Are we living in the Matrix? Tech Billionaries think so...
I kid you not, this is becoming a serious discussion in the technology and scientific community now.
If you don't want to read the whole articles below, here's a quick video synopsis of the topic:
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Some of the world’s richest and most powerful people are convinced that we are living in a computer simulation. And now they’re trying to do something about it.
At least two of Silicon Valley’s tech billionaires are pouring money into efforts to break humans out of the simulation that they believe that it is living in, according to a new report.
Philosophers have long been concerned about how we can know that our world isn’t just a very believable simulation of a real one. But concern about that has become ever more active in recent years, as computers and artificial intelligence have advanced.
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If we aren’t actually living through a simulation, Mr Musk said, then all human life is probably about to come to an end and so we should hope that we are living in one. “Otherwise, if civilization stops advancing, then that may be due to some calamitous event that stops civilization,” he said at the Recode conference.
Mr Altman seemed to echo that fear and told the New Yorker that he was concerned about the way that the devices that surround us might lead to the extinction of all consciousness in the universe. He spoke about how the best scenario for dealing with that is a “merge” – when our brains and computers become one, perhaps by having our brains uploaded into the cloud.
“These phones already control us,” he said. “The merge has begun – and a merge is our best scenario. Any version without a merge will have conflict: we enslave the A.I. or it enslaves us.
“The full-on-crazy version of the merge is we get our brains uploaded into the cloud. I’d love that. We need to level up humans, because our descendants will either conquer the galaxy or extinguish consciousness in the universe forever. What a time to be alive!
Even crazier? Financial Institutions are participating in the topic:
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The latest insight into the paranoia of the Silicon Valley elite comes from an interview with head of famed Californian start-up Y Combinator, Sam Altman.
Speaking to The New Yorker, the entrepreneur is candid about the challenges surrounding artificial intelligence, saying: ‘We enslave the AI or it enslaves us.’
He continues: ‘The full-on-crazy version of the merge is we get our brains uploaded into the cloud…We need to level up humans, because our descendants will either conquer the galaxy or extinguish consciousness in the universe forever.’ In the article, veteran staff writer Ted Friend explains how the idea has taken hold, with some looking to shatter the illusion. ‘Many people in Silicon Valley have become obsessed with the simulation hypothesis, the argument that what we experience as reality is in fact fabricated in a computer,’ wrote Mr Friend.
Two tech billionaires have gone so far as to secretly engage scientists to work on breaking us out of the simulation,’ he adds.
The New Yorker journalist does not, however, reveal the billionaires by name, or confirm if Mr Altman is one of them. Along with SpaceX and Tesla chief, Elon Musk, Mr Altman formed non profit firm Open AI with the aim of developing 'off-the-shelf' AI. Musk is one of those who persuaded by the idea of a simulation - like the Hollywood hit The Matrix - saying earlier this year that games technology has advanced to a point where it will become indistinguishable from reality.
In the first film in the Matrix trilogy, Neo holds a spoon in his hand and realises that it is not real, along with everything around him.
Recently, a report from the Bank of America claimed there is around a 50 per cent chance that civilisation is living in a simulation. The bank's wealth management company, Merrill Lynch, sent out a briefing note to investors outlining their Matrix theory, according to Business Insider.
The note said: 'Many scientists, philosophers, and business leaders believe that there is a 20-50 per cent probability that humans are already living in a computer-simulated virtual world.'
It explained that earlier this year, researchers gathered at the American Museum of Natural History to debate this notion.
The note continues: 'The argument is that we are already approaching photorealistic 3D simulations that millions of people can simultaneously participate in.
'It is conceivable that with advancements in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and computing power, members of future civilisations could have decided to run a simulation of their ancestors.
'Unless we are now living in a simulation, our descendants will almost certainly never run an ancestor-simulation.'
While the researchers have predicted this could be a daunting reality, unfortunately they neglected to mention whether there was a way out of it, if true.
It is also unclear what the investment implications are for the Bank of America.
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10-28-2016, 12:27 AM
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