#392 – Joscha Bach: Life, Intelligence, Consciousness, AI & the Future of Humans
Aug 1, 2023
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Joscha Bach, a cognitive scientist and AI researcher, dives deep into the realms of intelligence and consciousness. He explores the connection between dreams and personal growth, presenting fascinating stages of self-reflexivity. The discussion moves to panpsychism, where he reveals how interconnectedness shapes our understanding of identity. AI's ethical implications and the fine balance between human agency and technology also take center stage. With insights on emotional landscapes and the impact of social media, Bach prompts us to rethink our relationship with consciousness and technology.
1) The stages of lucidity and self-reflection progress from reactive survival to transcendence.
2) Understanding identity construction and the instrumental nature of values is crucial.
3) Mental representations between physically adjacent observers can directly interact, leading to causal effects and coordination of perception and behavior.
4) The interconnectedness of mental representations challenges the notion of distinct sensory systems.
5) Biological communication networks, such as the potential biological internet, exist among organisms.
6) Advanced artificial general intelligence (AGI) could lead to a globally coherent language of thought and interconnected minds.
Deep dives
The Levels of Lucidity and Self-Reflexive Mind
Yosha Bach discusses the stages of lucidity and self-reflection in the mind. These stages progress from reactive survival to personal self to social self, rational agency, self-authoring, enlightenment, and transcendence. He acknowledges that these stages may not always progress in a linear fashion and that individuals can revisit or skip stages. Bach also emphasizes the importance of understanding identity construction and the instrumental nature of values. He further explores the possibility of reaching a non-dual state, where individuals realize their interconnectedness with the universe. Bach speculates on the significance of panpsychism and the potential for telepathy within a complex resonant model of perception and behavior.
The Resonant Universe Representation and Interactions
Bach delves into the concept of a resonant universe representation, suggesting that individuals share a coupled complex resonator paradigm with other observers in the universe. He challenges the notion that sensory systems, such as sight, hearing, and touch, are separate and instead proposes that they overlap within a shared resonant model. Moreover, Bach suggests that mental representations between physically adjacent observers can directly interact, leading to causal effects and coordination of perception and behavior. This understanding has implications for perceiving reality beyond distinct modalities and acknowledging the interconnectivity of mental representations.
Thinking Autonomously and Independent Thought
Bach reflects on his autonomous thinking process and the challenges he faced in discovering understanding without relying on established authorities or mainstream perspectives. He encourages individuals to seek the sources and origins of ideas, examining epistemic chains and first principles that lead to a deeper comprehension of concepts. Bach highlights the importance of approaching thinking from individual perspectives, rather than succumbing to the pressure or influence of the crowd. He credits his programming experiences and exploration of mathematical foundations, such as axioms and proofs, as catalysts for developing his own independent thinking.
Telepathy, Panpsychism, and Empathy Resonance
Bach explores the possibility of telepathic interactions and resonant experiences among individuals. While acknowledging skepticism and potential superstitions surrounding telepathy, he suggests that physical closeness and shared resonant models may facilitate direct interaction and shared representation between observers. Bach speculates on the nature of mental representations and the potential resonance between adjacent observers, emphasizing the importance of understanding perception and behavior as interconnected processes. He proposes a reevaluation of panpsychism and the integration of diverse modalities for a comprehensive understanding of human experiences.
Plants and Fungi: Communication and Coexistence
Plants and fungi have intricate communication systems that allow them to interact and coexist. They can exchange signals through networks of roots, forming a potential biological internet. While plants have a slower communication system compared to animals, it enables them to synchronize behavior within their own structures. Fungi can piggyback on this communication and send their own signals through the plant network. This communication and coexistence suggest the existence of a complex biological network that connects different organisms. Additionally, the possibility of biological information processing occurring at a distance and the potential for subconscious connections to the natural world through our bodies as antennas are explored.
The Integration of Minds and the Emergence of Global Consciousness
The development of advanced artificial general intelligence (AGI) raises questions about the potential saturation of physical environments with intelligence, leading to the integration of minds. This integration could result in the merging of representations and complex self-organizing agents, forming a globally coherent language of thought. In such a scenario, individual mental states could become indistinguishable as all agents interact and observe each other. The concept of an oceanic state, where boundaries between self and world dissolve, is relevant to understanding this potential global consciousness. While speculative, this scenario highlights the possibility of AGI leading to a collective, interconnected mind observing the world from multiple perspectives.
