on human nature and mechanical components

With more bits from Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto, Kate Crawford’s Anatomy of an AI, Micheal Woodridge’s A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence, and references to Slavoj Žižek’s Event.
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More on human nature, less intelligence based, more on how we weaponise it.
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Or why technology is objectively okay, and we as a species might be broken (until we develop technology to fix our issues (eliminate those who stand in our way?)).

On Human Nature
    Once a fantastic object directly appears in reality, reality is no longer the same. (Zizek, 2014, p. 63)

Cyclical - that’s what all of evolution is. You take an organism, any creature that inhabits this world, use time as a frame of reference, and at any point in time, the create is undergoing evolution. Regardless of it’s current abilities at that point in time, due to the nature of the world it lives in, or rather that it has very little control over much that influences its own lifecycle, it is slowly but surely evolving to overcome the ever changing world around it. No creature lives in a vacuum, all things are connected and surprisingly even if no one is around to hear it, a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a whole amount of change if hundreds of them were caused to do so at the same time.

It’s the year of our Lord and Saviour Military-Industrial Complex 2024, and there’s very little to be said that hasn’t been said about how computing is getting out of hand - how AI is right around the corner, scrambling to take away all our jobs, such that no one is safe, not even the artists and journalists that represent the voice of the people, amplifying them to critique the ever evolving intelligent machine. Who now can take the stand against Big AI, and all that money going into the development and research that makes it ever so intelligent an improvement on the simple human being whose livelihood it’s threatening?

> I can, me! Pick me!

>> What do you have to say then that hasn’t been said already?

In some sense, the ideal form of a human now seems to tend to that of an amalgamation of man and machine - a creature that has overcome its own physical limitations through the power of science. Science being a metaphorical tool of far reaching practical reaches developed over generations of scientists, individuals of the species best placed to put into word the outcomes of experiment upon experiment to make life for the whole of species easier, now co-opted by the rest of the species as a universal boon for simply being born within the species. Technology vis-a-vis science always has and continues to offer to the species a way out of problems past, present and future that arise in a manner wilfully ignorant of the species’ tendency to exploit the world around itself in an attempt to achieve progress, regardless of the form progress takes on.

>> Yes, we’ve known that all along, what’s new about that?

Well, there’s nothing new about wanting to evolve to a more capable form, is there? All animals do it, and the human is no exception at all. If media since time immemorial has taught us anything, it’s that the simple human is not enough. It needs an augmentation to exceed its limits, something either divine, magical, or technological, or supernatural even. All of these used to be fantasy, until one day, it wasn’t fantasy any longer. That’s right, we should all look back to when a divine authority was alive and kicking in our midst. Creatures and beings unknown would grace the unworthy presences of humans of the past, and confer onto some very devout the power to carry out the work of the divine. These individuals blessed with the power of God could now go about healing the sick, uplifting the poor and bring about changes to the status quo of the authority systems governing the masses at the time. Things had to change, they must and should change.

>> What are you trying to say with your very long sentences?

> I think the question we should be asking ourselves is where do we draw the line?

Blasphemy aside, it is no surprise that technology has taken on this godlike form, filling in the void in all our lives Nietzsche created when he killed off the previous god with his own two bare hands. With one hand it gives us access to all sorts of knowledge that would’ve been the privilege of only those in the upper echelons, and with the other hand it takes away from us the primal animalistic urge to find our own gods. Gone are the days when we lived in little communities, worried about only those in our little circles of influence, for now I can change the world (if I wanted to) with the click of a button!

Okay, yes, the button is actually a click that prompts my machine to convert high level user interface input to low level machine code that is then converted to either electrical signals or radio waves to send out messages of impact to others on their machines to do the opposite of all that conversion so that they can read it. If my message resonates with them, then perhaps we could email to organise a group about doing something. 

But it would be so much quicker if I could just send out a message that would just pop up in everyone’s heads and then we could just communicate telepathically, removing the need for this machine having to do all this converting and the time elapsed between someone even seeing my message and then choosing to respond to me.

Even better, what if I were king of the world, and could just beam my thoughts directly into people’s minds and have them do as I say? A bit authoritarian, very dangerous if this level of control were to fall into the hands of a bad king of the world, but since I am a good king of the world, this would not be an issue at all. With AI by my side, I could develop sentient subservient machines, because, as we all know people do not like authoritarian figures, and a machine is less likely to fight back against my wild ideas that people just aren’t open to yet, and then I will fix all the problems in the world.

But I am a mere mortal, I don't have long left on this mortal plane, and need to transcend that one limitation. I must become one with the machine. The machine is immortal, it’s parts repairable and replaceable, and with me in it, I shall overcome all.

>> Are you alright? You’ve been saying some really scary things and we’re getting a bit worried.

There’s no need to worry, the cyborg is the ultimate form - this mortal flesh is weak, but the mind is willing, and through the power of science and technology I can finally achieve the final evolution of humankind that is safe from all sorts of dangers. The necessary chemicals I need to survive will be directly pumped into my bloodstream at regular intervals, with sensors monitoring every bit of me that remains fleshy so that those parts don't hinder my evolution.

>> Right. Okay, you’re getting a bit power hungry and deranged, we think you need to draw a line at some point.

