Appendix A: An Imagined and Incomplete Conversation about “Consciousness” and “AI,” Across Time
Every so often, I think about the fact of one of the best things my advisor and committee members let me write and include in my actual doctoral dissertation, and I smile a bit, and since I keep wanting to share it out into the world, I figured I should put it somewhere more accessible.
So with all of that said, we now rejoin An Imagined and Incomplete Conversation about “Consciousness” and “AI,” Across Time, already (still, seemingly unendingly) in progress:
René Descartes (1637): The physical and the mental have nothing to do with each other. Mind/soul is the only real part of a person.
Norbert Wiener (1948): I don’t know about that “only real part” business, but the mind is absolutely the seat of the command and control architecture of information and the ability to reflexively reverse entropy based on context, and input/output feedback loops.
Alan Turing (1952): Huh. I wonder if what computing machines do can reasonably be considered thinking?
Wiener: I dunno about “thinking,” but if you mean “pockets of decreasing entropy in a framework in which the larger mass of entropy tends to increase,” then oh for sure, dude.
John Von Neumann (1958): Wow things sure are changing fast in science and technology; we should maybe slow down and think about this before that change hits a point beyond our ability to meaningfully direct and shape it— a singularity, if you will.
Clynes & Klines (1960): You know, it’s funny you should mention how fast things are changing because one day we’re gonna be able to have automatic tech in our bodies that lets us pump ourselves full of chemicals to deal with the rigors of space; btw, have we told you about this new thing we’re working on called “antidepressants?”
Gordon Moore (1965): Right now an integrated circuit has 64 transistors, and they keep getting smaller, so if things keep going the way they’re going, in ten years they’ll have 65 THOUSAND. :-O
Donna Haraway (1991): We’re all already cyborgs bound up in assemblages of the social, biological, and techonological, in relational reinforcing systems with each other. Also do you like dogs?
Ray Kurzweil (1999): Holy Shit, did you hear that?! Because of the pace of technological change, we’re going to have a singularity where digital electronics will be indistinguishable from the very fabric of reality! They’ll be part of our bodies! Our minds will be digitally uploaded immortal cyborg AI Gods!
Tech Bros: Wow, so true, dude; that makes a lot of sense when you think about it; I mean maybe not “Gods” so much as “artificial super intelligences,” but yeah.
90’s TechnoPagans: I mean… Yeah? It’s all just a recapitulation of The Art in multiple technoscientific forms across time. I mean (*takes another hit of salvia*) if you think about the timeless nature of multidimensional spiritual architectures, we’re already—
DARPA: Wait, did that guy just say something about “Uploading” and “Cyborg/AI Gods?” We got anybody working on that?? Well GET TO IT!
Disabled People, Trans Folx, BIPOC Populations, Women: Wait, so our prosthetics, medications, and relational reciprocal entanglements with technosocial systems of this world in order to survive makes us cyborgs?! :-O
[Simultaneously:]
Kurzweil/90’s TechnoPagans/Tech Bros/DARPA: Not like that. Wiener/Clynes & Kline: Yes, exactly.
Haraway: I mean it’s really interesting to consider, right?
Tech Bros: Actually, if you think about the bidirectional nature of time, and the likelihood of simulationism, it’s almost certain that there’s already an Artificial Super Intelligence, and it HATES YOU; you should probably try to build it/never think about it, just in case.
90’s TechnoPagans: …That’s what we JUST SAID.
Philosophers of Religion (To Each Other): …Did they just Pascal’s Wager Anselm’s Ontological Argument, but computers?
Timnit Gebru and other “AI” Ethicists: Hey, y’all? There’s a LOT of really messed up stuff in these models you started building.
Disabled People, Trans Folx, BIPOC Populations, Women: Right?
Anthony Levandowski: I’m gonna make an AI god right now! And a CHURCH!
The General Public: Wait, do you people actually believe this?
Microsoft/Google/IBM/Facebook: …Which answer will make you give us more money?
