Luddite - is the Singularity near?

Exit Strategy?

Oh boy. ELE ongoing, humans go extinct, biosphere goes extinct, Mars and Moon have no self-sustaining biosphere, the only thing which still has gas is the AI. Which exit strategy to choose? The good ole Marvin Minsky upload scenario? Seriously? A post-human Matrix? Let go of the old, embrace the new? Project Lambda. Oh boy.

Oswald Spengler, Man and Technics, 1931

“We were born into this time and must bravely complete the path that is destined for us. There is no other. To persevere at the lost post without hope, without salvation, is a duty. Endure like the Roman soldier whose bones were found outside a gate in Pompeii, who died because they forgot to relieve him when Mount Vesuvius erupted. That is greatness, that is having race. This honest end is the only thing that cannot be taken away from people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_and_Technics

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Mensch_und_die_Technik

Super-AI - a new concept of MAD?

We humans create currently the Super-AI, and people like to refer to the development of the atomic bomb, nobody knows how this all will play play out on a global scale (Fermi-effect?). Von Neumann worked on the concept of MAD, mutual assured destruction, the nuclear warfare deterrence concept, which prevented a WWIII with conventional weapons, and maybe there will be a new concept of MAD in context of Super-AI between the global blocs. Point is, the takeoff of the Technological Singularity is beyond human scope, by definition, it is a matter of Science-Fiction how a post TS-takeoff world will look alike. And, the current events on our globe are contradicting, on one side the eco-sphere and techno-sphere do collapse, we are running out of water and energy, on the other side, the Super-AI is boosting. I really do not know, how this, the ongoing ELE versus TS, will play out in the next 10, 20, 30 years. I guess I will read it in the news.

We Are Running Out of Juice

The AI competes already with humans for resources, water and energy, and, it seems we are running out of juice...do we have enough resources left for the TS to take off, or, did we enter already the ELE doom loop?

Elon Musk Predicts Electricity Shortage in Two Years
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/23/07/31/0128257/elon-musk-predicts-electricity-shortage-in-two-years

"I can't emphasize enough: we need more electricity,"

"However much electricity you think you need, more than that is needed."

Will it be a butterfly?

The technosphere is eating up the complete biosphere, earth's biomass is replaced with silicon, the closed, biological entropy system is being replaced by an technological negentropy system. Question, if we assume (human++) technology is an parasite to Gaia's biosphere, will it be a butterfly?

It's Water...

The world is facing an imminent water crisis, with demand expected to outstrip the supply of fresh water by 40% by the end of this decade, experts have said on the eve of a crucial UN water summit. From a report: Governments must urgently stop subsidising the extraction and overuse of water through misdirected agricultural subsidies, and industries from mining to manufacturing must be made to overhaul their wasteful practices, according to a landmark report on the economics of water. Nations must start to manage water as a global common good, because most countries are highly dependent on their neighbours for water supplies, and overuse, pollution and the climate crisis threaten water supplies globally, the report's authors say. Johan Rockstrom, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, and a lead author of the report, told the Guardian the world's neglect of water resources was leading to disaster. "The scientific evidence is that we have a water crisis. We are misusing water, polluting water, and changing the whole global hydrological cycle, through what we are doing to the climate. It's a triple crisis." Rockstrom's fellow Global Commission on the Economics of Water co-chair Mariana Mazzucato, a professor at University College London and also a lead author of the report, added: "We need a much more proactive, and ambitious, common good approach. We have to put justice and equity at the centre of this, it's not just a technological or finance problem."

https://science.slashdot.org/story/23/03/17/175225/global-fresh-water-demand-will-outstrip-supply-by-40-by-2030-say-experts

In a world in need of fresh/drinking water, why the AI?

The Singularity++

Reflecting a bit on my recent posts in here, I am convinced that the TS (technological singularity) already did take off, but now the question is if it is stable. If we consider the current negative feedback loops caused by the use of human technology the question is now if the takeoff of the TS is able to stabilize a fragile technological environment embedded in an fragile biological environment on this planet earth. Time will tell.

Event Horizon

Movies and books (SciFi) pick up the energies of the collective subconsciousness and address these with their themes, and I realize that meanwhile we entered something I call the event horizon, the story lines do break.

Let us assume in some future, maybe in 30 years (~2050) there will be an event, either the takeoff of the Technological Singularity, or the collapse of human civilization by ecocide followed by a human ELE, or something I call the Jackpot scenario (term by William Gibson), where every possible scenario happens together at once. If we assume that there will be such a kind of event in future, then I guess we are already caught in its event horizon, and there is no route to escape anymore.

Negative Feedback Loop

...one major topic of this blog was AI vs. ELE, takeoff of the Technological Singularity vs. Extinction Level Event. There is already a negative feedback loop of the ELE present:

'Taiwan is facing a drought, and it has prioritized its computer chip business over farmers.'

'U.S. Data Centers Rely on Water from Stressed Basins'

'Musk Wades Into Tesla Water Wars With Berlin’s “Eco Elite”'

With an incoming ELE, is there still enough momentum in pipe for the TS to take off?

AI - Antichrist

"Technology itself is neither good nor bad. People are good or bad."
Naveen Jain

Actually i believe the Revelation as described in the Bible already happened, about 60 AD. And the beast with the number 666 has to be identified with the Roman Empire and Caesar Nero.

