Professional Documents
Culture Documents
*)This is slightly changed version of the paper that was not accepted for
the PT-AI 2021 - 4th Conference on “Philosophy and Theory of Artificial
Intelligence”.
Appendix I
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From: PT-AI 2021
Sent: Aug 31, 2021 8:07 PM
To: Gregor Mobius
Subject: PT-AI 2021 notification for paper 59
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From: Vincent Mueller
Sent: Sep 1, 2021 12:18 PM
To: gregor mobius
Subject: Re: PT-AI 2021 notification for paper 59
Dear Gregor,
thanks for your response. Though of course I am not responsible for the
reviews, and these are mostly about the technical quality of the paper, I
would say that such an investigation can be interesting, but it does not
look like AI or philosophy of AI, but rather cosmobiology? One thing that
some people are discussing is hybrid intelligence, so that is something to
keep in mind. In my personal view, finding out what the importance of
life is for cognition is central to the discussion of AI - can we have
intentional states without life?
Yours,
Vincent C. Mueller
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Dear Vincent,
I would agree with your last question regarding cognition. Probably it is
not only having intentional states, but also changing them. Then, having
curiosity, empathy, acting, pretending, lying, making and understanding
jokes, and jokes about jokes... not to mention dreams, self-awareness,
self-reflection,... Also, having an overarching "existential
narrative"(ideology) like in the western world Christian story, History,
Philosophy...that gives us the meaning/purpose of existence. (We now
definitely need a new one). Can we imagine AI having at least some of
these properties? Even using the term "intelligence" in case of a non-
living entity like AI might be questionable? Perhaps the term "algorithm"
would be more appropriate. Algorithm is a notion that seems to be
applicable for both living and non-living entities, while "intelligence"
could remain specific only for living beings(craw, octopus, dolphin,
human, elephant, mouse, even some plants...). By having intentionallity,
living entity could decide to change algorithm(s) "while walking" or to
take the "road less traveled."
I would agree that hybrid intelligence, that could come out of some kind
of "cyborg relationship(s)" seems to be the most probable way things will
go, for individuals but also for groups, collectives, society(s) up to the
level of the biosphere. In a way this was happening individually since the
invention of tools. But, especially with the industrial and current
technological revolution(s), it became social phenomenon as well.
However at this point it is not easy to predict/anticipate how this
"symbiosis" will unfold in the future, there are so many unknowns. It
could happen on many levels, one of which most likely will be the
Biosphere itself. This could be where both AI and life might appear
together interwoven in a cosmo-biological entity?
My interest in these themes is relatively recent. It came from my earlier
work on finding an algorithm that would convert RNA/DNA strands into
2D images. Later I begin realizing that these images are not only better
way to represent RNA/DNA but that they might be the earliest "glimpses
of the world" as recorded by the first living molecules(proto-RNA?).
From this micro level, following current global (non)living virus, I
recently jumped on the other side of the scale, to the largest known living
entity on Earth(Biosphere) and posted a few related articles on my blog.
https://argoseye.wordpress.com/
I have no higher education in biology, I studied electrical engineering,
nuclear physics, discrete math(graph theory) and later visual
studies(MIT) out of which came this algorithm for RNA/DNA
visualization. By the way, my first contacts with AI were IBM 1130,
punch-cards and Fortran IV.
Yours,
Gregor Mobius
Appendix II
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(related to REVIEW 2)
The term "biosphere" was coined by geologist Eduard Suess in 1875,
which he defined as the place on Earth's surface where life dwells.
Then in 1920’ Vladimir Vernadskym together with Pierre Teilhard de
Chardin and Édouard Le Roy, introduced the notion of noosphere is the
third in a succession of phases of development of the Earth, after the
geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life.(Wiki)
Then in the 1970’ James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis came up with
“Gaia hypothesis” understanding the Biosphere as a single self-regulating
complex organism that would be the largest living entity on the planet.
This most recent proposal is an attempt to consider a possibility that the
entire Biosphere, as a single living organism, might emerge, at some
point of singularity, as a cognitive self-conscious living being (Bio
General Intelligence). That would be the largest conscious living entity
on this planet having its own metabolism and perception of the world,
which might be the living alternative to the anticipated emergence of the
Artificial General Intelligence, a non-living entity that could be far
superior to humans.
Some might perceive that in this way imagined self-conscious Biosphere
has certain godlike attributes, but it should be kept in mind that no living
being can live forever. Thus, potentially conscious Biosphere cannot be
an immortal entity and will at some point cease to exist, like any other
living being. In other words, it would be natural, not supernatural entity.