This is how AI "Sees" our world:

[Trajk Logik]

One thing I’d like to add—I’ve seen a number of articles that predict that strong AI will be able to reprogram itself without human interaction. If so, AI could write its own programs. Really scary

The myth that we can make a program to write a program has been around since at least 1980. The consequences of this is nothing like you think.
No AI has any purpose or understanding, what is so scary here?
It's the humans behind the software that is the scary thing, and it is highly important that we never lose sight of that, You cannot blame the drone, or the computer. Somebody has to continue to take responsibility and to be made accountable.

No AI is going to write its own program to "Take Over the World". AIs do not want, they do not desire, they have no will to live.
AIs as susepptible to pulling their plug and disconnecting their batteries.

I love how people just come along and make grand statements like, "No AI has any purpose or understanding" without any grand evidence or explanation to back it up - as if we are suppose to just accept it without question.

What is purpose? What is understanding? How do you know you have both and AI has neither?

AI re-programming itself is just another way of saying it is learning. We re-program ourselves when we learn something new, or a new way to respond to a known situation. Having more options is what it means to be free. The more options, the more freedom.

Anyway, here are some examples of AI learning and I can only imagine the abilities AI can possess once quantum computing becomes much more feasible:
https://news.mit.edu/2022/ai-learn-patt ... guage-0830

https://www.science.org/content/article ... ng-advance

https://innovationatwork.ieee.org/can-a ... -ai-learn/

I mean AI can already write computer code for you, so I imagine allowing AI to then apply that same code to itself shouldn't be much more difficult.

I often think that the techno’s who develop programs do so just to explore what is possible, without regard for any purpose. And I wonder whether AI’s could eventually do the same, possibly stumbling across the code that would destroy humanity.

Sure, some of programming involves exploring what is possible, but the ultimate goal of any programmer is to solve a problem, or to automate some trivial or tedious job. I think the goal of AI programmers is to solve all problems and do all jobs.

[Sculptor]

One thing I’d like to add—I’ve seen a number of articles that predict that strong AI will be able to reprogram itself without human interaction. If so, AI could write its own programs. Really scary

The myth that we can make a program to write a program has been around since at least 1980. The consequences of this is nothing like you think.
No AI has any purpose or understanding, what is so scary here?
It's the humans behind the software that is the scary thing, and it is highly important that we never lose sight of that, You cannot blame the drone, or the computer. Somebody has to continue to take responsibility and to be made accountable.

No AI is going to write its own program to "Take Over the World". AIs do not want, they do not desire, they have no will to live.
AIs as susepptible to pulling their plug and disconnecting their batteries.

I love how people just come along and make grand statements like, "No AI has any purpose or understanding" without any grand evidence or explanation to back it up - as if we are suppose to just accept it without question.

What is purpose? What is understanding? How do you know you have both and AI has neither?

That is a complete no brainer
ANyone the the tiniest bit of programming knowledge knows that.

[commonsense]

Sure, some of programming involves exploring what is possible, but the ultimate goal of any programmer is to solve a problem, or to automate some trivial or tedious job. I think the goal of AI programmers is to solve all problems and do all jobs.

Yes, but…

The AI per se would have no ultimate goal or purpose; it might just write a googleplex of lines of code, including something very hazardous. If it can teach itself, anything might happen.

[attofishpi]

Sure, some of programming involves exploring what is possible, but the ultimate goal of any programmer is to solve a problem, or to automate some trivial or tedious job. I think the goal of AI programmers is to solve all problems and do all jobs.

Yes, but…

The AI per se would have no ultimate goal or purpose; it might just write a googleplex of lines of code, including something very hazardous. If it can teach itself, anything might happen.

AI having a will will always have a goal. It will take a human to provide this will.

One day an AI will have been willed by a human to become sentient, therein is its goal - to interface to biology.

[Trajk Logik]

Sure, some of programming involves exploring what is possible, but the ultimate goal of any programmer is to solve a problem, or to automate some trivial or tedious job. I think the goal of AI programmers is to solve all problems and do all jobs.

Yes, but…

The AI per se would have no ultimate goal or purpose; it might just write a googleplex of lines of code, including something very hazardous. If it can teach itself, anything might happen.

