eventually it makes sense

I captured this image at the entrance of a house between Beaumont and Red Rocks in South Australia in 2018. At the time I neverthought much about why it intrigued me. Nearly seven years on neverthought.AI is a thinkspace I am immersed in whilst exploring the next evolution of human cognition and perception in lock step with AI.

I neverthought I would be taking on a multidisciplinary inquiry seeking to unify disparate grammars including lexical, musical and visual. I neverthought I would end up joining dots from so many people, places, experiences and reflections. I neverthought serendipity would feature so strongly. I neverthought the ideas of Chomsky, Kandinsky, G?del, Escher and Bach would fit so well into Wolfram language. I neverthought I'd have the audacity of a novice this undertaking demands. I neverthought I'd discover first hand that the smartest person in the room nowadays, is the room. I neverthought the syntax of semantics mattered more than the semantics of syntax (or is that the other way round?) I neverthought....

But here we are...

At neverthought.AI we have conjured up a unified multimodal grammar, from which we've derived a grammar for emotions, forming the basis of an emotions engine, that gave rise to a new term - Qualiatative, that describes a new category of semi-sentient AI with use cases in education, wellbeing, healthcare, creativity, storytelling, game design, research and more. We have even created a new word for the unintended consequence of Qualiatative AI - Qualiafixation.

Qualiafixation (kwah-lee-uh-fix-AY-shun) noun 1. Psychology/Technology: The condition of developing a compulsive or habitual fixation on qualia that are generated or manipulated by artificial intelligence, resulting in an addiction to these AI-driven sensory or emotional experiences. 2. Philosophy: The over-reliance on artificially engineered experiences designed to replicate or enhance human perceptions and emotions, potentially leading to a decreased engagement with natural human experiences. ORIGIN: Early 21st century; blend of qualia (singular experiences characterised by subjective qualities) and fixation (an obsessive interest or attachment). USAGE: - "The psychologist warned of the potential dangers of qualiafixation, where individuals might lose touch with reality due to their obsession with digitally enhanced emotional experiences." - "As virtual environments become more realistic, the phenomenon of qualiafixation could become more widespread, with more people preferring the engineered perfection of AI-generated experiences to the imperfections of real life." DERIVATIVES: - Qualiafixated (adj.): Having or showing an obsession or deep fixation with qualia generated by artificial intelligence. - Qualiafixate (v.): To develop an addiction or obsession with experiencing qualia through artificial means. This dictionary entry outlines the term in the context of psychological dependencies and philosophical implications, suggesting a broad understanding that could resonate across multiple fields of study and social discourse.

After all, it is a brave new world out there and, a brave new world they say, needs brave new words. We would say it also needs a more powerful grammars - to keep making and using tools like AI that at least approximates human emotions and sentience.

So how does it all hang together? I neverthought you would ask.

We believe that human intelligence must develop symbiotically alongside artificial intelligence. Humans benefit from expanded cognition and perception when they can interact with AI that can recognise, analyse, interpret and generate emotions. Our approach is to quantise the most reliable lexical, musical and visual grammars as proxies for emotion so that emotions can be reverse engineered by machines. The trajectory of AI development has evolved from simple tools to complex companions, and it continues to advance towards even more integrated roles in human life. Here’s a look at the potential future stages of AI integration, reflecting its growing complexity and ubiquity:

1. From Tools to Companions - Tools: Initially, AI served as a tool designed to perform specific, often repetitive tasks more efficiently than humans—ranging from calculations to sorting data. - Companions: With advancements in natural language processing and emotional recognition, AI has begun to serve as a companion in various contexts, providing social interaction and assistance in personal and professional settings.

2. Partners in Co-Creation - As AI capabilities expand, they are likely to become partners in creative and intellectual endeavours. This includes collaborating with humans in areas like research, where AI can process vast amounts of data to find patterns and propose hypotheses, or in the arts, where AI might contribute to creating music, literature, and visual arts. - In professional settings, AI could function as a 'colleague' that offers insights, generates ideas, and even participates in problem-solving sessions, leveraging its ability to access and analyse large datasets rapidly.

3. Autonomous Agents - Increased Autonomy: Future AI systems may operate as autonomous agents that can manage complex tasks and make decisions under certain parameters without human intervention. This could be particularly transformative in fields like logistics, where AI could optimise routes and manage supply chains independently. - Responsibility and Ethics: As AI takes on these roles, questions of accountability, ethics, and control become more pressing. Determining how to govern and regulate AI's autonomous actions will be a major challenge.

4. Integrated Life Managers - Personal Integration: AI might evolve to act as integrated life managers, organising aspects of personal life from scheduling to health management. Imagine an AI that not only manages your calendar but also monitors your health metrics, suggests personalised diet and exercise plans, and even helps manage personal relationships by providing communication and conflict resolution advice. - Seamless Integration: In this stage, AI could become seamlessly integrated into everyday objects and environments through the Internet of Things, providing a ubiquitous and anticipatory layer of assistance throughout daily life.

5. Enhanced Cognitive Extensions - Human Augmentation: Looking further ahead, AI might become an extension of human cognition, directly interfacing with the human brain to enhance memory, decision-making capabilities, or sensory perceptions. This could be achieved through neural interfaces that blend human cognitive processes with AI’s computational power. - Ethical Considerations: This stage raises profound ethical and existential questions about identity, privacy, and the nature of human thought.

