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Re41-NOTES.pdf
(The below text version of the notes is for search purposes and convenience. See the PDF version for proper formatting such as bold, italics, etc., and graphics where applicable. Copyright: 2022 Retraice, Inc.)
Re41: News -- Betterment, Intelligence, Darkness
Retraice^1
Some humans can now play with proteins like Legos, and this is good for them, maybe us, and any AI that wants to takeover the Earth.
Air date: Saturday, 5th Nov. 2022, 11:00 PM Eastern/US.
The spectrum of intelligence
Bertrand Russell, 1921: "[F]rom the protozoa to man there is nowhere a very wide gap either in structure or in behaviour. From this fact it is a highly probable inference that there is also nowhere a very wide mental gap."^2
Sam Harris, 2016: "It seems overwhelmingly likely, however, that the spectrum of intelligence extends much further than we currently conceive, and if we build machines that are more intelligent than we are, they will very likely explore this spectrum in ways that we can't imagine, and exceed us in ways that we can't imagine."^3
The Lego blocks of life
H7. Betterment: `Some things make the future better than the past.'
AlphaFold's new rival? Meta AI predicts shape of 600 million proteins, Ewen Callaway, nature.com, Nov. 1st, 2022.
"Microbial molecules from soil, seawater and human bodies are among the planet's least understood."
2020 Nature: "Proteins are the building blocks of life, responsible for most of what happens inside cells. How a protein works and what it does is determined by its 3D shape -- `structure is function' is an axiom of molecular biology. Proteins tend to adopt their shape without help, guided only by the laws of physics."^4
Wikipedia: "Each protein exists first as an unfolded polypeptide or random coil after being translated from a sequence of mRNA to a linear chain of amino acids.... As the polypeptide chain is being synthesized by a ribosome, the linear chain begins to fold into its three-dimensional structure."^5
MIT Tech. Rev., July: "DeepMind has predicted the structure of almost every protein known to science"^6
So, is this better? I.e., is solving the protein-folding problem a good thing? Well, the medical possibilities are endless and good. But: o Betterment is vague.^7 o There are definitely mutually exclusive `better's: consider Boko Haram (Wikipedia), who forbid books other than the Quran. o Generally, knowing more is better, unless it enables humans or machines to do terrible things before we can stop them.^8
Smart and dumb are things
H8. Intelligence: `There are intelligence differences.'
A trivial (though sensitive) point is to be made here: Some people (and machines?) are smarter than others. Intelligence is a spectrum (see above), and all but two of us are between the extremes.
Compare: * predicting protein folding by creating deep learning code (Deepmind); * copying the published methods (Meta).
A lot more goes into who claims `first' at an intellectual prize, but if all other things are equal, the first is necessarily smarter. Does this bode well for our machine future?
Put on your evil hat
H9. Darkness: `There is a pervasive darkness in humans, even amongst the good guys.'
The mail-ordered DNA AI-takeover^9 scenario:
"[Step] 1: Crack the protein folding problem to the extent of being able to generate DNA strings whose folded peptide sequences fill specific functional roles in a complex chemical interaction."^10
We can also imagine humans using protein folding technology to make others sick, kill them, control them, etc. And those who invent the technology have no power over what is done with it.
_
References
Bostrom, N. (2011). Information Hazards: A Typology of Potential Harms from Knowledge. Review of Contemporary Philosophy, 10, 44-79. Citations are from Bostrom's website copy: https://www.nickbostrom.com/information-hazards.pdf Retrieved 9th Sep. 2020.
Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford. First published in 2014. Citations are from the pbk. edition, 2016. ISBN: 978-0198739838. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=978-0198739838 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+978-0198739838 https://lccn.loc.gov/2015956648
Bostrom, N. (2019). The vulnerable world hypothesis. Global Policy, 10(4), 455-476. Nov. 2019. https://nickbostrom.com/papers/vulnerable.pdf Retrieved 24th Mar. 2020.
Bostrom, N., & Cirkovic, M. M. (Eds.) (2008). Global Catastrophic Risks. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0199606504. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=978-0199606504 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+978-0199606504 https://lccn.loc.gov/2008006539
Collison, P., & Cowen, T. (2019). We need a new science of progress. The Atlantic. 30th Jul. 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-new-science-progress/594946/ Retrieved 5th Nov. 2022.
