Welcome to the new world

Most of the human brain has been mapped. Today, we know which brain parts are responsible for visual, auditory, and olfactory recognition. This has been made possible by CAT (Computer Aided Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) brain scans. The way the brain works is like a parallel network. There is a striking resemblance to Hadoop (Parallel processing in computing - circa. 2008) and now with the latest breed of GPUs (Graphic Processing Units). Technologies like NeuraLink discern these thoughts and translate them into an output. For example, we have noticed that people with disability like say paraplegics could successfully control a computer cursor with their thoughts. Along with speech, the way we interact with computing will be primarily thought and voice. A decade from now, the mouse and keyboard will become extinct.

While mapping the brain, neuroscientists failed to detect the 'Self' center. There is no part of the brain where the identity is stored. So while the sense centers are intact, there is no 'Ego' within the brain. It's a transient concept. Thoughts are stateful and they create the sense of 'Ego'. On the other hand, some scientists believe that the 'Ego' can be attributed to the Angular Cingulate Cortex (ACC) on the prefrontal lobe. According to them, the sense of 'Ego' pervades through both conscious and subconscious states. LLMs (Large Language Models) can be said to be like the left part of our brain, which processes language. The right part of the brain is used for spatial recognition. That is not all. The right brain is also responsible for intuition. We have no clue as to how intuition works. But we know that the right brain is connected to 'Akashic Records'. So, while the left brain is 'compute', the right brain is 'network'.

According to OpenAI, there are five stages of the evolution of AI

1. Chatbots

2. Reasoning

3. Agents

4. Innovation

5. Organization

We are at stage 1 and slowly progressing towards 2 and 3. There is no doubt that all these stages will be achieved in this decade itself. And so will the singularity, when machine intelligence exceeds that of a human. No one exactly knows when, but it's just a matter of time. Some experts say 2026 and some say by the end of the decade. We'll see.

The likes of nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics, and AI will usher in a new era of possibilities. The 4 major factors of death viz. CardioVascular, Diabetes, Cancer, and Mental illnesses will have treatments that cure these ailments. We will live longer. That is the promise of this technology. AI will be the major driver of all this innovation. The pace at which these technologies are proliferating gives me a vertigo. But mind you, it's not the scale. No point throwing more compute at the problem. Like us, machines should have meta-cognition (awareness). The future would be an amalgamation of man and machine. A world where there are no petty differences and exploitation. A planet where all 8 billion of us get our basic needs fulfilled. A humanity augmented by machines living in brotherhood, freedom and love. Where compassion and gratitude will rule over violence and greed.

And that will be our independence day.

God Bless!

((Rajesh Menon))