4(of 4) ‘enabling technology’ or ‘futurescapes are human too’

 

StormWatch 'Force Of Nature' (Ellis/Raney copyright Wildstorm 1999) showing Weatherman's COMPUTER/BRAIN INTERFACE

While there are seemingly infinite possiblities of algorithmic programming - do the words choices or values appear anywhere? Reckon they don’t -  a computer can never have an opinion if it’s infallibly correct – pure tautology! (For more on AI see ’so many ideas/singularity’)

Democracy  may be a political system but all it’s there for is to give the ability to exercise our choices & values - particularly Stateside these vary even within parties.  If you wanted to put a spanner in the AI house-of-cards you might say they couldn’t abide any human interference in their advanced projects for mankind – it just wouldn’t be ‘infallible’ enough. The exact contrary of ‘expert knows best’ is anything that’s mildly experimental – particularly on the design front. In a way it’s the organic approach of not making blithe assumptions, just letting it happen, basically.

 So you might say there are 2 types of intelligence – machine which is always certain, perfect or, quotes, correct & human (or animal, let’s not forget Coyote lore here). It’s fair enough to posit some guys having a robotic-like way of thought. Any road, ‘we are machine’ is the exact opposite of reality (& of myth, legend & the list goes on & on). 

There are 2 diametrically opposed views there, one organic the other machine. Machines have cybernetic control systems & since living things don’t, you’re talking things like balance & proportion. The 2 opposite tendencies are between authoritarianism & some degree of autonomy, say a village – see ‘micro-economies’ here. The Achilles’ heel of transhumanists is they only exist on one side of this equation – ‘wilderness lore’ doesn’t figure if nothing has autonomy. They want wholesale transformation – a nice example is ’synthetic survivalism’.      

The way netek (see MSN) works is exactly contrary since it’s an

ENABLING TECHNOLOGY

Algorithms are very useful things, without them the net doesn’t function intelligently. That’s fine since it’s an enabling technology. The whole point of enabling tek is it relates to human behaviour  – a maelstrom of  needs , aims, ambitions, designs.. (a car is enabling, right?). Now, since transients exist on one side of the equation there’s a lot of stuff they simply cannot ‘get’, basically the need of non-machines to be frivolous. I’m not just talking ‘apps’ here, anything that we like & hang around with, say architecture. There’s always been this idea of ‘pop-culture’ to behaviour, from Greek temples onwards. These artefacts have to be popular & appreciated to have much value or worth within whatever the society happens to be. For more on this score see 2 prev entries ’s&s & transhumanism takeover’, ‘billion year spree’.

 There’s seems to be a way tek develops a sort of ‘pop-culture’, ie like Harley Davidsons, but with a futuristic vista (the Mad Max syndrome). On the comic-art angle, you’ve had  glamtek -  ‘Sky Captain’  sorta stuff. Basically it’s spiffing stuff (see ‘geeksville inc.’) Dan Dare would be proud type thing but it’s just technology, the world & our control of it aren’t magically transformed by synthetic super-science par excellence. Now, all this relates to human behaviour & I’m not gonna pretend to be an expert there – it’s just something that’s pretty damn interesting & subtle, basically (see here).

The shock news might be the future is not an unknowable plastic techno-sphere guided by robo-thinking - we are not machine!

Bookmark this on Delicious

3(of 4) ‘black sorcery’

Thoth Amon, copyright Barry Windsor-Smith

4 (of 4) ‘enabling technology’ or ‘the future’s human too’ STAY TUNED

 

Slight hiatus as I’ve been caught-up in my comic-art advisory sideline – in the meantime gaze on the face of the authoritarian expertise. The operative word is ‘authoritarian’. Experts are all very well (?) so long as they don’t remake society in their image. Should we be worried that society has a warp & weave that’s sort of organic? All these questions and more..coming up!

Bookmark this on Delicious

2(of 4) there are alternatives out there

Coyote Collection #1 (copyright Image 2005)

Less infamous than Watchmen but a classic of modern folklore. The Amerindian Coyote clashes with a hi-tek political conspiracy - a ’shadow cabinet’ of experts with designs on usurping a failing government. You get a collision of worlds & a clash of values.. animal mysticism against a well-drilled organization, natural charm against political ambitions..  

