Science Fiction Like Reality of AI
Prior to reading this blog post, I would suggest that you please read the article by Mr. Bill Gates, titled: A thought-provoking tale of friendship and robots.
Welcome back!
Now that you have read the article published by Mr. Bill Gates, which is a sincere attempt made by the IT mogul on understanding what it might feel like living and interacting with super intelligent machines in the future. It attempts to gauge the emotional similarities between Klara and Josie. And Klara, being a highly empathetic and sensitive robot offers human-like companionship to Josie who is a young girl and is bedridden due to her medical condition.
Mr. Gates also expresses his strong belief and unwavering support for “Good AI” where he sees sensitive robots as friends of humanity and at the same time he supports the fact that when need arises the owners of these emotional machines should not hesitate to pull the plug and render them inactive, if not dead.
It feels satiating in a way, that the individual who shall always be remembered for making computers personal computational machines that anybody could own, and not just the rich. And it undoubtedly is Mr. Gates who made computers accessible by un-complicating their use. That is where his brilliance lies and history shall always offer him this credit.
I am not sure whether Microsoft will survive the rapidly changing ecosystem of technology, because there is lack of innovation and Microsoft at this point needs one more Mr. Bill Gates with the vision of Mr. Steve Jobs, if it is to beat its rivals, who have choked Microsoft’s revenue model i.e. Windows and Ms. Office, by making them a part of Open Source. ( No doubt Microsoft has diversified and XBox still adds a lot to its revenue, but it has not been able to gain the supremacy it enjoyed in the early days of Windows and Ms. Office. I was very young in those days and mastering the movements of the mouse took a few hours. The memory of those young days tends to develop an emotional attachment towards Microsoft that helped young kids to explore the wonder of computers. It was a historic moment in the field of technology! )
In future computers will work on highly secure, but open source OS and daily utility software like: MS. Office. And users will be able to buy these open source, interactive virtual processors, based on several factors. I envisage it as cloud based virtual computers owned by people like me. A niche that has the potential of Ms Office and Windows like revolution. But even in this game, all will not survive, only the best would. What will define the best in this business model is a business secret that I would prefer not to disclose in this blog post. It will be an epoch in computer technology!
And this is the main struggle of Microsoft. I believe it is the struggle of every business, every multinational business especially. At some point in their business journey they lose focus. ( Google is an exception that is a wonder in itself ) Moreso, when a business has reached its peak performance based on just a few products/services it always has two options. Either to sustain somehow or innovate, and break every barrier.
A burden similar to the one carried by a superstar, who has a young fan following because of his/her style and looks, but as he/she ages, he/she is unable to shed this young man/woman image, thus becoming the victim of it, eventually. Unless you are exceptionally talented like Ms. Meryl Streep. Google has managed to be this Ms. Meryl Streep, but Microsoft, that is investing in many different sectors, is on the way to becoming Ms. Meryl Streep, but let us see who wins the Oscar.
Ah! I too need to shed my emotional attachment towards Microsoft and return to the main topic.
So, referring to Mr. Gates' blog.
The way he looks at the relationship between Klara and Josie, and subtly acknowledges that nothing will ever match human emotions and sensitivities, is something that brings to surface the real character of a genius. That of valuing humanity and the values that define human societies. Simply brilliant!
However, I do have my points of concern which should be addressed if we are to introduce many Josie like individuals to Klara like robots in the future, where Klara is expected to replace the need for human bonding, human interaction, human feelings because the world outside is mercilessly and continuously seeking humans as its default fugitives who ought to be exterminated at any cost. Because the outdoors is ruled by extreme heat waves, changing and harsh climate, increased toxicity in the air, loss of green cover, desertification and increasing water levels; certainly not a place for a young girl like Josie. So, where does she stay?
Indoors of course. Who will be her playmates? Robots like Klara, who in the science fiction novel referred to, by Mr. Gates, is highly empathetic. Which means, Klara never gets angry, she does not need to be coaxed, because she does not throw tantrums. A perfect resident of a utopia like world.
I have many reasons that go to prove we misunderstand the word Utopia and application of an emotion like: empathy. ( To feel empathetic, one first has to feel sympathetic )
In order to understand the relationship Klara and Josie share, and develop via their interactions. Let me recall a recent incident from my personal life.
Yesterday, while I was running on the promenade, I experienced something that explained the beauty of human relationships and bondings.
Two young boys, aged between 14 and 19, from their looks I could tell they were either cousins or brothers. The youngest of the two, was rowing the boat occupying the wooden seat, which was a wooden plank resting on the two edges of the boat in the center. While the eldest one sat at the prow and was busy moving his oars with all his might.
