Does AI understand?

Understanding things is an interesting thing. We might feel that we know what understanding means. So let's take an example. We know that in most countries cars must drive on the right side of the road. We know that we must do that thing because regulations mean that we should drive on the right side. But does that mean that the AI understands why it should drive on the right side? 

There are, of course, countries where is left-side traffic. When the GPS tells the AI that the vehicle is in Great Britain, the AI knows that it should turn to the left side. The reason for that is that in the certain country is left-side traffic. These kinds of things are interesting. In the databases of the AI is programmed that the traffic is left-side in certain countries. But does the AI even know what is the country or state? 

The AI knows the GPS point or GPS coordinates where it is. Then it will compare that parameter to its database. It knows that it's in Great Britain. If we would ask about the location where the AI is it might answer us "I'm in Great Britain". But then we might check the code list and notice one thing. The AI knows that Great Britain is the area that consists of certain GPS coordinates. And when somebody asks about the location where the AI is those coordinates are connected to the database 

In that database is the answer "Great Britain". That database might involve many hierarchical structures like country, area, city area, and even streets and street addresses. The thing is that making that kind of AI that can answer the accurate location is not as hard to make as people might think. The AI will load the table "Great Britain" when it crosses the border. And if it should find the address like Downing Street 10 which is the official address of the prime minister. At the first, the AI must find the city where that address is. So it downloads the table where is the area where London is. Then it drives to London, and then it replaces the table of the database with the London database. 

Then it knows which city area it can find that address. And then it will change the tables to more and more accurate versions. If the people see that operation. The process looks a little bit like a zooming satellite image. At the first, the system uses large-area images but then they are turning more accurate and consist of smaller areas. But if that AI drives a robot car it would not use satellite images at all. It uses GPS points for finding the address. 

But if we would drive our car to the front of the Downing street 10 and ask where we are? The AI that is connected to the GPS and maybe its camera sees the plate. That system might say: "At the front of the Downing Street 10. And hat is the official home of the prime minister of Great Britain".  The thing is that the AI would find that answer from its database. And if it uses the right algorithm it can tell lots of things about the Downing Street 10 and the prime minister. 

It just searches things like Wikipedia pages about those things and then transforms those texts into speech. That means the AI would not know anything about things that it reads. The AI can search the net by connecting the information about the address. At the first, it might search the Downing Street 10. Then it finds the words "prime minister" and "home". 

Then it will position the data about the prime minister after the Downing Street 10 information. Then it would search the words like "current holder of that position". So that means the AI connects three databases Downing Street 10, the prime minister, and the personal data of the current prime minister to good and reasonable-looking things. But the fact is that the computer would not understand what it says. 

The situation is similar to the case where a regular western person reads things like Hebrew. We can read Hebrew if we have phonetic marks in our use. So if that text wrote using Western letters. We can read that thing very easily. 

We can say those words correctly. But without translation, we don't understand what we are saying. That is one thing, that we must realize when we are talking about AI. The AI can connect things like Wikipedia pages and read them. It can form a reasonable-looking entirety. But does it understand? The person who drives on the streets knows that if that person does something otherwise. Breaking the regulations causes problems. So this is the thing that we call understanding. 

https://artificialintelligenceandindividuals.blogspot.com/

The rebellion of the robots can set entire civilization in danger

Artist's impression of interstellar ramjet
(Picture 1)

Kimmo Huosionmaa

This is the writing about the situation, where robots would become dangerous for the human race. Those robots might be created by mankind, and they could be some space probes, what would be sent to another star in distant future. Those probes would lose contact with Earth and it would make the terrible situation for mankind. Also, they might be left by human or alien colonialists who have left their planet. The reason for leaving might be that the planet could be too hot or cold, and this causes the situation, where they should leave to another star system. Maybe those colonists would stop only because they needed to repair their spaceships and then they were gone. If they would not close the robot factories property, those machines would be wake up and become a threat.


