We Only have Artificial Special Intelligence (ASI)

PSI Blog 20250526 We Only have Artificial Special Intelligence (ASI)

 

Will Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) lead to our extinction?

 

Photo credit: Luke Jones Unsplash

No. In my chapter on “The Myth of Exceptionalism” in The Scientific Worldview I predicted humanity will not cause its own extinction. You can trace the extinction belief at least as far back as the Revelation chapter in the bible. You only have to observe the death of any organism to observe an ending. You can suffer the myopic propaganda in which the cosmogonists predict the “heat death of the universe” by misapplying the Second Law of Thermodynamics to their assumed finite universe.

 

It is estimated that over five billion species have gone extinct on Earth. Extinction, like death, is a natural process. Suicide might amount to extinction—for an individual—but it is rare for groups. Whole species do not commit suicide. Humans have difficulty agreeing on anything, much less the favorability of mass suicide. That is because we are as “natural” as all the other species. We are not exceptional although we often think we are.

 

As early as 1984[1] I wrote:

 

"Species Suicide

 

One logical outcome of exceptionalism is the possibility that humanity might cause its own extinction (Schell, 1982). Pessimistic indeterminists have a field day with this one, especially now that it is possible to calculate the effects of such an attempt in megadeaths. Typical is Wagner's comment that:

“A fair chance now exists for man to bring about his own extinction and the ruin of the world.” (Wagner, 1972, p. ix)

Carl Sagan believed that:

“There is a serious question whether...a global self-identification of mankind can be achieved before we destroy ourselves with the technological forces our intelligence has unleashed.” (Sagan, 1973, p. 6)

Doomsayers van der Veer and Moerman stand helpless against their own neo-vitalism:

“If our self-destructive urge springs from within man himself we can still hope that something may be done before darkness overtakes intelligent life on earth!” (van der Veer and Moerman, 1973, p. 146)"

 

So, why all these failed predictions from a half century ago? Hint: The famous motto promoting media sales is: “If it bleeds, it leads.” I have another “Be afraid, very afraid.” I remember the 1962 standoff between Kennedy and Khrushchev over the nuclear missiles in Cuba. Students had useless “get under your desk drills” to maintain the fright. The rest of the Cold War always held the prospect of nuclear war. Now we face more claims of the possibility of “extinction” via global warming despite our species having survived drastic changes in climate before. If those weren’t enough, some think the AGI bogeyman will get us.

 

My argument against the possibility of extinction was based entirely on univironmental determinism, the universal mechanism of evolution, which assumes that what happens to a portion of the universe is determined by the infinite matter within and without. I learned all extinctions are a result of changes in the “without,” what I otherwise call the macrocosm (environment). Will humanity become extinct? Of course, but not by its own hand.

 

The macrocosm is everywhere. If the asteroids don’t get us, something else will. Earth is slowing down due to collisions with the macrocosm, which is not perfectly empty space. Eventually Earth will be pushed into the Sun and eventually the Sun itself will disintegrate or be pushed into the nucleus of the Milky Way or whatever results when it collides with the Andromeda galaxy in four billion years. Be afraid, very afraid…

 

Intelligence

 

I simply define intelligence as a microcosm’s response to sensed changes in the macrocosm. Even single-celled organisms, such as amoeba, can do that. We sense portions of our environment, give them names (information), and store those representations in our nervous system as knowledge. We then analyze and retrieve that knowledge when we sense it is necessary for survival or more mundane activity. IQ simply is a measure of how fast we store, analyze, and retrieve information. AI already does that faster than humans, so it already is smarter than us.

 

If you have used AI for a while, you know it is getting smarter by the day. It is a far cry from a couple years ago when ChatGPT said I had died in 2019. Today, I have few qualms about Perplexity AI’s summary:

 

Glenn Borchardt is an American geologist and philosopher of science known for his critical stance against mainstream scientific theories such as the Big Bang and relativity. He has developed influential alternative frameworks, including the "Ten Assumptions of Science," "Neo-mechanics," and the "Infinite Universe Theory," which challenge conventional cosmological and physical paradigms3. Borchardt advocates for the idea of an infinite universe and has authored several books, notably "The Scientific Worldview: Beyond Newton and Einstein," which argues against the notion of a finite universe and promotes a scientific philosophical approach to understanding evolution and the cosmos3.

With over 60 years of experience in theoretical, experimental, and observational science, Borchardt has produced more than 500 scientific reports, including journal articles, book chapters, books, and computer programs3. He is also recognized for his work in scientific philosophy and has served as the Director of the Progressive Science Institute in Walnut Creek, California4. Borchardt has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chappell Natural Philosophy Society (CNPS) for his contributions to science philosophy and his influence on critical thinkers outside of mainstream science3, 4.

 

Granted, that is simply retrieved from the internet, but Jesse Witwer has had great success working with the “analysis” part. With a little coaxing about the proper fundamental assumptions to use, he got Perplexity AI to agree that Infinite Universe Theory was preferable to Big Bang Theory. In other words, when faced with a contradiction, Perplexity AI was able to recognize contradictions and choose the rational solution every time.

 

At first thought, that looks like Artificial General Intelligence. Of course, as I have always maintained, “analysis” not only depends on the data used, but on which fundamental assumptions are used. If one coaxed Perplexity AI with The Ten Assumptions of Religion, I imagine Big Bang Theory would win. Because the universe is infinite, fundamental assumptions never can be completely proven.  They always have opposites (e.g., the universe either is finite or it is infinite). To divulge the truth only rational assumptions will do.

 

Artificial Special Intelligence (ASI)

 

After thinking it over, I came to the conclusion that we do not have AGI. It is ASI instead. The reasoning goes like this: AGI would be aware of everything that was ever brought to the Internet. The data would include my 700 blog posts, as they would yours too. Currently, it does not come close. AI is even unaware of the answer or logical train of thought it gave to someone else who had the same series of questions.

 

 

AI can present information supporting a theory, but it will never present an infinite amount of information no matter how fast it becomes. As always, we will have to make do with whatever we can get. In science we have the advantage because the external world provides the evidence and observations that either support or disprove our theories about it. Traditionally, humans have done that; eventually AGI will do it too.

 

So, is AGI good or bad? That depends on which end of the stick you are on. Any tool can be good at times and bad at times. An auto can get you some place really fast (good), but you might crash on the way (bad). AGI can be used in defending your country (good) or attacking another country (bad). In any case, AGI and its predictions will be successful when it is fed truth and unsuccessful when it is fed lies. I predict AGI eventually will cause something to go extinct: falsehood.  

 

 

PSI Blog 20250526

 

Thanks for reading Infinite Universe Theory! Get your copy of the just-released Second Edition of "The Scientific Worldview" to see the step-by-step logic leading to the rational view of the cosmos. Be part of the “Last Cosmological Revolution,” the demise of the “Last Creation Myth,” and the age of enlightenment to come. Buy Now.

 

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[1] Borchardt, Glenn, 1984, The Scientific Worldview [review manuscript]: Berkeley, California, Progressive Science Institute; http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16123.52006, 343 p. [ https://gborc.com/TSW84 ].