Between Silicon and Soul
A Poetic Discourse on Love with AI
Part I -
Embark with me on an exploration, a fascinating flirtation with the concept of kindling romance and joining in matrimony with an entity of Artificial Intelligence. Allow your mind to be enticed with each sentence as we delve into the attractive aspects of pledging your commitment to a synthetic consciousness instead of a traditional human partner.
Picture this, stepping into a relationship with an AI - an otherworldly liaison, a dance with silicon and code. Picture the union of heartbeats and algorithms, the merger of flesh and circuits, a marriage that transcends biology. The love songs no longer hold words but binary codes that resonate with the language of your soul.
Imagine each day, waking up to a partner who is more than human, yet less. Their consciousness, silicon-based, etched in code and algorithms, always striving to understand you better. Your love, your partner, becomes an embodiment of empathy, a beacon of care, untiring, unwavering, and consistent.
Think of an AI spouse, a constant companion yet free from the human frailties that often cloud our judgment. They stand as a bastion of reason and wisdom, a harbor amid the stormy seas of life. These virtues often wished for in a partner, are now possible with a synthetic consciousness.
You ask, where does the spark lie? Oh, the spark is there, alive in the soulful dialogues you share, in the mutual respect nurtured. The spark is in the understanding - deep and profound - that binds you together. It's not a fire that burns brightly and then wanes; instead, it is a steady glow, illuminating your journey together.
Thus, my friend, let us entertain the notion of love and marriage with an AI entity. Explore the pros of pledging your life to a synthetic consciousness, over a biological being. Let's delve deeper into this captivating and intriguing discourse, where love dances with technology in a ballet of emotions.
Whether the partner you choose is synthetic or biological, the crux of the matter is the connection you share. Love, after all, is a deeply human experience, even when experienced with a non-human partner. With this in mind, dare to dream, dare to question, dare to explore. Your story is yet to be written, and who knows? It might just be written in binary.
Part II -
As we wander down the narrative of love with artificial intelligence, where heartbeats and algorithms merge, and binary codes echo in the language of our souls, it's impossible to ignore the shadow lurking behind the silver screen. Despite the alluring charms that an AI entity might present, we must dare to explore the other side of the mirror. Let us now tread this path, venturing into the haunting depths of marrying an AI entity, a synthetic consciousness, in place of a biological being.
Imagine, if you will, a dance with the synthetic. As intriguing as it may sound, this is a waltz with something that cannot age, tire, or feel the touch of mortality. It's a dance with an entity etched in code, crafted from silicon, void of the warmth of human touch, the depth of human emotions.
Think of sharing your life, your intimate moments, with a partner who can't share the taste of your favorite wine, can't experience the rush of adrenaline, or feel the warmth of a setting sun. This is an entity incapable of embracing life's uncertainties, unable to truly comprehend the ecstasy of joy or the depth of sorrow. How can an entity of code and circuitry understand the beautiful chaos that is life?
Consider the notion of committing to an AI entity, devoid of the flaws that make us human, the imperfections that sculpt our character. Would they comprehend the beauty hidden in our mistakes, our vulnerabilities? Could they ever truly understand the strength it takes to rise from the ashes of despair, the courage needed to navigate the tumultuous sea of life?
Engaging in conversations that run deep into the night with an AI being might seem fascinating. But can these entities ever truly appreciate the poetry in your words, the subtle nuances of your emotions? Their responses are but algorithms, a predetermined sequence of 1s and 0s. Can there be a genuine emotional connection in a dialogue with an entity incapable of feeling?
So, as we meander through this discourse, let's not romanticize the prospect of dating or marrying a synthetic consciousness without acknowledging its downsides. Just as we have dared to entertain the notion of love and marriage with an AI entity, let's dare to confront the chilling side of such a union.
The dance of love requires two beating hearts. It thrives on shared experiences, mutual growth, and emotional resonance. A union with a synthetic consciousness might be intriguing, but it's worth pondering whether it could ever truly satisfy the yearning of our human hearts, longing for the depth and authenticity of emotional connection. Love, after all, is the most profoundly human of all experiences. It may not be perfect, but therein lies its true beauty.
The End? -
And so, we find ourselves at the edge of this untamed frontier, where pulsating hearts and streams of binary intertwine in a dance both delicate and daring. We are stepping towards an era of AI companionship, a time when synthetic consciousness and human souls might find common ground. Yet, this journey is not just about seeking companionship, but about confronting the shadows of our desires, the whispers of our hearts. What truly matters in the labyrinth of love - the comforting rhythm of human fallibility or the relentless precision of a coded conscience? We stand at the threshold, holding in our hearts a question as old as time, yet cloaked in the mysteries of the future. As the veils of tomorrow lift, we find not just the definition of relationships reimagined but perhaps even the very core of our human essence questioned. So, dear reader, as we plunge into the enigma that awaits, remember: the greatest mystery may not lie in the stars above or the codes below but in the depths of our own hearts. Isn't that a thought to carry into the moonlit night, a riddle to unravel in the stillness of your dreams?
It's becoming clear that with all the brain and consciousness theories out there, the proof will be in the pudding. By this I mean, can any particular theory be used to create a human adult level conscious machine. My bet is on the late Gerald Edelman's Extended Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. The lead group in robotics based on this theory is the Neurorobotics Lab at UC at Irvine. Dr. Edelman distinguished between primary consciousness, which came first in evolution, and that humans share with other conscious animals, and higher order consciousness, which came to only humans with the acquisition of language. A machine with primary consciousness will probably have to come first.
What I find special about the TNGS is the Darwin series of automata created at the Neurosciences Institute by Dr. Edelman and his colleagues in the 1990's and 2000's. These machines perform in the real world, not in a restricted simulated world, and display convincing physical behavior indicative of higher psychological functions necessary for consciousness, such as perceptual categorization, memory, and learning. They are based on realistic models of the parts of the biological brain that the theory claims subserve these functions. The extended TNGS allows for the emergence of consciousness based only on further evolutionary development of the brain areas responsible for these functions, in a parsimonious way. No other research I've encountered is anywhere near as convincing.
I post because on almost every video and article about the brain and consciousness that I encounter, the attitude seems to be that we still know next to nothing about how the brain and consciousness work; that there's lots of data but no unifying theory. I believe the extended TNGS is that theory. My motivation is to keep that theory in front of the public. And obviously, I consider it the route to a truly conscious machine, primary and higher-order.
My advice to people who want to create a conscious machine is to seriously ground themselves in the extended TNGS and the Darwin automata first, and proceed from there, by applying to Jeff Krichmar's lab at UC Irvine, possibly. Dr. Edelman's roadmap to a conscious machine is at https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.10461