simulation is not possible, containment of AI should be. Finally, the paper surveys and proposes ideas for hacking the simulation and analyzes ethical and philosophical issues of such an undertaking.

What are the Red Flags for Neural Network Suffering?

Authors: Marius Hobbhahn, Jan Kirchner
Date: September, 2022
Areas: Biology, Scientific Ethics, Technology
Text: PDF

Which kind of evidence would we need to see to believe that artificial neural networks can suffer? We review neuroscience literature, investigate behavioral arguments and propose high-level considerations that could shift our beliefs. Of these three approaches, we believe that high-level considerations, i.e. understanding under which circumstances suffering arises as an optimal training strategy, is the most promising. Our main finding, however, is that the understanding of artificial suffering is very limited and should likely get more attention.

The Cult Deficit: Analysis and Speculation

Author: Roger’s Bacon
Date: May, 2022
Areas: Psychology, Science Education, Social Sciences, Technology
Text: PDF, Substack

Using a dataset derived from the long-running “Cults” podcast by Parcast, I find that the number of new cults began to increase in the 50s, peaked in the 70s-80s, and has been in steady decline in recent decades. I discuss various factors (historical, technological, cultural, pharmacological) that may have played a role in the rise and fall of cults since the 1950s and speculate on what the future may hold.

Copies and Random Decision: a proposal to peacefully the conflict around looted art

Author: Bruno S. Frey
Date: October, 2021
Areas: Scientific Ethics, Social Sciences, Technology
Text: PDF

“I propose a novel approach to deal with the conflict between the present owners and the original owners of looted art. The procedure is based on perfect copying (which is possible today due to digital techniques) and random procedures (which are a means to achieve a fair outcome).”

Stories as Technology: Past, Present, and Future

Authors: Roger’s Bacon, Sergey Samsonau, Dario Krpan (example article)
Date: May, 2021
Areas: Psychology, Technology
Text: PDF

“What is it about a good story that causes it to have life-changing effects on one person and not another? I wonder if future technologies will enable us to develop the type of truly deep and fine-grained understanding of stories as social, cognitive, and emotional technologies that might allow us to answer this question with a high-level of precision.”