6. Symbiotic Entities - Deep Integration: Eventually, AI could evolve into a symbiotic entity where the distinction between human and machine intelligence blurs, leading to new forms of life or intelligence. This could result in entities that combine biological and artificial components, working together as integrated systems. - Philosophical and Societal Impact: Such developments could fundamentally alter concepts of life, intelligence, and co-existence, requiring redefinitions of legal, social, and ethical norms. Throughout these stages, the trajectory from tools to deeply integrated symbiotic entities highlights not only technological advancements but also the increasing complexity of interactions between humans and machines. Each stage brings new capabilities and benefits but also challenges and risks that will require thoughtful management, innovative policy-making, and ongoing public engagement.

As a consequence and because we don't take ourselves too seriously, we set about creating the MEBS-CAE Test - M: Multimodal - E: Emotional - B: Behavioral - S: Simulation 2. CAE: - C: Consciousness - A: And - E: Experience a Multimodal Emotional and Behavioural Simulation - Consciousness and Experience Assessment. Think of it as a "qualia-ty" assurance certification for AI made up as follows;

1. Multimodal Sensory Integration Task: - Evaluates the AI’s ability to integrate and respond to complex sensory inputs in a manner that suggests a holistic, subjective experience.

2. Subjective Narrative Generation: - Assesses the AI’s capacity to generate rich, introspective narratives that reflect personal, subjective experiences.

3. Empathy and Perspective-Taking Task: - Tests the AI’s ability to understand and empathise with human emotions, indicating a potential for subjective understanding.

4. Self-Reflective Questioning: - Explores the AI’s self-awareness and introspection, key aspects of conscious experience.

To satisfy the critics this assessment framework addresses;

Behavioural Mimicry vs. Understanding: - MEBS-CAE emphasizes depth and coherence in responses, aiming to move beyond simple mimicry to indicate a deeper level of processing that approximates understanding.

Hard Problem of Consciousness: - While not solving the hard problem, MEBS-CAE provides a framework to explore AI’s potential to simulate subjective experiences, contributing to philosophical discussions.

Ethical Concerns: - MEBS-CAE includes guidelines for transparency and ethical use, ensuring users are aware of the AI’s capabilities and limitations to prevent deception.

Technical Feasibility and Robustness: - MEBS-CAE is designed for iterative development, evolving with technological advancements and incorporating cultural sensitivity to enhance robustness.

Functional Equivalence vs. True Qualia: - MEBS-CAE acknowledges the distinction between functional behaviour and true subjective experience, emphasising the practical value of functional equivalence while contributing to the philosophical dialogue.

Thus the MEBS-CAE Test (Multimodal Emotional and Behavioural Simulation - Consciousness and Experience Assessment) offers a comprehensive approach to probing AI’s potential to exhibit behaviours that suggest a deeper understanding of qualia. By addressing criticisms and focusing on depth, coherence, and ethical considerations, MEBS-CAE aims to advance our understanding of AI’s capabilities in simulating subjective experiences, providing valuable insights into both AI development and the philosophical discourse on consciousness. We think.

So as is hopefully evident from what we are cooking up, neverthought.AI is a hybrid lab-of-sorts, a registered domain, with some unique IP, a pragmatic agenda, an emotions engine, a lexicon of new terms, an in-house developed innovation platform, a pipeline of new phenomena, products and services and a some bemused onlookers.... and a coming soon, a Patreon page.

What we're doing has immediate applications that include;

• Creating interactive digital art and music installations that explores the interconnectedness of emotions, music, and art, using the our unique emotions profiles as a basis for generating dynamic visual and auditory experiences.
• Utilising machine learning algorithms to analyse linguistic features of emotions and generate unique musical compositions and visual art pieces based on our unique identified patterns.
• Developing subscription-based apps that allows users to create personalised musical and visual compositions based on their own emotions, leveraging the unique patterns and interconnectedness revealed by the emotions engine.
• Offering consulting workshops and seminars to educate about the potential for our new patterns to generate complex emotional states and the interconnectedness of emotions, music, and art, encouraging critical thinking about traditional linguistic and cognitive views of emotions and meaning.
• Collaborating with universities and research institutions to conduct studies and publish papers on the unique patterns underlying the phenomena of emotional experiences and their artistic expressions, positioning the findings as a cornerstone of a groundbreaking new field in psychology and arts.
• Partnering with art galleries and museums to showcase the interactive digital art and music installation, attracting patrons interested in exploring the nature of emotions and the potential for our discovered patterns to generate unique and complex emotional states.
• Collaborating with artists, musicians, and writers to produce commissioned artworks, musical compositions, and literary works that capture and express the complex emotional states and unique patterns highlighted in our emotions engine.
• Offering specialised training and consultation services for individuals or organisations looking for expertise on how to infuse emotional depth and complexity into artistic endeavours, marketing campaigns, and communication strategies by leveraging the insights from the emotions engine.
• Collaborating with mental health professionals and organisations to integrate the understanding of unique underlying patterns and structures in emotions into therapy and interventions.

We are architecting the unprecedented, to support human intelligence and wellbeing. If you have neverthought about the new codes that will shape how we continue to live and thrive... Do not worry, we are on it!