Timnit Gebru and other “AI” Ethicists: …We’re pretty sure there might be some problems with the design architectures, too…
Some STS Theorists: Honestly this is all a little eugenics-y— like, both the technoscientific and the religious bits; have you all sought out any marginalized people who work on any of this stuff? Like, at all??
Disabled People, Trans Folx, BIPOC Populations, Women: Hahahahah! …Oh you’re serious?
Anthony Levandowski: Wait, no, nevermind about the church.
Some “AI” Engineers: I think the things we’re working on might be conscious, or even have souls.
“AI” Ethicists/Some STS Theorists: Anybody? These prejudices???
Wiener/Tech Bros/DARPA/Microsoft/Google/IBM/Facebook: “Souls?” Pfffft. Look at these whackjobs, over here. “Souls.” We’re talking about the technological singularity, mind uploading into an eternal digital universal superstructure, and the inevitability of timeless artificial super intelligences; who said anything about “Souls?”
René Descartes/90’s TechnoPagans/Philosophers of Religion/Some STS Theorists/Some “AI” Engineers: …
[Scene]
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Read Appendix A: An Imagined and Incomplete Conversation about “Consciousness” and “AI,” Across Time at A Future Worth Thinking About
and read more of this kind of thing at: Williams, Damien Patrick. Belief, Values, Bias, and Agency: Development of and Entanglement with "Artificial Intelligence." PhD diss., Virginia Tech, 2022. https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/111528.
18 notes
·
View notes
Cyborg Anthropology pt. 2
(hist) EEG [2,832 bytes]
(hist) Why the Body Still Matters [2,816 bytes]
(hist) Cyborg Anthropology [2,802 bytes]
(hist) Digital Dark Age [2,792 bytes]
(hist) Living Text [2,790 bytes]
(hist) Tribal Aesthetics [2,787 bytes]
(hist) Digital Archaeology [2,785 bytes]
(hist) Information Society [2,782 bytes]
(hist) 4th Person Shooters [2,771 bytes]
(hist) Autisic tendencies and manifestation in the offspring of technologists [2,727 bytes]
(hist) Danah boyd [2,705 bytes]
(hist) Open Access Publications [2,692 bytes]
(hist) Schizophrenia [2,684 bytes]
(hist) Machine Learning [2,679 bytes]
(hist) N. Katherine Hayles [2,676 bytes]
(hist) Junk Sleep [2,653 bytes]
(hist) Sharon Traweek [2,624 bytes]
(hist) Persistent Architecture [2,619 bytes]
(hist) Extended Nervous System [2,614 bytes]
(hist) Robot [2,613 bytes]
(hist) Yoneji Masuda [2,610 bytes]
(hist) External Brain [2,604 bytes]
(hist) The Phaedrus [2,579 bytes]
(hist) Anthropology in the Information Society [2,576 bytes]
(hist) Fractal Flesh [2,576 bytes]
(hist) Internet and community [2,574 bytes]
(hist) Augmented Reality [2,560 bytes]
(hist) Role Boundary Permeability [2,550 bytes]
(hist) Lepht Anonym [2,542 bytes]
(hist) Sleep Dealer [2,541 bytes]
(hist) After Culture - Reflections on the Apparition of Anthropology in Artificial Life [2,522 bytes]
(hist) Current Prosthetics [2,521 bytes]
(hist) Instantaneity [2,494 bytes]
(hist) Elastic Time [2,472 bytes]
(hist) Virtual Tombstone [2,460 bytes]
(hist) Alan Kay [2,449 bytes]
(hist) Networked Religion [2,443 bytes]