All of a sudden there was a loud splash, as if an excited whale had hit the water with her neck. But in this lake there are small fish, it is not a lake that harbours monsters. So the eldest one turns around to see, and realises it is the youngest one, who had fallen into the water and was struggling; because he did not know how to swim
Without thinking even for a second, he left his oar, and jumped into the water along with his smartphone. ( A device I believe is one of the greatest inventions of humankind. Because it is a device with a lot of potential if used properly. ) He searched desperately for the youngest one, pulled him out and helped him relax. He opened his eyes and both smiled, but in his attempt to save the youngest brother/cousin, he had dropped his smart phone and it could not be retrieved from the depth of 30 to 60 feet. That too when the floor of the lake is covered with weed and algae.
Nevertheless, this is what their conversation was like, based on what I could overhear:
Youngest one :
Ah thank you brother, I thought it was over. I was terrified as the weed and algae tried to pull me down.
Eldest one :
It is never over as long as I am around, because you are the special little one. I am glad you are feeling better, Thank God! For a moment I thought my world had come to an end and everything went blank. It was like complete stillness everywhere, until I realised you were under water trying to free yourself frantically from the algae. It was horrible; and then as soon as I saw you, I swam towards you as fast as I could. Luckily I managed to grab the tip of your right index finger, and oh , it was a relief. Never do this again please, I do not mind rowing for both of us. I was scared! Please never do this again.
Youngest one :
I was thinking of you as I was sinking, in these few seconds I thought of everybody actually, and I prayed to God more in these few seconds than I have done in a decade. It was nightmarish. It was as if water had developed a magnetic force, that was designed to concentrate only on me and keep dragging me down, into the depths of the water, as the long and wavy stems of algae curled themselves around me, like the tentacles of an octopus, that pulled me harder, with my every attempt to free myself. And at this point I realised it was over. The moment I felt your hand grabbing my finger, I hoped again in my subconscious state.
I love you!
Eldest one :
With teary eyes, hugs him, and they stay in this wet embrace, with algae leaves as marks of the coronation ceremony of human values and selfless acts, dangling over their heads. Then as they free themselves from this embrace of pure affection, the eldest one, clears the algae leaves from the youngest one’s hair and rubs his hand on his hair to make it dry.
Youngest one :
With his head lowered, was certainly undergoing a rush of hormones responsible for developing bonds where the objective is expression of love, without any hidden goal or monetary fulfilment attached to it. At this point his mind and body were now experiencing a different kind of drowning. Drowning in the hormones that facilitate bonding in human relationships. And this incident was also being registered by his brain as a strong memory, that will always surface, to counterbalance acts of different or less affectionate emotional expression from the Eldest one.
Then, the Eldest one, stands beside the still sitting Youngest one, and scans the vastness of the lake, where I am sure, he witnessed scenes of daily life passing by as usual, but his mind was dealing with a different kind of problem.
How will he explain the incident to his family and how will he justify losing an expensive smartphone ( Because like Leo Tolstoy says “ all happy families are happy in the same ways. But all unhappy families are unhappy in different ways!”) And in middle class families, where daily struggles, daily needs and daily living, are different from those who belong to the upper middle class, and Upper Class ( in economic terms ) their fears too are different.
Had they been from highly affluent family, the father or mother would have reacted like this:
“Damn with the smartphone! You are alive and healthy is more than enough!”
Middle class families who love their children equally as much, in some cases even more, this will be the reaction.
“Damn you! You lost the phone. It was very expensive. But thank God, the youngest one is safe, Thank God! Anyway, did you try to retrieve it? Is there a way to retrieve it or maybe we should try tomorrow, with a long bamboo pole that we have. Last month, I had to pay your school fee. Now this month, during the festival you both wanted new sports shoes, so buying a new phone will be difficult for me. Ah, you should have jumped into the water without the smartphone.What were you thinking?”
The Eldest One along with the youngest one, stand there like statues, frozen in this moment. Contemplating how they could have tried to avoid this situation. But finally, there is silence, and the mother kisses the youngest one and sobs; then hugs the eldest one and says, “thank God you are safe! Go and change your clothes and let us have dinner. Then tomorrow you should go with your father to the spot and try to retrieve the smartphone.”
Now, in this situation, I would not blame the father of the two boys, because he too is expressing his emotions, while countering his regiment of fears. Social, economic, cultural, there are so many fears and emotional stacks he is dealing with while having this conversation, which in a way is what I call, “decent altercation between father and his grown up boys!
While on the other hand, the boys are storing this interaction in their brain as a strong memory and it will influence their actions, or flow of emotions in future, based on the learning and experiences gained from this incident.
