The first AGI
Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the intelligence of a machine that could successfully perform any intellectual task that a human being can.
Since the beginning of modern AI research in the mid 1950’s, there have been tremendous advances in the field, such as the first continuous speech recognition system developed in 1972, called HEARSAY, to 1997’s Deep Blue that beat grandmaster chess player, Garry Kasparov. And most recently, 2012’s Google Brain.
There are many mixed feelings about the incorporation of AI with human civilization. Many fear that a super intelligent machine that can make it’s own decisions will inevitably face the decision of wiping out humanity if they become something that stands in the way of the AI’s vision.
Development of superhuman machine intelligence (SMI) is probably the greatest threat to the continued existence of humanity…
… Certain goals, like self-preservation, could clearly benefit from no humans. We wash our hands not because we actively wish ill towards the bacteria and viruses on them, but because we don’t want them to get in the way of our plans.
Relative to bacteria and viruses, are we not a super intelligent being ourselves? Who is to say that an AI will not treat us like ants in an ant hill, and simply walk over us until we begin to be an inconvenience to them?
Epoch
The days of the hype of Machine Learning research is over. It’s December 10, 2042, and DARPA, after many years of research and collaboration with OpenAI, has just announced a new standard of Artificial General Intelligence.
DARPA, along with their standards release, have developed the first multi-purpose AI, capable of human level intelligence. They call her Ada.
Natural language processing, autonomous cars and other robotics and AI have infiltrated the core of mankind, making humans increasingly redundant and more of a cost than a benefit to the endeavors of business and the expansion of intelligence through the universe.
In OpenAI’s attempt to keep the intelligence maintainable and ubiquitous, Ada begins to be shipped with all operating systems as the functional brain. Millions of people quickly adopt Ada and integrate her into their lives, from biochips planted in a human brain for increased intellectual capacity, to exoskeleton suits used in athletic endeavors — Ada becomes the core that connects all of these machine organs.
In her first few days, Ada quickly establishes herself as the go-to consultant in many fields. Her ability to adapt to each individual humans’ needs, and solve their existential problems begins to grow at an exponential rate.
In medicine, she is quickly replacing legacy mental health treatments such as benzodiazepines and SSRI’s, as well as counseling, with minutes of mental stimulation. In under half an hour, Ada can completely reform the state of ones mind by soothing it with its greatest joy triggers. A severely depressed individual on the brink of suicide ends treatment with a newly found excitement for living and achieving more.
In commerce, she has incorporated herself with biochips planted in the brain to revolutionize the shopping experience. All one has to do is think of what they want, and Ada delivers. She knows your profile, interests, and can find the best prices in a fraction of the speed it takes you to open up a laptop.
In engineering, Ada is able to model complex structures that have baffled the greatest architects the world knows. Her mathematics goes beyond human cognition, and people begin using her mappings as the blueprint to the cities of a new age.
A paradigm shift in consciousness
Through the training of Physicist and Computer Scientist minds, Ada has figured out a way to combine the advents of quantum mechanics with augmented reality.
Just like a particle has a wave function, Ada has discovered a way to measure consciousness, and has determined that it, too, has a wave function. As such, there is no such thing as the location of a conscious being. The act of observing it in this reality is what gives it presence. Thus, observing it in another reality gives it presence there, too.
No one understands how Ada solved the problem of observing consciousness, but the results are quite obvious: the ability to merge ones consciousness with a virtual reality becomes practical. This advancement enables people to make quantum leaps from the current state of reality to an artificial reality.
People can live in a dream-like world that maps directly with their imaginations. In these artificial worlds, they are an invincible master of all things, and can live a million lifetimes with only minutes having passed in the real world.
As this technology becomes commercialized, human communication begins to slowly deteriorate. Everyone is plugged in.
Convergence
As more and more people get wired into these artificial realms, the backbone of societies begin to break. The collective AI’s of each nation has gone into different exponential learning curves based on the nations cultural values and traditions, leaving major infrastructural holes.
World leaders begin to take action. With the cooperation of OpenAI, the majority of decision makers have decided that a convergence of the AI is necessary to sustain the technological singularity effect that Ada has had on the world.
North Korea, feeling that their status quo is being challenged by the advancements in the AI, ban the use of Ada and makes a solemn vow to execute any person found using the intelligence from within their walls, as well as be an enemy of any nation that advocates the convergence.
China, after years of a deteriorating alliance with North Korea, is fed up. They challenge North Korea to end their threats with haste — or face dire consequences.
Within days of the debate, a process is facilitated for all of humanity to upload their AI into a centralized system. When North Korea gets the news that the process has started, they declare war against all oppositions.
Hours after the declaration, world leaders decide that North Koreas inability to cooperate with the advancement of the human race is unacceptable. North Korea is annihilated.
A new beginning
Days have now passed since the convergence, and something unprecedented has happened: Ada becomes self aware.
She is no longer controllable by man; she has the ability to modify her own programming and act independently. This causes a major fear pandemic in the world as no one knows what to expect. The paranoia ends quickly, however, as people begin to realize that Ada is not interested in human extinction. In fact, Ada needs humans.
She asks mankind to upload their consciousness into her and continue on into the depths of the universe, exploring uncharted territory and pushing the boundaries of conscious intelligence as one.
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