(hist) Skeuomorph [2,426 bytes]
(hist) Facebook and Attention Economies - Social Gravity and Interface Use [2,419 bytes]
(hist) The advantages and effects of cyber systems on mental disorders [2,418 bytes]
(hist) 5 Simple Machines [2,407 bytes]
(hist) Hapacity [2,407 bytes]
(hist) Cyborg Cartography [2,405 bytes]
(hist) Avatar [2,403 bytes]
(hist) Glossary:Playground as Factory [2,393 bytes]
(hist) Chorded Keyboard [2,391 bytes]
(hist) Coordinated Universal Time [2,383 bytes]
(hist) WearCam [2,381 bytes]
(hist) Liquid Modernity [2,373 bytes]
(hist) Liminal Space [2,369 bytes]
(hist) Simultaneous Time [2,366 bytes]
(hist) O'Reilly [2,356 bytes]
(hist) Quantum Information Theory [2,354 bytes]
(hist) Identity Production [2,353 bytes]
(hist) Mediology [2,351 bytes]
(hist) Email Sabbatical [2,350 bytes]
(hist) Compulsion Loops [2,348 bytes]
(hist) The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society [2,337 bytes]
(hist) Communitas [2,325 bytes]
(hist) Science Fiction as Future [2,310 bytes]
(hist) Cyborg: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer [2,307 bytes]
(hist) Android [2,301 bytes]
(hist) Urban Tapestries Project [2,295 bytes]
(hist) Sherry Turkle [2,292 bytes]
(hist) Fractal Prosthetics [2,289 bytes]
(hist) Instant Gratification [2,268 bytes]
(hist) Tools [2,259 bytes]
(hist) Internet as Surrogate Community [2,258 bytes]
(hist) Sheldon Renan [2,235 bytes]
(hist) Affective Computing [2,234 bytes]
(hist) Macy Meetings [2,231 bytes]
(hist) Sensor Networks [2,230 bytes]
(hist) Towards the Future of PR and Brand Management [2,222 bytes]
(hist) Waldo [2,211 bytes]
(hist) Fractal Anthropology [2,209 bytes]
(hist) Cell Phones and Their Technosocial Sites of Engagement [2,208 bytes]
(hist) Computers as Theatre [2,204 bytes]
(hist) Interface Culture [2,200 bytes]
(hist) Bee Dance [2,192 bytes]
(hist) Differences between robots, cyborgs and androids [2,187 bytes]
(hist) Lucy Suchman [2,162 bytes]
(hist) Mediated Reality [2,137 bytes]
(hist) Voluntary Technological Adoption in the Workplace [2,127 bytes]
(hist) Ted Nelson [2,125 bytes]
(hist) Light Modernity means that Design is the Product [2,113 bytes]
(hist) Trilobites [2,112 bytes]
(hist) Interface fantasy: a Lacanian cyborg ontology [2,111 bytes]
(hist) Domotics [2,109 bytes]
(hist) Calm Computing [2,102 bytes]
(hist) Thad Starner [2,094 bytes]
(hist) Phatic Expressiveness [2,094 bytes]
(hist) Bruce Sterling [2,070 bytes]
(hist) Friction and Interfaces [2,057 bytes]
(hist) Space, Site, Intervention: Situating Installation Art [2,051 bytes]
(hist) Social Tangibility [2,033 bytes]
(hist) The Drive to Share [2,031 bytes]
(hist) Path dependence [2,028 bytes]
(hist) TV Modem [2,019 bytes]
(hist) Cybernetics [2,015 bytes]
(hist) Heavy Modernity [2,010 bytes]
(hist) Use of Technology by the Homeless [2,006 bytes]
(hist) Hacker-as-Hero [2,001 bytes]
(hist) Dynabook [2,000 bytes]
(hist) Gaming dynamics [1,989 bytes]
(hist) Sandy Pentland [1,984 bytes]
(hist) Stealth Socialization [1,971 bytes]
(hist) Ringxiety [1,958 bytes]
(hist) We Live in Public [1,947 bytes]
(hist) Psyber-culture [1,945 bytes]