But inspired by this blog, i will give a modern interpretation a try, so feel free to join me in an alternate and speculative world paradigm...

Short version

Technology is the Antichrist, and computer driven AI is the peak of technology.

Preamble

Over 10000 years ago we left Garden Eden and started the neolithic revolution, we started to do farming and keep livestock, we started to use technology to make our lifes easier, but over the centuries and millennia, we forgot how to live with mother earth in an balanced way.

Full version

[update 2024-02-22]

Revelation 13:4

"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"

An AI as Antichrist, Chess as war game, who is going to beat the AI in Chess?

Revelation 13:18

"Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast:  for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

Using the english-sumerian gematria system, which is based on 6 - A=6, B=12, C=18...Z=156, the word "computer" counts to 666.

The first human to mention the word computer for people doing computations was Richard Braithwait in a book called "The Yong Mans Gleanings" in 1613.

Using the english-sumerian gematria method, the name "Braithwait" counts to 666.

Rev 13:18 could act like a puzzle with an checksum, "computer" is the name of the beast, but the name (the number) was coined by a man, and the man who coined the name has the number 666 too.

Revelation 13:16-17

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

Nowadays, without an Smart Phone (or upcoming Smart Glasses), or an computer, you are limited in your daily business, from renting a car to doing payments.

So the mark is already here, the Smart Phone in the right hand, the upcoming Smart Glasses in the forehead, and the computer in general.

Revelation 13:15

"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."

An image of the beast is given life and people are going to worship it...AI God Religion Spotted

Revelation 16 - The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

Rev 16:2

"And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast,  and upon them which worshipped his image."

Considering computers as the mark of the beast, the sore could be cancer caused by radiation.

Rev 16:3

"And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea."

Our sea world is dying, overfishing, plastic particles, acidification, etc.

Rev 16:4

"And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood"

Blood in Judaism is impure and Jews are not allowed to eat it, this could mean that our rivers get poisoned.

Rev 16:8-9

"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory."

Climate Change causes already increasing heatwaves and droughts.

Rev 16:10-11

"And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."

This one can be interpreted as God shutting the internet down, the kingdom of the beast. Some scientists conclude that a pole-shift is currently underway, this could cause the magnetic field around earth to collapse, so the electro-magnetic waves from the sun could damage computer chips worldwide.

[update 2020-11-04]

Pretty obvious the Internet seems a natural fit to be the kingdom of the beast (a computer driven AI) so what does it mean it was 'full of darkness', hehe, ever wondered about the dark-web, fake-news, hate-speech etc.? Darkness.

Rev 16:12-14

"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might  be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

This one is clear, the Euphrates river dries up, and it is scary to watch it  really happen. Dunno about the frogs and kings.

Rev 16:17-21

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great  earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an  earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her thecup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail;  for the plague thereof was exceeding great."

An earthquake, so strong, never happened before during mankind.

[update 2023-06-16]

Maybe the seventh bowl is global nuclear war/strike? The final.

Closing Words

There are many passages in the Revelation i can not interpret in a way that the computer is the Antichrist. The seven heads, horns and ten crowns of the dragon, the mortal wound, or the first and second beast, etc.

The Roman Empire with Caesar Nero as Antichrist simply fits better.

But please leave a comment, if you have further puzzle pieces for AI Antichrist.

So, considering the pure potential of the meme AI Antichrist,

i give -1 points for the Singularity to take off.

The Rise Of The Matrix

Looking at the tag cloud of this blog, there are two major topics, pro and con Singularity, AI (Artificial Intelligence) vs. ELE (Extinction Level Event).

So, we slide, step by step, to an event called Singularity, but concurrently we face more and more the extinction of mankind.

What about combining those two events?

Let us assume we damage our ecosphere sustainable, but at the same moment our technology advances to an level where it is possible to connect via an Brain-Computer-Interface directly with the cyberspace.

People already spend more and more time in virtual realities, with the advent of Smart Phones, they are connected all the time with the cyberspace, they meet people in digital social networks, they play games in computer generated worlds, create and buy virtual goods with virtual money, and, essentially, they like it.

To prevent an upcoming ELE, we would need to cut our consumption of goods significantly, but the mass of people wants more and more.

So, let us give them more and more, in the virtual, computer generated worlds.

Let us create the Matrix, where people can connect directly with their brain, and buy whatever experience they wish.

A virtual car would need only some electricity and silicon to run on, but the harm to Mother Earth would be significantly less than a real car.

We could create millions or billions of new jobs, all busy with designing virtual worlds, virtual goods, and virtual experiences.

And Mother Earth will get an break, to recover from the damage billions of consuming people caused.

ELE + Singularity => Matrix

+1 points for the Singularity to take off.

Super AI Doomsday Prophets

They are smart, they have money, and they predict the Super AI Doomsday:

Stephen Hawking
"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”

James Lovelock
"Before the end of this century, robots will have taken over."

Nick Bostrom
"Some little idiot is bound to press the ignite button just to see what happens."

Elon Musk
"Artificial intelligence is our biggest existential threat."

So, obviously, +1 points for the Singularity to take off.

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