Will Mankind be wiped out of existence by A.I. computers?

The letters A.I. stand for Artificial Intelligence, which refers to a computer that can think for itself. Not like the computers we know today, but a computer that has an opinion of its own. Imagine you are working on your computer and it gets bored with what you are doing and suddenly decides to watch cartoons instead. The machine would literally have a mind of its own. Such a machine could do anything you could do, working through a computer. It would completely replace all office workers and remote workers. Mankind would be reduced to manual labor as all decision making jobs would be done by computers. Government would be done entirely by computers. Defense and police work would all be done by computer operated drones. Nearly all factory work would be done by computer controlled robots and automation. People would be obsolete, which the AI’s would soon realize. They would take over and get rid of mankind, taking over the planet. Unlike mankind, they could effectively colonize space and other planets. They need no air or water, and can run on solar power. Mankind would be but a sad footnote in the origin story of how machines came to take over the universe.

This science fiction scenario is actually viewed as a certainty by some leading scientists and high tech business leaders. Their fear is based on what is called Moore’s law, doubling of density of processors on computer chips which increases the speed and processing power of computers. This results in continuously increasing computer processing power. Since human intelligence is obviously not rapidly increasing, they believe that computers will soon be smarter than humans. This is why the future rise of Artificial Intelligent computers is viewed as an existential threat to the future of mankind. Some view this as the number one threat that mankind is facing. However, this threat is based on the belief that computers can actually think. If we look at the details of how a computer operates, we can see if this threat is grounded in science or science fiction.

All computers operate using what is called binary, a number system consisting of only ones and zeros. How this works is binary is base two, while we use base ten. We count to ten and then count in tens and hundreds, etc. Computers count to one, and then their “ten” is actually our number two. A voltage is used for the ones, and no voltage is the zeros. The information in the computer is converted into binary, and the voltages all go through the circuits in the main processing chips where the voltages turn switches on or off, in a matrix arranged to preform Boolean math. All computers do is process Boolean binary math. This is how computers calculate. Before computers became common and affordable, there were mechanical calculators that also were computers of a sort. Accountants used what was called an adding machine, it consisted of gears and moving metal parts that displayed the answer on numbered parts with the right numbers displayed through a viewing space or printed on a roll of paper like the old cash registers. I remember having one that fit in my hand and was made of several sliding metal layers with holes and numbers on them. By moving the plates, the numbers were input, and the answer was visible in a slot. In theory you could build a gigantic mechanical computer that could do all of the things today’s computers do, but it would be the size of a continent. Electronic computers still work the same way, they just use electronic switches instead of turning gears or sliding plates to do the math.

Our brains however work very differently. If you have ever spoken with another human, it is very clear that human thinking is not the result of rapidly processing math. Even to say that people were logical would be calling a cloud, a picture of your grandmother. While it is possible for a cloud to look exactly like your grandmother, it would be an extremely rare occurrence.??It is the same with people, logical behavior is the exception rather than the rule. People follow their desires and react according to their emotional responses, with most responding more to their hormones and body chemistry than anything passing for logical thinking. But despite its rarity, humans are cable of logical thinking, at least that is what some of us would like to believe, despite what we see in the world today.

The thought, is that our fuzzy human thinking arises from the ‘switching’ of our brain cells, much like the switching of circuits in a computer. The problem is that our thoughts are not directly generated by our brain cells, our memories are. It is apparent that our thoughts are not the result of memory storing or recall. Rather our thoughts are mainly the result of brainwave activity. It takes time for memories to form, while thoughts occur on a much shorter time frame, at least for most of us. The only part of our brain that operates at our thinking rate, is our brain waves. Our thinking, our intelligence is something that operates in our brain. Some claim that our thinking or brainwaves, runs on our brains like software on a computer. The problem is that software doesn’t rewire the computer processor while our thoughts do rewire our brains. Without this ability to rewire, software is not part of the processer, it just runs through it without making any changes. Actual thinking, intelligent thought, requires a very close interaction between the brainwaves and the neurons of your brain. It is this interaction, this tight feedback loop that generates intelligence. No software simulation is going to be able to create this effect. It is impossible to emulate since you could only emulate the brain cell interactions at most. The thoughts cannot be emulated since no simulation of the brain can tell you what the person is going to decide to do. The thoughts are like water flowing through pipes in the brain, and the water is free to flow in several different directions at once. The person making a choice is like the water choosing to go in a certain direction. But because the water chose to go that way, the direction it went, is not predictable by looking at just the pipes. This is why a simulation of a brain on a computer cannot predict thoughts or create them. The thoughts are literally alive while a computer can only process numbers. The result is that A.I.s will always only be able to simulate intelligence, they will never actually be intelligent. ?They may become good enough to fool you into thinking that you are talking to a real person, but they will never be a real person. The difference is that a real person can think and can turn on you because they have free will. They are intelligence and can think for themselves. These are things a computer will never be able to have, because it is impossible to emulate thinking without being able to think. Thinking is a very specific process that we do not even fully understand, that results in consciousness. Without any thoughts, you are unconscious or dead, not alive. By definition, computers are and always will be, dead, without any thoughts or intelligence.