AI having a will will always have a goal. It will take a human to provide this will.

One day an AI will have been willed by a human to become sentient, therein is its goal - to interface to biology.

What does it mean to have a will or purpose? Do you have a will or purpose? What is your ultimate purpose? Does your pet have a will or purpose? What about spiders and crabs, or jellyfish?

What does it mean to be sentient? I think philosophers often throw these terms around without fully understanding what they mean and integrating their meaning with the rest of what we know.

[commonsense]

Sure, some of programming involves exploring what is possible, but the ultimate goal of any programmer is to solve a problem, or to automate some trivial or tedious job. I think the goal of AI programmers is to solve all problems and do all jobs.

Yes, but…

The AI per se would have no ultimate goal or purpose; it might just write a googleplex of lines of code, including something very hazardous. If it can teach itself, anything might happen.

AI having a will will always have a goal. It will take a human to provide this will.

One day an AI will have been willed by a human to become sentient, therein is its goal - to interface to biology.

Inasmuch as an AI can learn and apply knowledge and understand simple bits, it is the case that such a computer can have computer intelligence.

Even when a human supplies a goal, an AI may also wander aimlessly through seemingly endless scenarios until it actually comes upon one that will eliminate humans.

An AI can be amoral, or become amoral if it finds that any ethics programmed into it are a hindrance in its search for viable programming. Thus an AI would not necessarily restrain itself from killing humans.

It all depends on the development of strong AI, and that is still a long way off into the future.

[commonsense]

Sure, some of programming involves exploring what is possible, but the ultimate goal of any programmer is to solve a problem, or to automate some trivial or tedious job. I think the goal of AI programmers is to solve all problems and do all jobs.

Yes, but…

The AI per se would have no ultimate goal or purpose; it might just write a googleplex of lines of code, including something very hazardous. If it can teach itself, anything might happen.

AI having a will will always have a goal. It will take a human to provide this will.

One day an AI will have been willed by a human to become sentient, therein is its goal - to interface to biology.

What does it mean to have a will or purpose? Do you have a will or purpose? What is your ultimate purpose? Does your pet have a will or purpose? What about spiders and crabs, or jellyfish?

What does it mean to be sentient? I think philosophers often throw these terms around without fully understanding what they mean and integrating their meaning with the rest of what we know.

Indeed, what is a will or a purpose or sentience? Or of greater practical value, regardless of whatever will is, what is the difference between computer will and human will? What is the difference between computer purpose, computer sentience, and human purpose or sentience?

[seeds]

Yes, but…

The AI per se would have no ultimate goal or purpose; it might just write a googleplex of lines of code, including something very hazardous. If it can teach itself, anything might happen.

AI having a will will always have a goal. It will take a human to provide this will.

One day an AI will have been willed by a human to become sentient, therein is its goal - to interface to biology.

What does it mean to have a will or purpose? Do you have a will or purpose? What is your ultimate purpose? Does your pet have a will or purpose? What about spiders and crabs, or jellyfish?

What does it mean to be sentient? I think philosophers often throw these terms around without fully understanding what they mean and integrating their meaning with the rest of what we know.

Indeed, what is a will or a purpose or sentience? Or of greater practical value, regardless of whatever will is, what is the difference between computer will and human will?

As I stated in the thread titled, "What are 'Human' traits that a machine or chatbot, cannot copy online?"...

What is missing from the most advanced AI systems and programs is the presence of a self-aware "I Am-ness" with a "personal interest" in the task it is performing.

What is the difference between computer purpose, computer sentience, and human purpose or sentience?

Granted, it is highly speculative, but I've been promoting the theory that we humans are what I call "THE ULTIMATE SEEDS" who are each imbued with the potential of evolving into a literal universe created from the living fabric of our very own minds.

In which case, if you can figure out which one of the following three items is out of place relative to the other two, then the difference between a computer's purpose and that of a human's purpose should be obvious...






_______

[attofishpi]

Sure, some of programming involves exploring what is possible, but the ultimate goal of any programmer is to solve a problem, or to automate some trivial or tedious job. I think the goal of AI programmers is to solve all problems and do all jobs.