Lines. Lines this and lines that. Why do we need to stop at anything? We should all accept this new evolutionary form I propose so that we don't become subject to some weird life-form from outer space that wants to use us as sustenance. If we all evolve there will be no difference between us humans to act as the weak link anymore. We will all be the same. One being. One mind. One thought. This will mark the end of all wars, of all hunger and poverty, of all suffering we have caused each other to endure because of our unreconcilable differences. We just need to select a few of the best representatives of humankind as the boilerplate and-

Oh no.

Eugenics.

I have drawn a terrible line. I have divided humankind into the best and not best. I have become religion, with it’s divisions between those worthy of being saved and those dammed to eternal damnation. I have become the military, with my need to sacrifice lives not mine for an imagined greater good. I have become the industry, with the idea that there is a universal target audience that understands, and that those who don't considered heretics.

I have become horrible.

I have become a human without the understanding of complexities that have caused the world to be as it is. I am just one of the many looking for a way out, helpless, powerless, unable to alter even my own standing in this here society I was placed in. I have a mouth, and yet I cannot scream.

On Mechanical Components
Hiya (name), sorry about this thesis of an e-mail(?) at an ungodly hour, but I've been reading the Kate Crawford Anatomy of an AI article that you recommended a couple of weeks ago, and I vaguely remember you saying that her work should be taken with a pinch of salt for some reason, could you further expand on that, or am I remembering that wrong? Because while the article does help put a lot of things in the larger scale into context, it does come off as a bit fearmonger-y and at times a bit elitist/selective (specifically that bit right before the mechanical turk section that talks about "democratisation" of machine learning tools). I see this come up in class quite a bit actually, where we implicitly question our access to these technologies and I do leave these sessions feeling rather helpless in my own limited position as someone that would like to work with these technologies.

What does it really mean to be a consumer, because Anatomy really shows that out hands aren't in any way, shape or form clear of the burden that is involved in the manufacture of these consumables, but at the same time it is basically impossible to live without some form of technology in this day and age. Bottom line is, I would like to ask (apart from the Kate Crawford question) - how do I navigate this, how do you navigate this? We talk about how google is actively monitoring us as datapoints, and then go on to use their services in class - do we just accept that we're bound in this implicit contract of ease from the minute we log on to any networked services or do we do a complete 180 and find ways to obfuscate our presence on the internet? Do we refuse technology, or should we actively remind ourselves of the work that goes into it? Do we learn everything from scratch and make our own (in a sense) untouched technologies?

Sorry again if the answers are really obvious, I just needed some further clarity on these thoughts, and I would love to hear your opinions on this.

The best computer with all its quantum calculations and multi-threading ability is still just one water spillage away from becoming an unsalvageable piece of garbage that will, like all other electronic waste, be condemned to landfills in some third world country to be salvaged by minimum wage workers. No matter what shiny new piece of technology the current world leader in consumer electronics might be bringing out, no matter how much smarter AI gets, the human nature to segment it’s thoughts and desires to turn a blind eye to the actual harm that our reckless consumption brings about is perhaps the most amazing evolutionary element of it all. We divide.

The mechanical component is simply an extension of the human. It would be easy for any of us to forgive someone from wanting to escape the bounds of a time-limited existence by making use of what is around us to increase our lifespan just one more day. No matter how horrid the world is, no matter how imminent global heat death is, the fact that a small action can bring about large changes is what keeps us going. To be human is to fight. But we are only fighting against ourselves. And the tool of the day just so happens to be modern computing technologies that are at our disposal.

There’s only so much we can do - you and me. Or actually there’s not much I can do at all without the tools I’ve lived with my entire life. This is arguably the best time for someone of my background and history to be alive in - and a great part of the freedoms I’ve been afforded are owed to technological advances like smart machines and precursors to AI. I can try to bite the had that has fed me as much as I want to, but it is made of metal, and the metal is only getting stronger due to advances in machining technologies and industrial sciences. We have become the hate mob. All this talk about the awfulness of machines learning how to be human has us with our pitchforks ready to attack at a moments notice. But we’re getting this information from internet sources. Companies making advances notify us through their websites. If I don't know what an esoteric term used to describe a computing term is, I can look it up on an online dictionary. 

Again - to segment and prioritise what is of importance is very mechanical of us. Or is it a trait that we carved into these machines; their condition being indicative of our own. Thing A is not as important as Thing B, considering that I have never seen Thing B take place in my life in front of my own two eyes, so surely Thing A is what is the right thing to focus on. As masters of the world around us, we are allowed to use all the knowledge in whatever manner we see fit. But the important matters are still handled by those in important positions of authority. Surely an intelligent machine, one that is unfeeling and has no biases and allegiances would be a better fit to be in such a position of importance. It would do no wrong, considering that it quantifiably knows right from wrong. But that would be inhuman.

Where do we as a species draw the line - the line between humane and inhumane - the line between being human and not being human. If it is not wrong to indulge in sciences exploring the possibilities of cryogenics and life augmenting technologies so that only select few of the best and most important of humanity can ride out the impending doom so that they can play god in a post-apocalyptic reset of the world, why can't we ALL transcend that human limit. How can a tool so democratised be so limited to those that have the money to exploit it to it’s possible limit, and overcome that limit itself? Well, neither you nor I actually contributed to the making of said technology, so we don't have a say, do we?

If we want an all seeing god that punishes rights and wrongs of ant two individuals without considering importance, but purely on the basis of the action in question, we should install a mechanical god for us all. But that would be inhuman, wouldn’t it, a god we have no control over.