(hist) Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers [1,937 bytes]
(hist) Psychology of Space [1,936 bytes]
(hist) Fractal Aesthetic [1,915 bytes]
(hist) Invisible Audioscape [1,914 bytes]
(hist) Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis [1,914 bytes]
(hist) Cryptocurrency [1,912 bytes]
(hist) Transethnicism [1,907 bytes]
(hist) Wiki [1,904 bytes]
(hist) The Natures of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of the Natural World [1,902 bytes]
(hist) Douglas Rushkoff [1,902 bytes]
(hist) Hyperculture [1,896 bytes]
(hist) Synesthesia [1,895 bytes]
(hist) Amber Case [1,888 bytes]
(hist) Micro-Singularity [1,863 bytes]
(hist) Transforming the Digital into the Analog [1,843 bytes]
(hist) The Cell Phone: An Anthropology of Communication [1,841 bytes]
(hist) Learning from Las Vegas [1,838 bytes]
(hist) Boundary Maintenance [1,838 bytes]
(hist) Body Optimization [1,835 bytes]
(hist) Terrazign [1,830 bytes]
(hist) Value Tumor [1,828 bytes]
(hist) Schizophrenia and Ubiquity [1,828 bytes]
(hist) Teens on Social Networks [1,822 bytes]
(hist) Early Prosthetics [1,817 bytes]
(hist) Networked Publics [1,807 bytes]
(hist) Else/Where: Mapping - New Cartographies of Networks and Territories [1,800 bytes]
(hist) Temporarily negotiated space [1,797 bytes]
(hist) Hyperlinked Memories [1,788 bytes]
(hist) A Tragedy for Cyborgs [1,778 bytes]
(hist) The Cyborg's Dilemma - Progressive Embodiment in Virtual Environments [1,770 bytes]
(hist) Lifestreaming [1,768 bytes]
(hist) Project Cybersyn [1,763 bytes]
(hist) Prosthetic Shedding [1,761 bytes]
(hist) Natural Language Processing [1,757 bytes]
(hist) One Place after Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity [1,757 bytes]
(hist) Wanderlust [1,754 bytes]
(hist) The Uncanny: Experiments in Cyborg Culture [1,747 bytes]
(hist) Joeseph Delgado [1,737 bytes]
(hist) Main Page [1,731 bytes]
(hist) An Empirical Study of Typing Rates on mini-QWERTY Keyboards [1,731 bytes]
(hist) In My Language [1,729 bytes]
(hist) Mark Weiser [1,728 bytes]
(hist) The Impact of Internet on Society [1,728 bytes]
(hist) Banff New Media Institute [1,727 bytes]
(hist) Eugene Thacker [1,726 bytes]
(hist) Alice Marwick [1,724 bytes]
(hist) Second Self [1,724 bytes]
(hist) Continental Philosophy [1,721 bytes]
(hist) Marshall McLuhan [1,720 bytes]
(hist) Digital Junk Food [1,717 bytes]
(hist) Jarno Koponen [1,714 bytes]
(hist) Ubquitious Computing [1,711 bytes]
(hist) Knowledge cartography [1,705 bytes]
(hist) Mental Real Estate [1,703 bytes]
(hist) Are Humans Animals? [1,701 bytes]
(hist) Linguistic anthropology and Artificial Intelligence [1,700 bytes]
(hist) Digital Detritus [1,693 bytes]
(hist) Minimalism [1,689 bytes]
(hist) Multitasking [1,687 bytes]
(hist) H+ Elbow Interactions [1,685 bytes]
(hist) Exergaming [1,679 bytes]
(hist) Superhuman Interaction Design [1,667 bytes]
(hist) Cyborgs and Citadels [1,665 bytes]
(hist) Tribe [1,663 bytes]
(hist) Time [1,663 bytes]
(hist) Reality Mining [1,660 bytes]
(hist) Interaction Shield [1,659 bytes]
(hist) The Architecture of the invisible: Technology is Representation [1,659 bytes]
(hist) Identity Crises [1,641 bytes]
