Transhumanism: A Deal With the Digital Devil. By Joe Allen.
As defined by its hero, Max More, the transhumanism movement represents the “continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology.” …
Human bodies and brains are to be optimized. Cultures are to be cleansed of maladaptive norms through social engineering. Digital minds and mechanical bodies, inspired by biological designs, are to be brought into existence. These hyperintelligent entities will fuse with human beings, forming symbiotic collectives. The resulting superorganisms will compete for supremacy.
As during the agricultural and industrial revolutions, technology is a deciding factor in the struggle for worldly power. Running with that principle, most transhumanists believe thinking machines will surpass us in the near future. God-like artificial intelligence will be humanity’s “final invention.” After that, we have nothing to do but relax and enjoy the show. Should our digital deities show mercy, human beings will survive like parasites in a mechanical host. …
Recent breakthroughs have enabled AI to master genome sequencing, 3D protein modeling, radiology and brain wave analysis, data-mining, facial recognition, natural language processing, social network mapping, stock valuation, gaming, autonomous driving, robotic maneuvers, surveillance triggers, crime prediction, combat simulation, battlefield reconnaissance, target acquisition, and weapon system control. In every case, AI exceeds human performance.
Granted, these applications are artificial “narrow intelligence,” meaning their tasks are restricted to a single domain. But the top tech companies plan to fuse these cognitive modules into an artificial general intelligence (AGI) — a flexible artificial mind that can reason and act across multiple domains. Given its light-speed processing, massive data sets, and near-infinite memory, some in Silicon Valley are sure AGI will rise above humans to become a digital deity. This possibility has lured techies into metaphysical madness.
Indeed, for the devotees of AGI, the limitations of time and space will soon be shattered. “All knowledge — past, present, and future — can be derived from data by a single, universal learning algorithm,” writes computer scientist Pedro Domingos in The Master Algorithm (2015). “In fact, the Master Algorithm is the last thing we’ll ever have to invent because, once we let it loose, it will go on to invent everything else that can be invented.” …
Civilizational transformation:
Even as economic prospects decline and social cohesion decays, a set of dangerous technologies continues to advance. … Clearly, some portion of our elite entertain the idea of a man-machine merger. …
Their shared mythos is simple: Our genesis was in slow biological evolution and then rapid cultural evolution. Death and suffering spew like exhaust from those engines of creation. They are technical problems to be solved. Therefore, the transhuman gospel promises an exponential explosion of digital evolution. Soon, this apocalypse will unveil the technological Singularity, when artificial brains and bodies exceed our meager capacities. …
Posthumanism:
“Transhumanism” is a comparatively tame variation: Humans will merely upgrade using genetic engineering and bionic appendages. Digital implants or injected nanobots will fuse our brains to god-like artificial intelligence. Cyborgs shall rule the earth.
“Posthumanism,” on the other hand, aims at a more distant and radical future. Our artificial “mind children” will displace their human parents entirely. The virtual heavens and outer space will be populated with digital and mechanical beings far beyond our puny imaginations. At that point, either our souls will be transfigured into ones and zeros or human life will become a distant memory to immortal machines.
The arms race:
Now, in 2023 it is well known to the general public that Microsoft and Google are in an arms race to create artificial general intelligence. Chinese companies controlled by the Chinese Communist state, such as Baidu, have voiced the same ambition. The winner will be the first to try to create God in silico. From a Darwinian perspective, the best adapted algorithms will survive. …
Many conservatives are prepared to make such a deal with the digital devil. It is only natural that the right seeks worldly power, if only to preserve tradition from hostile forces. Embracing the world’s wealthiest transhumanist may be a necessary evil. But when reaching for the half-eaten apple, remember the bargain being offered. Along with Musk’s promise of a “maximum truth-seeking” AGI — free of political correctness — X.AI also comes with Neuralink brain implants, Optimus android slaves, Tesla “robots on wheels,” U.S. government contracts, Chinese financial backing, and SpaceX escape pods in case of emergency.
hat-tip Stephen Neil