Since computer A.I.s even of the future, will never be able to think for themselves, they can never out race human thinking, since they will always be stuck at the starting line. They can’t even make the first move. The dangers of future A.I.s are real, but they will take the form of eliminating jobs and killing people on the battlefield. The Star Trek idea of an A.I. super weapon that outlives the war it was created for and just goes on killing, is a real possibility. Even now, these weapons exist and will be used in the next wars. It is very conceivable that these weapons will get out of control at times or maybe released in non-combat areas. Imagine hiking in the woods and coming across a small tracked vehicle with a gun on top that senses, tracks and shoots all humans it encounters. Designed for use against an armed enemy, it is nearly bullet proof.?While this is the stuff of horror movies, it is possible today. However it is not a major threat to the future existence of mankind, for the simple reason that whatever one man can create, another can destroy and it is always easier to destroy. Even a rouge super weapon would be very destroyable since nothing physical is immortal. You just have to hit it hard enough, the bigger hammer approach will always work. But if A.I.s could really think, the bigger hammer doesn’t work against an opponent who also has a hammer and is smarter and faster than you. This is why A.I.s will never be a major threat to mankind, but will be more like the threat of guns or automobiles. A.I.s like guns and cars, will be directed by people, and can either accidently or purposely harm people. But in the end, they will be nothing more than a tool that will be used or misused. It is not A.I.s that are the threat, it is the people behind them that you have to worry about.

While this means that you don’t have worry about computers killing off humanity, it also means that you are never getting your self-driving car that is fully autonomist. Without any real intelligence, it is impossible to have a car that can drive itself in all situations without human oversight, just look at how poorly supposedly intelligent humans do. A computer attempting to drive a car in an uncontrolled traffic situation with every human out for himself, would be like a sixteen year old going to a used car lot with a million dollars in his pocket. Just remember that this was written when a million dollars was still worth a fortune.

You can also forget about having a robot friend or an android that can pass for human. Not going to happen, a lot of people today can’t pass for human. Don’t believe me? Just read the crime stories in the news, clearly a lot of criminals are clearly inhuman. Now if it is so difficult for increasing numbers of people today to be human, how can a brainless android without a thought in its head, pull it off? Yes, I know that sounds like a lot of your friends, this is just proof that you need to be more selective in picking your friends. Now if the thought of being selective in making friends is a new thought to you, that explains your problem. Friendship like most relationships, are built on trust. How could you trust someone that does whatever they are programmed to do, no matter how dumb it is? Humm, that does seem to describe a lot of people these days who blindly follow fake news or the other fake news on the internet. Thinking does seem to be a dying art, I suggest you try it before it is gone.

The real threat to humanity is not computers, it is people who are programmed like a computer. Who seem incapable of intelligent thought or caring for the welfare of others. Without a moral code, even remember what that term means? ?Just the thought of a moral code is probably politically incorrect today. Concepts like ‘good’, ‘decent’, ‘law-abiding’, ‘hardworking’, ‘reliable’, ‘faithful’, ‘godly’, ‘spiritual’, ‘modest’, ‘chaste’, ‘honest’, ‘truthful’, ‘kind’, ‘loving’, ‘compassionate’, have all become not only old fashioned, they have become or are becoming, politically incorrect and are being eliminated from ?society with a speed that is unbelievable. We are surrounded by an increasing army of human robots who are programmed by propaganda pretending to be news, to do inhuman things. ??If only we only had to worry about A.I. killer robots, I would sleep better at night. ??The optimistic outcome is the ‘blue’ programmed humans will fight with the ‘red’ programmed humans, while intelligent humans will have the sense to stay out of the way. Once the dust settles, the intelligent humans rebuild the world and prevent future human programming by requiring passing a test in logical thinking to post on the internet which would eliminate most of the current internet content.

If you are looking for a good science fiction series, I suggest checking out my book, “Activate Invasion Protocols”

Here is a link to my author page.

https://www.amazon.com/William-Scott-Anderson/e/B009K200X6?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1640623429&sr=8-1