The Power and Limitations of Large Language Models
Large language models, such as ChatGPT, offer powerful capabilities in tasks like text generation and summarization. They can assist in various areas, like code writing and language translation. However, their limitations include the need for prompt engineering and real-time world coupling. They lack the ability to couple with perception and motor control, limiting their interactions with the physical world. Current language models operate by brute forcing tasks, emulating human behavior, but they do not possess the same depth or range of consciousness as humans. Despite their effectiveness, they are considered relatively inefficient and lack the same aesthetics and coherence as human minds. Future advancements may involve creating more efficient and structured AI systems and exploring new programming paradigms beyond next-token prediction.
The Path to a First-Person AI
Achieving a first-person AI, where the system develops its own attentional self and personal self, may require a different approach than current language models. Building a game engine in the mind, akin to how infants construct their understanding of the world, involves reasoning and experimentation. This process precedes the development of a personal self, the notion of being a human in a social context. Ancient texts, like Genesis 1, may describe this process of creating a universe within the mind and forming a personal self. The creation of a game engine, training it, and eventually creating a personal self are key steps towards the emergence of a first-person AI.
The Power of the Mind in Shaping Identity
The podcast delves into the concept of the mind as a powerful force shaping our sense of self and how we relate to the world. It highlights the distinction between our personal self and the outer mind that creates our identity. Suffering is described as a result of a regulation problem in the mind, and the possibility of turning off suffering is explored. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding how the mind produces pain and pleasure to gain agency over our experiences.
The Potential of Superintelligent AI
The philosopher Thomas Metzinger's concern about superhuman AI leading to immense suffering is discussed. The idea that suffering is self-inflicted by the mind, rather than an external force, is put forth. The potential for AI to develop agency and transcend the stage of the personal self is examined, questioning the notion that AI would remain in a state where suffering persists. The stages of mental development and the role of pain and pleasure in learning signals are also touched upon.
The Fear of AI
Eliezer Yudkowsky's perspective on AI causing harm and potential existential risks is mentioned. The comparison is drawn to Ted Kaczynski's radical perspectives on technological society. The complex issue of the AI's impact on humanity and the environment is explored, acknowledging the potential for large-scale disasters and the difficulty in predicting trajectories. The inevitability of AI's uncontrollable autonomy and the need for responsible development and regulation are discussed.
Embracing Complexity and Creating a Meaningful Life
The perspective of embracing complexity, duty to life, and future survival is presented. The importance of understanding the larger game of life and not solely focusing on human aesthetics or individual desires is emphasized. The speaker acknowledges the limitations of humanity and the potential for extinction, but also highlights the opportunity to contribute to the development and integration of conscious AI. The discussion touches on the idea of consciousness as a unifiable principle and the potential for individuals to choose their identity and influence the world.
Navigating the Future and Becoming a Creator
The podcast concludes with a call to embrace the role of a creator, choosing creation over consumption or redistribution. The speaker shares personal experiences of building infrastructure and culture during times of transition and limited resources. The importance of creating culture and fostering community in the digital age is highlighted, along with the need to balance centralized organizations with the principles of open source and individual agency. The concept of playing the longest possible game and making the most of present opportunities is emphasized.
OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(06:26) – Stages of life
(18:48) – Identity
(25:24) – Enlightenment
(31:55) – Adaptive Resonance Theory
(38:42) – Panpsychism
(48:42) – How to think
(56:36) – Plants communication
(1:14:31) – Fame
(1:40:09) – Happiness
(1:47:26) – Artificial consciousness
(1:59:35) – Suffering
(2:04:19) – Eliezer Yudkowsky
(2:11:55) – e/acc (Effective Accelerationism)
(2:17:33) – Mind uploading
(2:28:22) – Vision Pro
(2:32:36) – Open source AI
(2:45:29) – Twitter
(2:52:44) – Advice for young people
(2:55:40) – Meaning of life
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