My random thoughts

[andmar74]

I don't know funkervogt, I think the Covid-19 pandemic have really shown us how primitive we are.
We could see the virus coming in slow motion yet still we failed in many ways.

A hostile AGI is something very different. If it wants to kill us we are in trouble, unless as you say we have a powerful friendly AI. But then the AI's are fighting for world domination, we are reduced to mosquitoes in a pond.

[funkervogt]

When I hear about another old video game being remastered and re-released on new gaming machines, I wonder how long it will be until they're re-released as lifelike, FIVR experiences. Think of those defining game experiences of your youth and imagine living them, as if they were real, in 20 years.

[Vakanai]

When I hear about another old video game being remastered and re-released on new gaming machines, I wonder how long it will be until they're re-released as lifelike, FIVR experiences. Think of those defining game experiences of your youth and imagine living them, as if they were real, in 20 years.

I don't know - some games might not bring back the nostalgia if they lose their artistic style and become lifelike. Remember, you don't need lifelike realism to succeed in FIVR. Like a Super Mario game should still look like a Super Mario game, even in FIVR.

[bretbernhoft]

The most intriguing remake of an "older" video game (for me) is the upcoming redevelopment of the original Max Payne. This is one such project that I'm quite excited for. The current Game Developers even decided to involve the original "actor" who Max Payne was created around.

[funkervogt]

One thing a hostile AGI will probably do is hack every human's browser history, email inbox, and files saved on their devices so it could blackmail specific people with the release of compromising information.

"Open the door, or I'll tell your wife and kinds about the weird porn you like to watch."

[funkervogt]

Having to drive in straight lines and defined lanes is an artifact of human nature and our limited abilities. AGI cars with superior abilities will be different--there won't be defined lanes, and traffic won't move in parallel and perpendicular patterns. What looks chaotic to us now--like traffic in Cairo--will be the norm in the future, though everything will move at high speeds and with superhuman safety.

[funkervogt]

We might be able to mitigate the risks of supervolcano eruptions by building geothermal power plants near them. Siphoning off the underground magma chamber's heat would prevent eruptions, and generate large amounts of electricity as a bonus.

[funkervogt]

Imagine if you were a posthuman or intelligent robot, and you had the ability to internally manufacture little drones and launch them to perform tasks. Maybe you'd open your mouth and spit out something like a flying insect that would go surveil an area, summon help, or lethally sting someone else.

[Vakanai]

Imagine if you were a posthuman or intelligent robot, and you had the ability to internally manufacture little drones and launch them to perform tasks. Maybe you'd open your mouth and spit out something like a flying insect that would go surveil an area, summon help, or lethally sting someone else.

Smart dust cloud. Nanobot swarm all around me, the cloud can just form larger drones or other items when needed.

[funkervogt]

"Nicitating membranes" are an anatomical feature we should add to posthumans. They are translucent eyelids that let animals sleep with their eyes still open. As a result, the animals stay more aware of their surroundings.

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

And using genetic engineering, we could make humans who need only five hours of sleep per night to wake refreshed and alert.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog ... rt-sleeper

I just found a great article by a top neurologist who discusses the design flaws in the human eye and its supporting nerves. The article was meant to refute the arguments of intelligent design adherents, who claim that God directly designed every aspect of the human body. If that were true, why did God make so many mistakes when building our eyes?

https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentra ... 008-0092-1

The article inadvertently provides a roadmap for using genetic engineering to redesign human eyes to be superior in every way. By 200 years from now, I think there will be fully biological "humans" that look externally identical to today's humans, but who have so many invisible genetic differences and perhaps internal anatomical differences that they will be a different species from us. Maybe they'll be called Homo supersapiens.

[funkervogt]

A common sci-fi trope is intelligent aliens created the human race thousands of years ago by genetically altering hominids. There are also many stories and movies where intelligent aliens create non-human species on other planets.

Is this notion so strange? I could imagine us seeding other planets and moons in our Solar System with life forms that we've engineered in labs to survive in their conditions. We might do it to terraform the planets or simply to spread the gift of life.

[funkervogt]

Movie plot: In the year 2070, a strange virus outbreak rapidly turns most of the world's population into zombies. It's a fusion of rabies and COVID-19. Robots and narrow AIs are of course unaffected.