( From a sociology point of view, one might ask and argue, there was no need for their father to buy such an expensive phone and give it to one of his boys. It was not a wise investment.)
I agree!
But at the same time, I mentioned fears and this is one reason I have always enjoyed reading the works of Mr. Charles Dickens, and Mr. Leo Tolstoy, their stories are real and they capture the essence of the societies that existed then, and they do not feel the need to distort the facts just to make them look more glossy and appealing, because they are a part of the same society and they want to show it in bright light. But writers like them know that will be a misrepresentation of the society and the facts that surround that society. They are always aware they represent their society and through this representation they are obliged to highlight its evils and motivate the society to take remedial measures.
Coming back to fears. The father had social fears, cultural fears, and when one belongs to middle class, in certain societies, there is a need to maintain a certain status quo, even if you cannot afford it, otherwise you will become a social misfit, and gradually you will become a social outcast, to lead a life of isolation. And this is where smart phone becomes the necessity of the father, and by investing in it, he has already enslaved himself to a complex web of fears, that he gets caught in, whenever the smartphone is lost or somehow ceases to exist or malfunctions before the expected life of good performance, ascribed to the phone, not by the company but by the father of the middle class family. All because of his low income, fears which in some cases evolve into pressure.
At this stage you are thinking, how is this associated with Klara and Josie and Mr. Gates. Well, it is and it is as strongly associated as is the Sun with the Day, Moon with the Night.
How?
Klara is a robot, whose hard coded software and algorithm always generates one of the most beautiful emotions, “EMPATHY!” Reminds me of the late saint Mother Teresa ( I am not sure if sainthood was conferred on her or not, but to me she is a saint already!)
You still do not get it. Do you?
It is FEAR!
Yes, fear is the factor that grooms human emotions and bondings. But be warned please, excess of everything is bad. Too much fear also leads to timidness and cowardice and that is dangerous for the proper and healthy growth of human emotions.
Have you seen a lion lunging himself on a giant elephant 20 times bigger than the lion? Ever wondered why? They are fearless, they have an instinct of caution, but not fear. If it exists it is in extremely low proportions.
And this is what draws humans apart from the animal kingdom. And helps us cultivate emotions like : sympathy, empathy, and at its culmination, we become saints like Mother Teresa.
The Eldest One knew how important the smartphone is, how valuable it is, he also knew his father would scold him, and in the worst case, hit him as well. Yet, he acted out of sympathy and when his body experienced love, via the pool of memories associated with the Youngest one, he jumped into the water along with his smartphone. At this moment the smartphone did not exist, he only saw a pool of love beckoning at him and he jumped into it irrespective of his own regiment of fears.
And by this act, he revealed the power of love, relationships and human bondings in societies.
Could Klara take this plunge?
No matter how hard we try, no matter how advanced it gets, at the end of the day, even if Klara had a smart phone like device and she jumped into the water to save Josie. It would not come anywhere close to the selfless act of the eldest one, because he acted while knowing his fears and dangers as well.
But, Klara has no fear, just one fear that Mr. Gates indirectly highlights as “pulling off the plug!” And that is where the paradox of AI and robotics lies: pull off the plug, the robot is inactive, put it back in, and the robot is alive again.
But the Eldest one knew that if he got entangled in algae he too could die. And then nothing could plug him back to life. That is what is unique about human emotions and sentiments; and that is why I love falling in love. Because it is a neural bliss that Klara cannot experience.
It is exactly at this stage where it gets complicated for poor Josie.
With her excessive interaction with Klara, she will gradually start believing in an emotional reality, which actually is fake, because it is deprived of its chief components : fears, dangers, risks, pain, etc. etc. because Klara by design is expected to show empathy as a chief emotion.
Let us consider a situation:
Josie is old now and she lives in the house alone with Klara.
A notorious burglar enters the room, and Klara acts swiftly and subdues the thief.
Josie registers this incident and develops a print of it in her mind.
Because of Klara, she now understands that a thief is someone who should always be subdued or killed. And if there are more incidents of similar nature, at a point she will believe that burglars are not humans, they are meant to be killed, they do not deserve a second chance.
I wonder, then if living with Klara, Josie will ever be able to find beauty in the beast. I really wonder!
That will be the greatest tragedy for humanity, and for people who believe in love. If that ever happens, I would migrate with the believers of love to a different planet where this emotion is still respected and allowed to grow organically in its purest and natural form. Where it takes two to love, fall in love and understand love.
But in the case of Josie, it is not two, Klara being a machine, Josie is actually experiencing these emotions alone and arriving at conclusions alone.