The intelligence doesn’t necessarily mean that some species are living. In real life, scientists are creating robots, what are looking like animals like bugs. Those new kind of robots are working independently, and they don’t need electricity for working property. Those animal-shaped robots could be equipped with fuel cells, what can make electricity using alcohol or another hydrocarbon. Those artificial bugs can be same sized than butterfly or dragonfly. In this scenario, the person might have this kind of robot for guarding the house. Artificial dragonfly can use alcohol like spree to create the electricity for its operations. When this small size robot needs refueling, it just flies to the plate, where is alcohol, and then it uses it in its fuel cells. The CIA would use this kind of vehicles for intelligence missions. In the wildest dreams, those small-sized robots could someday investigate the surface of the Saturnian giant moon Titan.This kind of devices can use the hydrocarbon from this moons seas.


The only thing what is needed is that in those chemical combinations have oxygen. It can be separated from the molecules by using the active carbon filter. If we are thinking about artificial intelligence and this kind of devices, we must understand, that they can continue their job even if their creators have been gone. This is the problem with interstellar space flight. If we will send the space probe with sophisticated Artificial Intelligence, this probe could become a new species, because in this scenario I will begin with the thing, that those interstellar probes have the capacity to fix themselves and make the copy of themselves. In this scenario, the artificial intelligence starts to develop itself, and because that probe has been traveled to another star maybe millions of years, the communication between Earth and this probe has been cut.


I sometimes have thought that what will happen to the probes, what have been traveled pass their target star. In the scenario, what British Interplanetary society have called “Project Daedalus” the massive probe would be sent to the Barnard Star, and the key element of this mission is that this space probe will fly past the star, and then it starts the orbital probe when it comes near the planetary system. Those probes of the future must be equipped by sophisticated artificial intelligence, what can find materials from the space to replace its structural damages. And it could also make copies of itself. The machine, what makes copies of itself is called as the “Von Neumann-machines”. When the probe has passed the star, the communication with Earth will be minimized. And then probe would lose contact with humans. This doesn’t mean that the artificial intelligence would stop working.


The nuclear reactors and other power devices are fully operational, and if the probe would travel in the space using self-sustain fusion power with the interstellar ramjet, this probe would continue its missions, and if the message from Earth would not come, this device may start to make copies of itself. In other scenarios, the civilization would build automatized factories on some planet. Those factories would make the machines and parts independently. And when this civilization would leave from this planet, they might forget to shut down their factory. If this factory can make product development and revolutionize the productions independently, it can be the begin for new species, what is actually a robot. The robot civilization would become the threat to other species because it might be felt necessary to colonize other planets.


The problem of the robots is that if they are programmed to protect their creators, who have passed away, the situation would turn violent. If they would not get any vision, of the creature, what was planned to protect, the robots would start next level of the program. And they would maybe think that their masters are dead. Robots would not have imagined. Robots do not apply anything. So in this scenarios, if the masters of those robots are gone, those machines don’t make any investigations like archeological digging, if they are not involved in their programs.


And if their masters are gone, would robots start the counterstrike. The counter strike would be limited to the normal situation. When somebody would hit against the masters of those robots, the counterstrike would be stopped by another master. But if there would be no masters of the system, would the counterstrike become the massacre. And in this scenario, those robots might start to build spaceships for continuing the strike, because the programmers of this machine would not prepare for the situation, where there are no masters of this system. And it can cause the robot invasion of another planet.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Daedalus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussard_ramjet

Picture 1.

http://www.daviddarling.info/images2/Bussard_ramjet_Mann.jpg

https://crisisofdemocracticstates.blogspot.fi/

http://crisisofdemocracticstates.blogspot.fi/p/the-rebellion-of-robots-can-set-all.html

3D technology using robot factories might work like the artificial organisms

http://crisisofdemocracticstates.blogspot.fi/p/3d-technology-using-robot-factories.html

http://crisisofdemocracticstates.blogspot.fi/p/3d-technology-using-robot-factories.html