Ep. 156: Algorithms won't get us to AGI | Johannes Jaeger
Apr 9, 2024
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Dr. Johannes Jaeger discusses the differences between organisms and machines, the limitations of algorithms in achieving AGI, the importance of biological principles in AI and evolution, exploring agency in AI and biological organisms, and reevaluating fundamental questions in biology, philosophy, and AI research.
AI lacks true general intelligence and agency compared to natural organisms.
Living organisms' self-manufacturing process involves complex interactions, contrasting with AI's design.
Living organisms exhibit intrinsic motivation and adaptability, unlike AI reliant on external target functions.
Deep dives
AI Critique by Johannes Yeager
Johannes Yeager, a biologist and philosopher, challenges prevalent views on AI's potential dangers. He argues that current AI lacks true general intelligence and agency, contrasting it with the complexity of natural organisms' interactions with the environment.
Organisms' Self-Construction and Differentiation
Yeager emphasizes that organisms' unique self-manufacturing process extends beyond feedback loops, involving various processes that co-construct and interact to create functional structures. This differs significantly from how current AI is designed, where software and hardware remain separate.
Embodiment and Interaction with the World
Embodiment in living systems involves the fusion of genes, cells, and environmental interactions where the software (genes) literally build the hardware (cells). This embodied interaction differs from AI systems that maintain strict separation between software and hardware, affecting how each entity engages with and perceives the world.
Adapting to a Large World and Ambiguity
Yeager delves into the concept of a 'large world' where living systems encounter ill-defined problems requiring a perspective to define relevance and problem-solving approaches. In contrast, AI operates in more contained 'small worlds,' lacking the nuanced and adaptive qualities inherent in biological organisms.
AI's Limitations in Agency and Environmental Interaction
Yeager highlights that AI lacks intrinsic motivation and agency, depending on externally provided target functions. This contrasts with living organisms that evolve aims and purposes through their interactions with the environment, showcasing the fundamental differences in adaptability and responsiveness between AI and natural entities.
Dr. Johannes Jaeger is a systems scientist, evolutionary biologist, educator, and natural philosopher with an extremely transdisciplinary track record. His investigations, first as the head of an empirical lab, later as the director of an institute for the philosophy of biology, and then as a freelance investigator, have always focused on organisms as complex adaptive systems. He is currently leading a research project at the Dept of Philosophy of the University of Vienna called “Pushing the Boundaries,” which concerns the differences between machines and organisms, and the importance of this difference for evolution. He is associate faculty at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) Vienna, and a scholar at the Ronin Institute.