Yes, but…

The AI per se would have no ultimate goal or purpose; it might just write a googleplex of lines of code, including something very hazardous. If it can teach itself, anything might happen.

AI having a will will always have a goal. It will take a human to provide this will.

One day an AI will have been willed by a human to become sentient, therein is its goal - to interface to biology.

What does it mean to have a will or purpose? Do you have a will or purpose? What is your ultimate purpose? Does your pet have a will or purpose? What about spiders and crabs, or jellyfish?

What does it mean to be sentient? I think philosophers often throw these terms around without fully understanding what they mean and integrating their meaning with the rest of what we know.

Only sentient beings can have a will. For an AI to want to kill humans for example, it must be guided to via the will of a sentient being (a human).

Sentience: If i am hungry, my will is to eat. If I look at the garden and see that the grass is long, my will is to get the lawnmower out.

[commonsense]

Yes, but…

The AI per se would have no ultimate goal or purpose; it might just write a googleplex of lines of code, including something very hazardous. If it can teach itself, anything might happen.

AI having a will will always have a goal. It will take a human to provide this will.

One day an AI will have been willed by a human to become sentient, therein is its goal - to interface to biology.

What does it mean to have a will or purpose? Do you have a will or purpose? What is your ultimate purpose? Does your pet have a will or purpose? What about spiders and crabs, or jellyfish?

What does it mean to be sentient? I think philosophers often throw these terms around without fully understanding what they mean and integrating their meaning with the rest of what we know.

Only sentient beings can have a will. For an AI to want to kill humans for example, it must be guided to via the will of a sentient being (a human).

Sentience: If i am hungry, my will is to eat. If I look at the garden and see that the grass is long, my will is to get the lawnmower out.

Random activity could make an AI kill humans without ever wanting to or ever having a will installed by humans.

[attofishpi]

What does it mean to have a will or purpose? Do you have a will or purpose? What is your ultimate purpose? Does your pet have a will or purpose? What about spiders and crabs, or jellyfish?

What does it mean to be sentient? I think philosophers often throw these terms around without fully understanding what they mean and integrating their meaning with the rest of what we know.

Only sentient beings can have a will. For an AI to want to kill humans for example, it must be guided to via the will of a sentient being (a human).

Sentience: If i am hungry, my will is to eat. If I look at the garden and see that the grass is long, my will is to get the lawnmower out.

Random activity could make an AI kill humans without ever wanting to or ever having a will installed by humans.

Who gave the AI a 'random activity'?

[commonsense]

Only sentient beings can have a will. For an AI to want to kill humans for example, it must be guided to via the will of a sentient being (a human).

Sentience: If i am hungry, my will is to eat. If I look at the garden and see that the grass is long, my will is to get the lawnmower out.

Random activity could make an AI kill humans without ever wanting to or ever having a will installed by humans.

Who gave the AI a 'random activity'?

Some random guy who programmed it to learn on its own.

[commonsense]

[

[Trajk Logik]

What does it mean to have a will or purpose? Do you have a will or purpose? What is your ultimate purpose? Does your pet have a will or purpose? What about spiders and crabs, or jellyfish?

What does it mean to be sentient? I think philosophers often throw these terms around without fully understanding what they mean and integrating their meaning with the rest of what we know.

Indeed, what is a will or a purpose or sentience? Or of greater practical value, regardless of whatever will is, what is the difference between computer will and human will? What is the difference between computer purpose, computer sentience, and human purpose or sentience?

You are the one that used the words, so I'm asking you what you meant by them. It seems to me that you would have to define "will" and "purpose" to then go on to determine what the difference, if there is one, between a computer will/purpose and human will/purpose. Could it not be possible that two humans have different wills and purposes as well? Is your purpose the same as my purpose?

Granted, it is highly speculative, but I've been promoting the theory that we humans are what I call "THE ULTIMATE SEEDS" who are each imbued with the potential of evolving into a literal universe created from the living fabric of our very own minds.

In which case, if you can figure out which one of the following three items is out of place relative to the other two, then the difference between a computer's purpose and that of a human's purpose should be obvious...