Kissinger, H. A., Schmidt, E., & Huttenlocher, D. (2021). The Age of AI. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN: 978-0316273800. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9780316273800 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+9780316273800 https://lccn.loc.gov/2021943914
Retraice (2020/09/07). Re1: Three Kinds of Intelligence. retraice.com. https://www.retraice.com/segments/re1 Retrieved 22nd Sep. 2020.
Retraice (2022/10/23). Re27: Now That's a World Model - WM4. retraice.com. https://www.retraice.com/segments/re27 Retrieved 24th Oct. 2022.
Russell, B. (1921). The Analysis of Mind. Macmillan. No ISBN. https://books.google.com/books?id=4dYLAAAAIAAJ Retrieved 6th May. 2019.
Yudkowsky, E. (2008). Artificial intelligence as a positive and negative factor in global risk. (pp. 308-345). In Bostrom & Cirkovic (2008).
Yudkowsky, E. (2013). Intelligence explosion microeconomics. Machine Intelligence Research Institute. Technical report 2013-1. https://intelligence.org/files/IEM.pdf Retrieved ca. 9th Dec. 2018.
Footnotes
^1 https://www.retraice.com/retraice
^2 Russell (1921) p. 41. See also Retraice (2020/09/07) p. 1.
^3 Can we build AI without losing control over it?, Sam Harris, TED talk, Sep 29, 2016, from 6 min. ff.
^4 `It will change everything': DeepMind's AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures, Ewen Callaway, nature.com, Nov. 30th, 2020.
^5 Protein folding, Wikipedia.org, retrieved Nov. 5th, 2022.
^6 DeepMind has predicted the structure of almost every protein known to science, Melissa Heikkilä, technologyreview.com July 28, 2022.
^7 It is easy to adopt a definition but hard to be sure it's the right one. For example: Collison & Cowen (2019).
^8 Bostrom (2011) pp. 1, 27; Bostrom (2019).
^9 AI is: classical code (steps yield precise results) plus AI code (steps improve imprecise results). Kissinger et al. (2021) p. 58. See also Retraice (2022/10/23).
^10 Bostrom (2014) p. 119 quoting Yudkowsky (2008) p. 331 ff. See also Yudkowsky (2013) p. 6.
View all episodes
By Retraice, Inc.(The below text version of the notes is for search purposes and convenience. See the PDF version for proper formatting such as bold, italics, etc., and graphics where applicable. Copyright: 2022 Retraice, Inc.)
Re41: News -- Betterment, Intelligence, Darkness
Retraice^1
Some humans can now play with proteins like Legos, and this is good for them, maybe us, and any AI that wants to takeover the Earth.
Air date: Saturday, 5th Nov. 2022, 11:00 PM Eastern/US.
The spectrum of intelligence
Bertrand Russell, 1921: "[F]rom the protozoa to man there is nowhere a very wide gap either in structure or in behaviour. From this fact it is a highly probable inference that there is also nowhere a very wide mental gap."^2
Sam Harris, 2016: "It seems overwhelmingly likely, however, that the spectrum of intelligence extends much further than we currently conceive, and if we build machines that are more intelligent than we are, they will very likely explore this spectrum in ways that we can't imagine, and exceed us in ways that we can't imagine."^3
The Lego blocks of life
H7. Betterment: `Some things make the future better than the past.'
AlphaFold's new rival? Meta AI predicts shape of 600 million proteins, Ewen Callaway, nature.com, Nov. 1st, 2022.
"Microbial molecules from soil, seawater and human bodies are among the planet's least understood."
2020 Nature: "Proteins are the building blocks of life, responsible for most of what happens inside cells. How a protein works and what it does is determined by its 3D shape -- `structure is function' is an axiom of molecular biology. Proteins tend to adopt their shape without help, guided only by the laws of physics."^4
Wikipedia: "Each protein exists first as an unfolded polypeptide or random coil after being translated from a sequence of mRNA to a linear chain of amino acids.... As the polypeptide chain is being synthesized by a ribosome, the linear chain begins to fold into its three-dimensional structure."^5
MIT Tech. Rev., July: "DeepMind has predicted the structure of almost every protein known to science"^6
So, is this better? I.e., is solving the protein-folding problem a good thing? Well, the medical possibilities are endless and good. But: o Betterment is vague.^7 o There are definitely mutually exclusive `better's: consider Boko Haram (Wikipedia), who forbid books other than the Quran. o Generally, knowing more is better, unless it enables humans or machines to do terrible things before we can stop them.^8
Smart and dumb are things
H8. Intelligence: `There are intelligence differences.'
