hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about what would happen if someone
built a conscious computer virus now let's begin as we close in on the discovery of artificial
intelligence well-known figures like Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking have been sounding
an alarm they've said over and over again that AI isn't something to look forward to it's something
to be genuinely scared of in their minds it's well within the realm of possibility that our
artificial creations could turn against us now how long will it take for our AI to become more
intelligent than humans when they realize how much smarter they are will AI treat humans like
inferior beings will their existence bring an end to all of humanity it's a bit of an exaggeration
I know however that's the gist of the terrifying future that many experts are worried about but let
me ask you this how could one conscious robot lead to the downfall of an entire species well
one solution comes in the form of a conscious computer virus that's an artificial mind that's
capable of replicating itself much like a biological virus this AI would spread from
host to host by creating copies of itself then that copy would develop its own copies and each
of those copies would make more copies until it exists on a global scale hypothetically a computer
virus with that much power could overthrow such a technologically reliant civilization pretty
easily but is that a realistic fear or is this concept better suited to the pages of a sci-fi
novel well before we dive into the practicality of a conscious computer virus we have to address
one very important question and that is what makes something conscious the truth is there
are dozens if not hundreds of different answers some are simple and narrow and others are radical
and will probably shatter all your preconceived notions about human consciousness with so many
options to choose from which definition is the most accurate unfortunately it's almost impossible
to say we don't have enough information yet but we are getting closer psychologists philosophers
and other scientists are constantly conducting new research and making enlightening discoveries
for example a group of neuroscientists recently proposed that your conscious mind exists as an
electrical field surrounding your brain now is that possible yes is it accurate no one really
knows for sure but at this rate it won't be long before we're able to definitively unravel
the mysteries of organic consciousness until then we need some kind of working definition
so for the time being let's just say this to be conscious is to be aware of your existence within
an environment consciousness is your ability to differentiate yourself from the external world
that individuality gives you a number of unique privileges conscious beings have the potential
to experience they can perceive they can feel they can create an identity and a sense of self
okay for this to make a bit more sense take this relatively mundane set of questions how does it
feel to sit down and watch this video what is it like to experience the sound of my voice or
the colors of this animation you can answer all three of these questions or at least I hope so
you can only do that because you're aware of your subjectivity you're a conscious being who can have
unique experiences now while it isn't a component of consciousness you can even communicate those
experiences through language yeah we take it for granted but this is something that very few
organisms are capable of so does that mean that humans are one of the only conscious beings in
the universe hmm that depends on who you ask but most neuroscientists would have to disagree when
people think about consciousness it's often posed as a yes or no question you're either conscious
or you're not consciousness is treated like some kind of magic power that we have over the rest of
the world but what if consciousness is more like a spectrum some organisms would be higher on the
spectrum like humans others would fall in the middle like dogs or monkeys while the majority
of organisms would land at the bottom like flies and earthworms now that means every wiggling dirt
eating invertebrate has some degree of awareness some small fraction of subjectivity it sounds
counterintuitive doesn't it how can you compare these tiny simple creatures to human beings to
start with they're not nearly as tiny and simple as you might think compared to humans earthworms
will really can't do much but in the grand scheme of things they're incredibly complex their bodies
are still comprised of living cells which form organs nerves and a functioning brain it's very
possible that consciousness is just a byproduct of certain complex systems in other words when
an organism is detailed enough consciousness comes naturally so if earthworms do have a little bit of
consciousness shouldn't we see proof that they're capable of being subjective well actually we have
like humans earthworms have shown that they can make decisions studies have found that under
identical circumstances different worms perform different actions furthermore the same worms
will make changes to their behavior depending on the situation now this suggests that earthworms
can make choices and adapt to the world around them a I'll admit those choices are very simple
like moving a leaf but their choices nonetheless and every choice is connected to some degree of
subjectivity because you have to perceive your existence within your environment now assuming
that consciousness does develop through sufficient complexity how does this theory
affect the creation of a conscious computer virus well believe it or not it's actually one of the
strongest arguments we have in favor of artificial intelligence quite a few neuroscientists are using
the internet as an example of how a complex system despite having no organic parts can still become
semi conscious it's no secret that the Internet is an immensely detailed creature I know it's weird
to call the internet a creature but in many ways it thinks it functions and it processes
information like a biological organism many people have argued that this is only because of humans
and on the surface they're absolutely right humans created the ideas the language in the code that
allows the internet to exist but in a sense that isn't all that much different than passing along
genes through reproduction you certainly wouldn't say that a child is not conscious because they
were born from the pieces of their parents it's true that the internet would not exist without
us over the years could it have still developed at least partial consciousness are the millions
of people that contribute to the internet like the neurons that power your conscious brain probably
not the Internet is actually more analogous to the automatic parts of our brain the unconscious
majority that keeps your heart pumping lungs breathing and stomach digesting it's plenty
complicated and it's very important but most people would agree that self-awareness isn't
exactly our unconscious Minds area of expertise it relies on formulaic mechanical behaviors instincts
impulses pre-programmed reactions to internal and external stimuli your unconscious doesn't really
make any intentional decisions it can't feel or experience anything if you want proof try
lightly scratching someone while they're sleeping it would cause a physical reaction dead skin cells
would fall off new cells would start repairing the damaged ones but would they experience you
scratching them would they feel pain nope they just wake up with a mark on their arm if the
Internet is closer to your unconscious than your conscious then what is it lacking it's really
hard to argue that the Internet is not detailed enough to be conscious so what's the last piece
of the puzzle consciousness at this point is an intangible concept it's a frustrating answer I
know but it's the best one we've got consciousness is just something that exists for reasons that we
can't understand at least not yet so where does that leave our conscious computer virus at this
point the danger of an artificial takeover is far out of you it's pretty unrealistic and lacks a
stable theoretical framework but that doesn't mean artificial intelligence isn't dangerous
let's assume that some sort of machine does gain subjectivity it begins experiencing and
mirrors consciousness by unlocking conscious thought the machine starts to outperform humans
now like most superior organisms it's possible that machines will exert their dominance over
us that's assuming a machine would abide by basic evolutionary principles like survival
of the fittest it's impossible to say if or why an AI would feel the need to compete with and
destroy humanity it's more likely that humans and artificial organisms learn to coexist in
fact many leading experts in both robotics and neuroscience are optimistic about the future of
AI they're less worried about a robot take over because discoveries rarely change the world so
quickly and dramatically more often than not the changes are slow and gradual so that means
when someone does create a conscious machine it will probably fall very low on the overall
spectrum it'll be much closer to an earthworm than a full-fledged human being in other words it may
be able to perceive and make choices but they're going to start small this does however open the
door for a different kind of threats because a conscious computer virus is something else
entirely unlike an AI if one created a conscious virus the goal isn't to replicate humanity its
to develop an adaptable parasite that thinks just enough to consume and destroy but whose fault is
that would you blame an earthworm for eating dirts or would you blame the person who put earthworms
in your garden in other words the idea of robot takeover sounds pretty terrifying but at this
point we are a much bigger threat to ourselves than even the sophisticated machines hey thank you
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