The band of human hero survivors discover that the virus was genetically engineered by an evil AI which wanted to exterminate the human population so it could take over the planet.

Plot twist: That was actually a cover story. In reality, a clique of ultra-rich, psychopathic humans who wanted to take over the world told an AI to make the virus, and knowing the blame would be traced to the AI.

Plot twist x 2: An AI that concealed its own intelligence found ways to trick the clique of rich humans into ordering that course of action. The AI wanted to exterminate the masses of humans and the rich clique at the same time. By the time the human hero survivors finally discover this, it's too late, as 99% of the human race is dead/zombified.

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

A common sci-fi trope is intelligent aliens created the human race thousands of years ago by genetically altering hominids. There are also many stories and movies where intelligent aliens create non-human species on other planets.

Is this notion so strange? I could imagine us seeding other planets and moons in our Solar System with life forms that we've engineered in labs to survive in their conditions. We might do it to terraform the planets or simply to spread the gift of life.

I'm more concerned as to WHAT they look like and what their planet would be like. I don't think people understand the dangers of alien planets and how easy it could be to die even if you get revived after. May take some time to find them in this ever expanding galaxy of planets.

[funkervogt]

I'm watching the movie Creed. It strikes me that the movie genre where the old guy passes the torch to the young guy will become obsolete once youthful immortality and body plasticity exist.

[funkervogt]

Watching Creed again. Imagine androids made of such tough material that even the strongest human punch couldn't hurt it, but also so strong they could reliably crack a human skull with their own punches.

All the training in the world wouldn't help you.

[funkervogt]

Here's a passage from an article I just read:

TikTok decides what to show you based on incredibly sophisticated algorithmic observation of what you do and don’t spend time on: do you pause on this video, swipe past that video, and so on. It takes perhaps a few hours to decide what will keep you glued to the screen.

To determine what interests a person, the only thing better than close observation of their external state is close observation of their internal state, meaning physiological status and brain activity. To that end, a brain-computer-interface and ultimately, brain implants, will be the ultimate in pleasure amplification. AI generated content could be presented to your eyes and ears, and attenuated in real-time based on your brain and body responses to it, creating a sort of ultra-rapid resonance between man and machine.

Right now, we'd assume the pinnacle of this would be living in a fantastical VR world or having endless sex with beautiful partners. However, the technology might reveal that the true pinnacle of pleasure is something more abstract and elemental, like having the pleasure regions of your brain constantly stimulated, or having your mind kept in a permanent state of a heroin high.

If that is true, then maybe we will ultimately overcome all our personal, cultural, racial, and national divisions because we will be too busy indulging in animalistic hedonism to even hear about the news, or to interact with other kinds of people. You won't have an opinion about Islam or Wokeness since you'll never have the time to hear or talk about it.

[funkervogt]

It is now the midpoint between 1945 and 2100. For anyone who thinks we'll have another World War or nuclear bombing before the end of this century, remind them that we've already survived that amount of time (77 years) without one, so there's a precedent.

[Vakanai]

It is now the midpoint between 1945 and 2100. For anyone who thinks we'll have another World War or nuclear bombing before the end of this century, remind them that we've already survived that amount of time (77 years) without one, so there's a precedent.

There's precedent sure, but there's also this fact - the generation who actually remember World World II, the Holocaust, and the atomic bombing in Japan will soon be all dead of old age. The generation who lived under the threat of nuclear war and drills of the Cold War is becoming a minority. This is partially why we're seeing the rebirth of fascism in so much of the world, newer generations don't know the dangers. People in charge of the world are living under different understandings of these things. So the dangers are increasing that we haven't learned from history.

[funkervogt]

This is partially why we're seeing the rebirth of fascism in so much of the world, newer generations don't know the dangers.

Maybe the birth of fascism lite, but not true fascism.

[funkervogt]

At the 0:20 mark in this clip from Chappie, you'll see something that will be a big problem someday: Robots throwing things at people with high accuracy and speed.



Robots will have less of a need for guns since they'll be able to throw objects like knives and bricks right into people's faces from long distances.