A key bit of the Coyote character is he’s  a tek-adept, a skill he developed by infiltrating various facilities  as shown (fanboy note: Forge from X-Men is another Amerindian technophile – guess from a different tribe). Now, this neatly fits tek which facilitates human choices, such as the net – see ‘that’s phenomenal’. It’s there because we get something out of it through free expression of choices, decision-making & I guess our personal sense of values. Some of it may be naff but as the net develops it has increasing economic, journalistic, political roles – see MSN.

AI ‘EXPERTISE’ (point 3 here)

I’d venture to suggest any self-styled body consisting of experts would resemble the ’shadow cabinet’ if it were intent on taking-over human affairs based on the merits of expertise. The assumption of AI (& possibly some transient circles) is government is good in & of itself. No way Jose, you can have too much… the fallacy is we need more government that’s more intelligent (whatever that means) & with AI – hypothetically – you have big government which is infallible.

It’s very obvious Anissimov’s talking about something detached from the real world & by ‘infallible’ independent of human choices (see prev.) In fact, that argument is entirely fallacious – you have to assume a world without human choices is a good thing!

 METAPOLITICS

The way that plays-out in modern states is in various modes of under-government. In actual fact there’s a modern branch of political science called ’self-organization’ which is villagers running their own economies (micro-credit type thing). Check-out new US Nobel laureate - not BO, natch – EO. 

OFF-PLANET GEO-POLITICS

India’s partnering Nasa in establishing a mining industry on the moon – the Chandrayaan program; it’ll be launching near-orbit shuttles in a few years. Vital off-planet resource-based technologies for our future survival (here on good ol’ planet E in case y’all forget). None of these advances imply radical changes in the way India’s governed, which is a hotchpotch of old & new social & democratic structures - some things don’t change in our world or need to. Unbeknownst to our transient think-tanks there are alternatives out there – what they fail to appreciate is every society involves human choices. It’s a value-driven process.

Bookmark this on Delicious

1(of 4)Metapolitics

.. no connection with dystopia ‘Metropolis’ by Fritz Lang.. ‘We are machines’ could well be the literal truth though there’s disagreement in SingInst circles: how infallible would an AI be with the virtual intelligence to ‘correct our mistakes’ (point 3 here) & therefore undemocratic?

The suspicion seems to be it’s an absurd proposition. If you start attacking democracy you’re laying down the gauntlet, in effect saying politics is for experts – whether AI or its ‘lacky’ – not people. That nicely fits the techno-fetishism angle. 

It introduces a radical cultural sea-change never seen in history – or pre-history. Politics has always been about opinion & debate but humans could no longer have a proper consideration about their futures. I tend to think the reason for the apparent paradox is simple – politics (or any other area of human behaviour) can’t be detached from the mainstream culture. Our needs, ambitions – & obviously biases.

There’s a topical example of exactly that that just happens to be in the news. French Prez Sarkozy’s aim to dispense with GDP in favor of a ‘happiness’ coefficient which would include leasure time, gridlock hassle - less material affluence than social-milieux & ease of existence, sort of thing. Now, that’s Sarkozy’s aim as a politico. Nevertheless it obviously encompasses non-political things. Say, actual social spaces we amble around in (dunno if it’s worth noting a link to US ideals, here?)

Without going into laborious details – see ‘S&S & transhumanism takeover’ & ’so many ideas/singularity’ - only a human can appreciate these things. What an AI would no doubt attempt is to politicise without taking into account the human factor   - we are Metropolis!

HUGE GLOBAL ISSUES

Contemporaneously speaking Afghanistan & Pakistan are huge global issues but also purely human ones, the two sharing similar cultures & tribal areas linking both states. There’s no substitute for face-to-face interaction of the type Hillary Clinton has been pursuing. The only conceivable alternative is to de-culturize the entire region – instal a brand new culture which may appeal to some.

Bookmark this on Delicious

“billion year spree”

copyright Bernie Wrightson

The architecture of living organisms is a farrago of inherited compromises & ineptitudes, bodged & patched up to secure survival. It testifies not to forward planning but to tinkering with ancient equipment in the face of new needs.

Question: is Richard Dawkins (of the selfish gene) one of them? Consider: Anissimov is apparently unaware of conscious awareness, only circuitry. Dawkins is unaware of design, only adaptation, adaptation, adaptation. The quote is from a review of his latest tome (Evening Standard 3 September) obviously by another acolyte/clone. Question: in a billion years what would you say might be prioritized?