A trivial (though sensitive) point is to be made here: Some people (and machines?) are smarter than others. Intelligence is a spectrum (see above), and all but two of us are between the extremes.
Compare: * predicting protein folding by creating deep learning code (Deepmind); * copying the published methods (Meta).
A lot more goes into who claims `first' at an intellectual prize, but if all other things are equal, the first is necessarily smarter. Does this bode well for our machine future?
Put on your evil hat
H9. Darkness: `There is a pervasive darkness in humans, even amongst the good guys.'
The mail-ordered DNA AI-takeover^9 scenario:
"[Step] 1: Crack the protein folding problem to the extent of being able to generate DNA strings whose folded peptide sequences fill specific functional roles in a complex chemical interaction."^10
We can also imagine humans using protein folding technology to make others sick, kill them, control them, etc. And those who invent the technology have no power over what is done with it.
_
References
Bostrom, N. (2011). Information Hazards: A Typology of Potential Harms from Knowledge. Review of Contemporary Philosophy, 10, 44-79. Citations are from Bostrom's website copy: https://www.nickbostrom.com/information-hazards.pdf Retrieved 9th Sep. 2020.
Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford. First published in 2014. Citations are from the pbk. edition, 2016. ISBN: 978-0198739838. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=978-0198739838 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+978-0198739838 https://lccn.loc.gov/2015956648
Bostrom, N. (2019). The vulnerable world hypothesis. Global Policy, 10(4), 455-476. Nov. 2019. https://nickbostrom.com/papers/vulnerable.pdf Retrieved 24th Mar. 2020.
Bostrom, N., & Cirkovic, M. M. (Eds.) (2008). Global Catastrophic Risks. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0199606504. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=978-0199606504 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+978-0199606504 https://lccn.loc.gov/2008006539
Collison, P., & Cowen, T. (2019). We need a new science of progress. The Atlantic. 30th Jul. 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/we-need-new-science-progress/594946/ Retrieved 5th Nov. 2022.
Kissinger, H. A., Schmidt, E., & Huttenlocher, D. (2021). The Age of AI. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN: 978-0316273800. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9780316273800 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+9780316273800 https://lccn.loc.gov/2021943914
Retraice (2020/09/07). Re1: Three Kinds of Intelligence. retraice.com. https://www.retraice.com/segments/re1 Retrieved 22nd Sep. 2020.
Retraice (2022/10/23). Re27: Now That's a World Model - WM4. retraice.com. https://www.retraice.com/segments/re27 Retrieved 24th Oct. 2022.
Russell, B. (1921). The Analysis of Mind. Macmillan. No ISBN. https://books.google.com/books?id=4dYLAAAAIAAJ Retrieved 6th May. 2019.
Yudkowsky, E. (2008). Artificial intelligence as a positive and negative factor in global risk. (pp. 308-345). In Bostrom & Cirkovic (2008).
Yudkowsky, E. (2013). Intelligence explosion microeconomics. Machine Intelligence Research Institute. Technical report 2013-1. https://intelligence.org/files/IEM.pdf Retrieved ca. 9th Dec. 2018.
Footnotes
^1 https://www.retraice.com/retraice
^2 Russell (1921) p. 41. See also Retraice (2020/09/07) p. 1.
^3 Can we build AI without losing control over it?, Sam Harris, TED talk, Sep 29, 2016, from 6 min. ff.
^4 `It will change everything': DeepMind's AI makes gigantic leap in solving protein structures, Ewen Callaway, nature.com, Nov. 30th, 2020.
^5 Protein folding, Wikipedia.org, retrieved Nov. 5th, 2022.
^6 DeepMind has predicted the structure of almost every protein known to science, Melissa Heikkilä, technologyreview.com July 28, 2022.
^7 It is easy to adopt a definition but hard to be sure it's the right one. For example: Collison & Cowen (2019).
^8 Bostrom (2011) pp. 1, 27; Bostrom (2019).
^9 AI is: classical code (steps yield precise results) plus AI code (steps improve imprecise results). Kissinger et al. (2021) p. 58. See also Retraice (2022/10/23).
^10 Bostrom (2014) p. 119 quoting Yudkowsky (2008) p. 331 ff. See also Yudkowsky (2013) p. 6.