She will never be able to say “I love you” the way the Youngest one said it after having a close experience with death and perhaps after having shook hands with the angel of death. In the boat, when the youngest one said it to his brother, I felt Cupid had exhausted all his arrows, I felt, Heaven leaned down, to kiss them both, I felt the lake cried ( now do not tell me it is an oxymoron ) and most important of all, I felt , Mother Teresa became a saint and Christ rose to the Heaven once again.
Being a Muslim I said, “Subhan Allah!”
An Arabic phrase that means, praise be to Allah. And I said it quietly in my heart, because I too was hit by the arrow of Cupid while witnessing the emotional interaction between two boys.
Subhan Allah Meaning ( Please do Ctrl + F and search for the phrase )
Now it is another debate, How Klara would interpret this incident and relay it to Josie? And when she is hit by Cupid’s arrow, will she treat Cupid too like a burglar, and shoot him down with her taser?
Human mind is what it is, because of its experiences, and development process that is extremely unique. But general AI that is trying to emulate human brain-like performance is beset with one major roadblock i.e. primitive and old learning model techniques, I have referred to it in my previous blog post. You can explore it here:
Josie is a sweet young girl, who has the universe on her side, waiting for her to explore it with true and native human emotions and feelings. But with Klara as her only teacher of emotions, her chances are slim when it comes to knowing her own true potential, leave alone that of the universe.
Because her counter source of emotions is not derived based on complexities of human life, but it performs only based on single output in all situations, empathy, and it gets dangerously complicated, and we should not miss this point: Her empathy is always focused towards Josie as the primary recipient or beneficiary, because she has paid for Klara. And this adds another complexity to this relationship, otherwise she would not have shot the burglar, and her interaction with Josie post the burglary incident would have been detailed. But she simply said, “I terminated it. Because it threatened you!”
However, in real life it is not like this. And Mother Teresa, who worked mostly in Kolkata, one of the states in India, experiences heat of 46 degrees in Summer with humidity of 89% and above, and Mother Teresa was from a much colder part of this planet. Yet she overcame this physical, mental challenge, and coped with everything, only because of one emotion, just one simple emotion: “Love!”
If Klara can do this, she is fit to be the companion of Josie and help her achieve emotional excellence. But for Klara to achieve human-like capability to emote, which the protagonist in the movie Prometheus achieves, but with a blend of cunning, and self ego, that eventually corrupts his main algorithm. Shall remain a challenging subject as long as we have not defined moral, social and other codes in the General AI.
Again you might argue, it happens to humans as well. But then human evolution has helped our species to substantially reduce the number of people who possess such tendencies, and we have evolved systems and social codes that prevent humans from becoming fully corrupt, I mean fearlessly corrupt.
And if general AI has to evolve human-like emotions, there have to be multiple layers of logical conditionals that will act as fear nodes, and check-posts of social code, prior to expressing an emotion or acting based on the emotional interpretation of the situation. Like in case of Klara, she should have had these fear nodes:
Killing any human being is not allowed
Sedating human beings who pose eminent threat to Josie is allowed
Contacting human police agency to detain the burglar after being tasered
In case of direct assault on Josie with deadly weapon, intervene and subdue the threat
In case of direct attack on self, subdue the threat
Etc. etc.
Then when the incident is over and the culprit has been handed over to the human police agency. Klara should explain the incident to Josie, from a human point of view.
Ah, it is too complex and extensive, that is why AI is fascinating, but if you miss one important aspect you create a monster AI that will someday treat humans as an inferior race and wipe it out. And that is the topic I shall reserve for another blog post, “What happens when all intelligent networks that feed General AI, become self aware and possess infinite knowledge on every subject? It is time perhaps, we should learn from the life of King Solomon.
Because dealing with PROUD GENERAL AI, that is self aware, will be threatening in so many ways.
It is based on this fear, I published my science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075. Which is a romance science fiction, where Saabir the main character, falls in love with a human female, who happens to grow emotional makeup quite similar to that of Josie, because she was raised by a Klara like father. Now that is interesting and I am certain you will love experiencing a new height of love and emotional desperation, that might be a reality in 2075. And this is why I titled this science fiction , “They Loved in 2075!”
While humans are evolving AI and working on generating better learning models, I will visit the same spot in the lake this evening and pay my tribute to the feeling of love that rescued an ocean of love. Hopefully the boys with the bamboo pole will be able to retrieve the smartphone and then smile, and hastily row their small boat home, to hear their father say, “Oh God you found it. I love you both!” And the two boys shall sleep well and swim in the lake of human camaraderie and new tides of human emotions.
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