I’d say it’s not having adaptation for its own sake. The odd thing is adaptation & innovation lends itself to technology (incremental ‘improvements’ to motor-bikes, say, see ‘S&S & transhumanism takeover’) but if you look at ’classic’ designs less changes than you might imagine. The Harley Davidson tubular-steel body is to a standard template & the reason is it can’t be improved! (go to Havana & spot the classic autos). Isn’t it because being conservative with materials & novelty for its own sake is actually the mark of authentic craftwork?

A nice example of craftwork that’s very prevalent is comicbook superheroes.. from a lengthy crit from the august Comics Journal (#90, 1984) by John Clifton..

Every artist wants to ‘get’ the essence of a character, to do it right. Finality not expansion is the drive of art, & of its real expansion thereby

seems to make an essential point. To do it right isn’t just an option of the artist, it has to be right or you’re looking at an abberation (’synthetic survivalism’, say). There’s no word for it but design, & everything that goes with it (facility etc.)

Bookmark this on Delicious

material world

‘In the coming decades mankind will likely create a powerful AI. SIAI exists to handle this urgent challenge, both the opportunity & the risk’

Following-on from prev, something pretty obvious might strike you – netek or ‘enabling netek’ is virtual & we live in the material world. Is the transient mindset aware of the fact?

Matrix-oriented flake-head Michael Anissimov of singinst wrote to me that it’s ‘pure mysticism’ to suppose the brain’s anything other than neural circuitry.  Currently (sorry) there’s no explanation of awareness, how we experience senses & how we experience feeling. In other words, of the entire material world!

If you understand neural circuits you’re gonna relate them to a virtual world of AI, not the real world. Let’s make things easy, huh? A little reflection tells you the world of phenomena is just reality - exactly how we experience it is unknown, though Hameroff’s idea is quanta (see MSN). Whatever, are the singinst guys really not aware they’re spouting nonsense? I’d advise taking-in some performance art – they might learn something cultural to their advantage away from the monitor-board.

Bookmark this on Delicious

MSN

Transmetropolitan: gouge away (Ellis/Robertson, copyright Vertigo 2002)

Transmetropolitan brings to life a dystopia in which netek gives individuals the tools to fight corruption, more or less by having the expertise to broadcast on-line anything they want to any of the alternate news-outlets.

That sounds boring but is actually the main focus of the story, so hi-tek is the story in a way. In the future net-architecture is gonna resemble another world we can plug-in to while walking around the streets, & with a big reduction in broadcasting monopolies. Netek will give individuals powers to run a story, with interviews, text, music, graphics or whatever so that reporters become their own copy-editors & mini-broadcasters.

MSN is paving the way seemingly, & the contrast, at least in the UK, with established news-monopolisers like the BBC is blatant. The emphasis is much more on entertainment, adding zizz to the basic package with explanatory graphics etc. It’s what you might call news aggregate & I think one of the points is you are no longer being told, ‘Here is the news read by me, Walter Cronchite’ (or whoever). There’s no one single view of the news & that seems to fit a world so vastly complicated an AI-mega-computer might break-down over.

All the pundits are saying architectonics of the netscape will transform the way we interact with news (actually they’re not, but I did read it in the Telegraph the other day). So there you have it: the worlds of Starstruck & Transmet. Entertaining, complex, no single viewpoint – all through hi-tek design. Now what could be more human-oriented than that, huh?

Bookmark this on Delicious

glamtek

The blog is bringing-in some more taglines. Basically, the route stays the same – various techno-alternatives to what has been described as ’synthetic evolution’ – but is getting more into specifics.

Glamtek is roughly the idea that humans don’t change with technology – they stay the same. The tek is only ‘enabling’ much like the net is today. Before anyone howls ’social nets!’ let me elaborate. Humans are maybe healthier & longer living but you could equally ask, say, are our teeth better than Cro-Magnon & do we have fewer diseases? No. What I’m talking about is biology – see website for the big picture – which transients reckon can ‘merge’ & be improved with technology ( Michael Anissimov of the Singularity Institute  sent me an email reply with strong evidence of flakiness).

Staying with the net, we respond to its abilities & in that sense change our behaviour. That said, some of where it’s heading seems not useful (the tagline for that discussion’s netek). Comics have quite a nice way of making advanced techno entertaining. When Starstruck came-out (Elaine Lee/Michael Wm Kaluta, Marvel 1985) there was no net but it introd something very similar in roaming holo-cams (see pic) which broadcast newstories to all &  sundry via long-range holo-casts (as opposed to broadband). Small difference, & Transmetropolitan (Vertigo from the 90s) introd Warren Ellis’ numerous takes on netek from sunglasses that store images to news-portals on pavements!