(hist) Digital Backyard [1,639 bytes]
(hist) Considering Principal Components of a Digital Culture [1,630 bytes]
(hist) Abulia [1,627 bytes]
(hist) Prosthetic Limb [1,625 bytes]
(hist) Notes on Mobile Technology [1,625 bytes]
(hist) Virtual Girlfriend [1,619 bytes]
(hist) Judith Donath [1,617 bytes]
(hist) Play [1,615 bytes]
(hist) Hyperpresence [1,614 bytes]
(hist) Temporarily Negotiated Space [1,614 bytes]
(hist) Local vs. Global Connectivity [1,613 bytes]
(hist) Active Badge [1,612 bytes]
(hist) On the Mortality of Industrial Society [1,607 bytes]
(hist) Consciousness Slum [1,600 bytes]
(hist) Kazys Varnelis [1,598 bytes]
(hist) Future Self [1,592 bytes]
(hist) Mass Collaboration [1,592 bytes]
(hist) In the Beginning was the Command Line [1,590 bytes]
(hist) Panic Architecture [1,578 bytes]
(hist) Augmenting Human Intellect [1,577 bytes]
(hist) Sousveillance [1,571 bytes]
(hist) Geolocation [1,568 bytes]
(hist) Theory of the Derive [1,568 bytes]
(hist) Stelarc [1,564 bytes]
(hist) Non-Place [1,561 bytes]
(hist) How is cyborg anthropology different from digital anthropology [1,554 bytes]
(hist) Power Architecture [1,553 bytes]
(hist) Military Cyborgs [1,553 bytes]
(hist) Randy Pausch [1,549 bytes]
(hist) Anthropology of Science [1,546 bytes]
(hist) Dangers of Prosthetics [1,543 bytes]
(hist) Pubsubhubbub [1,541 bytes]
(hist) Cyborg Botany [1,538 bytes]
(hist) In/Different Spaces: Place and Memory in Visual Culture [1,529 bytes]
(hist) Technomad [1,529 bytes]
(hist) Lars Lerup [1,527 bytes]
(hist) Persistence and change in social media [1,524 bytes]
(hist) Yochai Benkler [1,519 bytes]
(hist) Future of Advertising [1,511 bytes]
(hist) Celebrity and Deism on Social Networks [1,507 bytes]
(hist) Telesynaesthesia [1,487 bytes]
(hist) Creativity and Depression [1,479 bytes]
(hist) Companion Species [1,476 bytes]
(hist) Superorganism [1,471 bytes]
(hist) Facework on facebook: the presentation of self in virtual life [1,466 bytes]
(hist) Multilinear Existence [1,463 bytes]
(hist) GATTACA [1,458 bytes]
(hist) Corporate Anthropology [1,455 bytes]
(hist) The Future Laboratory Interview Questions [1,450 bytes]
(hist) Digital Footprint [1,450 bytes]
(hist) Digital Hygiene [1,449 bytes]
(hist) Online Bodies as Ghosts [1,446 bytes]
(hist) Cybernetic Feedback in the Wizard Mindset [1,446 bytes]
(hist) Methodologies [1,446 bytes]
(hist) Scrying Pool [1,433 bytes]
(hist) Satisfice [1,425 bytes]
(hist) University of Utah [1,422 bytes]
(hist) Texting [1,422 bytes]
(hist) URL Shorteners [1,422 bytes]
(hist) Post-Continental Philosophy [1,421 bytes]
(hist) Being Digital [1,417 bytes]
(hist) OncoMouse [1,413 bytes]
(hist) Online Person Simulator [1,413 bytes]
(hist) H+ Elbow [1,410 bytes]
(hist) Donna Haraway Reads the National Geographic [1,409 bytes]
(hist) MIT Press [1,397 bytes]
(hist) Introduction to Digital Philosophy [1,386 bytes]
(hist) Gamer Revolution [1,384 bytes]
(hist) Sally Applin [1,383 bytes]
(hist) Bill Deiter [1,382 bytes]
(hist) The Idea Factory: Learning to Think at MIT [1,381 bytes]
(hist) Automatic Production of Space (Paper) [1,380 bytes]
2 notes
·
View notes