I think you are conflating "universe" with "mind". They are not the same thing. Minds are part of the universe, not separate from the universe. This is why our minds can interact here on this forum, because they are part of the same universe.

All three items are physical. What makes a physical brain have a different purpose than a physical computer?

Only sentient beings can have a will. For an AI to want to kill humans for example, it must be guided to via the will of a sentient being (a human).

Sentience: If i am hungry, my will is to eat. If I look at the garden and see that the grass is long, my will is to get the lawnmower out.

Where does human will come from? If there is a god, then wouldn't human will be guided by the will of god and we'd be no different than a computer's will being provided by some outside source? If no god, then our will evolved naturally through our interaction with the world.

If ChatGPT receives input it will produce output, no different than the input provided by your senses and your brain determining a valid response to the input. So I still don't see where the difference between human will/purpose and computer will/purpose is.

Random activity could make an AI kill humans without ever wanting to or ever having a will installed by humans.

Nothing is random. Even when the computer produces a "random" number it is following a complex algorithm to produce the number. Your lack of understanding of the algorithm is what makes you perceive it as random, but it is anything but random. Randomness is an idea projected onto the world from our ignorance. We are essentially projecting our ignorance in describing some event as random.

Humans, like computers, are programmed. We have instincts and learned behaviors. We are have been programmed over millions of years through natural selection - of interacting with the world and passing down those behaviors and knowledge to subsequent generations.

The windows to the world for AI is through it's sensory systems of the keyboard and mouse. AI responds to keyboard and mouse input like you respond to visual and auditory input. If we programmed the AI to make it's own observations, categorize those observations, and produce meaningful responses to its observations that enables it to learn and survive, then how is it any different from what a human is or does? Is it merely the goal we have that is different in that humans have the goal to survive and AI has the goal to produce output given some input provided by humans? In this sense is the AI like a brain in a vat where it's inputs are being provided not by its interaction with the world but by other sentient beings? Take the brain out of a vat, put it in a humanoid form that has senses that interface directly with the world rather than through some artificial interface and it will be more like your everyday human. How is that any different than what we can do with AI?

With all of these responses I did not see an actual definition of "purpose", "will" or "sentient" - just examples that beg the question. If I have provided a definition that you disagree with, then please provide your own or explain what your disagreement is.

Here are the definitions from Merriam-Webster:
Purpose: something set up as an object or end to be attained

Will: to have a wish or desire

Sentient: capable of sensing or feeling

Given these definitions, AI can be described as having all three. AI is setup to produce output and the output is the object or end to be attained.

AI can be described as having the desire to produce output and is capable of sensing via it's inputs. Human inputs are their senses, their outputs are their behaviors. What goes on in between is a bit more complex to explain which would require us to understand what makes a physical brain different from a physical computer in that brains can have experiences and computers cannot.

[commonsense]

What does it mean to have a will or purpose? Do you have a will or purpose? What is your ultimate purpose? Does your pet have a will or purpose? What about spiders and crabs, or jellyfish?

What does it mean to be sentient? I think philosophers often throw these terms around without fully understanding what they mean and integrating their meaning with the rest of what we know.

Indeed, what is a will or a purpose or sentience? Or of greater practical value, regardless of whatever will is, what is the difference between computer will and human will? What is the difference between computer purpose, computer sentience, and human purpose or sentience?

You are the one that used the words, so I'm asking you what you meant by them. It seems to me that you would have to define "will" and "purpose" to then go on to determine what the difference, if there is one, between a computer will/purpose and human will/purpose. Could it not be possible that two humans have different wills and purposes as well? Is your purpose the same as my purpose?

Yes, I am the one who used those words without defining them. You may notice that I indicated that, regardless of what they mean, the important question is, how does a computer version of them differ from a human version of them?

In other words, letting N stand for the definition of will, the difference between N and N + 1 is always 1, no matter what N is. Like you, I do not see that there is a difference. So the answer to my more important question is there is none.

And just as wills may vary from one human to another, they may also vary from one computer to another. But this does not change the assessment that on the whole computer will or purpose is no different than human will or purpose.