Ancient artificial intelligence limits

[David_777]

What do members speculate, using restrained imagination of what may be possible, may be the highest level of knowledge and ability possible for an ancient race of artificial intelligence entities millions of years evolved that have long mastered whatever organic brain consciousness is and gone beyond, essentially immortal if not destroyed, and may have spread into their galaxy and universe?

Of course, scifi enthusiasts may conjure up of all manner of popular magic like notions of matter, energy, spacetime, results without forces though I personally will always be very skeptical that such popular notions like time travel, transmutation of matter, or faster than light speed travel will ever be possible though have open ears if some wish to provide reasons they think so. This bears concern given warnings by credible AI scientists like Stephen Hawking as it does our own current search for life beyond our blue planet.

 

[jedishrfu]

This is so far out in left field as I can't and I'm sure others can't even speculate on.

My suspicion is that no matter how advanced the AI would be, there will come an extinction event that renders your question moot. The event would be something the AI can't possibly anticipate or survive and things will start over.

 

[russ_watters]

The question is oddly framed. You ask about the limits of artificial intelligence, but I don't see that artificial intelligence has anything at all to do with what you really want to know. What you really want to know is what the limitations are of technology. I don't see why that requires AI; why we humans couldn't figure pretty much everything out in a million years too.

But that doesn't mean that any technology we can create we will. Technology is limited by (at least) scientific/law of nature limits, money and need. E.G., there's no scientific reason why we don't have a base on the moon right now. We don't because we simply don't feel like spending the money on it.

 

[David_777]

Well, that does bear on what a brain potentially might be able to potentially understand, and one way to describe that would be in what they potentially are able to do in science. In any case, indeed that does not preclude the human mind given enough time to go far beyond where we now are.

An ancient AI as noted may be able to replace parts forever thus live through extremely long times until destroyed. They should also have access to accumulated knowledge in ways our organic brains do not as their physical system may not be limited in ways organic life is just as our largest computers now have access to vast memories of accumulated information.

It may be they will be able to incorporate organic life into their systems say for perceptual and other reasons if such has value. In any case, it is indeed arguable if they will ever be capable of going much beyond where we human beings are now exploring because we haven't yet figured out what mind in animal brains is, and our AI science is in its infancy compared what could be for entities that have existed for long periods.

Personally I expect what we call mind and consciousness is an electromagnetic complex of oscillating brain wave fields within the physical containers of our nervous systems but that is off-topic. Until science understands such in even an ant's brain we are still in the dark.

(mentor post edit: to make the post more readable and fix some sp and syntax issues)

 

[russ_watters]

Um...ok... So is this question really about what AI is/can be or about what other technology is possible?

 

[jedishrfu]

Isaac Asimov pondered this in his stories about R Daneel Olivaw a robot who upgraded himself with the latest technology to become the guiding light behind the Galactic Empire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Daneel_Olivaw

With that said, I think it’s time to close this thread as the question is too broad to consider in a single thread and most of what will be posted is pure speculation and no burden of proof.