This is technology as entertainment (our transient buddies are ’serious’ about these matters – see ‘S&S & transhumanism takeover’) So at one extreme you’ve transients who only see change coming, which could be their Achilles’ heel. Whatever their politics they’re for doggone not conservatives. There’s various issues there – how to tell ok change from disaster? Well, let’s be optimistic!

Bookmark this on Delicious

monkey business

IVF experiments in gene therapy could become legalised in UK by October, apparently. Enter our friends the designer-babies who could be cured of inherited disorders. It seems to involve wholesale transfer of one egg’s genes into another (empty) egg whithout the inherited mitochondrial DNA (which is DNA outside the nucleus).

So, you have 2 female ‘lineal parents’ & 1 male fertilizer. The question is what effect, if any, does ‘donating’ mitochondrial DNA have? All you can say is from a perspective of ‘natural vigor’(see ‘black sorcery’ & website) is it may affect the vigor of processes within the mechanisms of a living cell. Basically, these things are so complex it should be off-limits, end of story.

Bookmark this on Delicious

SO MANY IDEAS! a continuing series (the future is here..uh, right?)

Going by a brief overview since there’s so much out there (not all of it transhuman but note the phrase ‘as we move towards the singularity’) a lot of stuff is perfectly standard text-book science, so basically you’re dealing with the science. Other ideas are more dodgy in that you’re changing physiological attributes or aiming to architecture the mind, so onward to

(1) whole-brain simulation

This is the idea of neuro-synthesizing the brain’s signal-behaviour, enabling it to be uploaded to a computer-simulator which is similar to the original. It might work if you thought of the brain as just millions of neurons firing-off. What you’re saying, in effect, is any particular human behaviour can be reduced to neuron circuitry.

That idea’s slightly analogous to thinking the human genome contains a lot of useful data whereas we know it doesn’t (see various). The reason is that you relate it to the wider system – specific biochemical mechanisms which are very hard or impossible to detect (see various & website POPULATIONS page).

The presumption you can model a brain that’s independent of our human faculties (senses, stimuli & basically the biochemical system) is, well sorta presumptuous. It overlooks the fact brain is just sponge – it has no direction, no goals, it’s not a living system. The brain processes our faculties obviously enough; put another way, it’s the faculties that give the brain direction.

 The idea neural-circuits are gonna tell you all about human behaviour (how can you have intelligence without behaviour?) within a vastly elaborate biochemical system (& mechanical, natch) is like reducing living systems to data. The data may be there – as it is with the genome – that doesn’t imply it’s meaningful (personally, a lotta my thoughts are purely random mish-mash & it’s doubtful a cybernetic system would even accept them – a lot of it gets deleted to be honest with y’all). 

 (2) singularity

This brings in the singularity – artificial intellect. A future presumption is technology enabling ’self-improvement’, ie. a super-computer that designs a copy that’s better. So all these things are linked & you could end up with ‘narrow focus AI’ which supposedly would beat a human intellect on a range of issues – economic management, crisis prevention, super-advanced tek & biotech innovation & eventually lead to more balanced & fairer global systems.

All of these areas the ’super-brain’ would be up against seem to be defined in one way or another by human faculties. There seems to be a false assumption that because something – the brain – is identified by information signals -as is the genome – that’s all there is to it. In fact, you have to relate genes to biomechanisms which are much more tricky to locate & get meaningful results out of. 

 Technically you can get some ways with modelling neuro-circuitry in computer-systems but you come up against a brick wall – which is the biochemical system itself. We experience ourselves physically, in the sense of musculature, breathing or whatever. We sense the world around us. Some things stimulate us in some way or other. All of these things seem to define, say, the history of economics – if you think of hunting – of societies – living in settlements - & communication, technology & politics (speech & rhetoric). There’s also song & dance (see ’sword&sorcery & transhumanism takeover’). I think the technical term for this is ‘phenomena’ if you like long words (the material world).

If you’re living in the future maybe history means nothing, but doesn’t that constitute a takeover? That’s not to say computer systems can’t be made intelligent, just that it’s not the singularity. It doesn’t exist or is an illusion.  

Bookmark this on Delicious