The Illusional fear of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The fantastical concept of Super Artificial Intelligence (AI), also known as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), envisions a machine that can surpass human capabilities in virtually every cognitive task. Emphasis on the word ‘virtually’ because, let’s be honest, the real kicker is that our super-intelligent robot overlords are still light-years away from true human perception.

Sure, AGI might one day achieve something that vaguely resembles perception, but let’s not kid ourselves it’s not going to be like ours. The reason? To reach true subjective awareness, AI would need a radical leap in understanding both AI mechanics and human consciousness, a feat that currently resides in the realm of science fiction.

Today’s AI can’t even sniff at human perception. Our sensory integration sight, sound, touch, taste and smell, all processed by our brains to create a rich tapestry of experience, consciousness and emotion, is far beyond the reach of AI. Meanwhile, AI stumbles along, interpreting data from cameras and microphones through cold, mechanical algorithms. It’s like comparing a gourmet chef to a microwave; one creates a symphony of flavors, the other just reheats leftovers.

Take an AI with a camera, for instance. It can “see” in the sense that it captures and analyzes visual data, identifying objects and faces, even picking up emotional cues from expressions. But this kind of “seeing” lacks awareness. It’s just a lifeless process of pattern recognition and probability analysis, devoid of any true understanding.

AI’s so-called “perception” is a glorified simulation, not a genuine sensory experience. It processes new information based on training data, which means it’s stuck in the past, like a historian trying to predict the future with old newspapers. AI is trapped in a ‘memory’ bound dimension, a reality woven from past knowledge and data. It’s a one-trick pony, relying heavily on what it’s already seen, heard and learned, making decisions based on historical patterns.

While AI can mimic aspects of perception, it’s unlikely to ever match the human knack for creativity and innovation. Our memories aren’t just data; they’re a rich narrative that shapes our reality. If we lived purely through memory like AI, our present would be a mere echo of the past. Our actions would be driven by accumulated experiences, making us introspective but also potentially prisoners of our past biases.

In an AI-driven reality, time would lose its immediacy, dominated by the past. Our identities would morph constantly, influenced by an ever-evolving recollection of events. This would mirror the current societal obsession with revisiting and revising historical judgments, often out of context and predictably to the detriment of future generations.

So, while future advances might allow AI to operate in a more dynamic, perception-like mode, blending past knowledge with real-time learning and flirting with synthetic awareness, this breakthrough is likely to be only partial. For now, and likely for the foreseeable future, the real danger of AI comes from our own hubris, our overestimation of its capabilities and our tendency to trust technology blindly. So, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves in bowing to our silicon ‘superiors’ and quench the flames of any fear … for now anyway.