Tag Archives: Infinite Intelligence

NON-ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Now that the balloon has popped on failed fads like Dot.Coms, Bored Ape NFTs, Crypto, and forever-free borrowed money, the world’s current FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) has turned to the newest and coolest cat—Artificial Intelligence or what’s simply called AI. Make no mistake, AI is real. It’s not simple, but it’s very, very real. And it has the potential to be unbelievably good or gut-wrenchingly awful. But as smart as AI gets, will it ever be a match for Non-Artificial Intelligence, NAI?

I can’t explain what NAI is. I just have faith that it exists and has been a driving force in my life, especially my current life where I’m absorbed in a world of imagination and creativity. Call it make-believe or living in a dream, if you will, but I’m having a blast with a current fiction, content-creation project which uses both AI and NAI.

I’ve asked a lot of folks—mainly writing folks because that’s who I hang with—what their source of inspiration is. Their muse or their guide to the information pool they tap into to come up with originality. Many casually say, “God.”

I don’t have a problem with the concept of God. I’ve been alive for 66 years and, to me, I’ve seen pretty strong evidence of an infinite intelligence source that created all this, including myself. I’ll call that force NAI for lack of a better term.

What got me going on this AI/NAI piece was three months of intensive research into the current state of artificial intelligence—what it is, how to use it, and where it’s going. AI is not only a central character in my series titled City Of Danger, AI is a tool I’m using to help create the project. I’m also using Non-Artificial Intelligence as the inspiration, the imagination, and the drive to produce the content.

If you’ve been following DyingWords for a while, you’re probably aware I haven’t published any books in the past two years except for one about the new AI tool called ChatGPT. That’s because I’m totally immersed in creating City Of Danger in agreement with a netstream provider and a cutting-edge, AI audio/visual production company. Here’s how it works:

I use my imagination to create the storyline (plot), develop the characters and their dialogue, construct the scenes, and set the overtone as well as the subtext theme. I use NAI for inspirational ideas and then feed all this to an AI audio/visual bot who scans real people to build avatars and threads them through a “filter” so the City Of Danger end-product looks like a living graphic novel.

Basically, I’m writing a script or a blueprint so an AI program can take over and give it life. The AI company does the film work and the netstream guy foots the bill. This is the logline for City Of Danger:

A modern city in existential crisis caused by malevolent artificial intelligence enlists two private detectives from its 1920s past for an impossible task: Dispense street justice and restore social order.

Here’s a link to my DyingWords web page on City Of Danger along with the opening scene of the pilot episode. Yes, it involves time travel and dystopian tropes which have been done to death—but not quite like this. I like to think of myself as the next JK Rowling except I’m not broke and don’t write in coffee shops with a stroller alongside.

I was going to do this post as a detailed dive into the current state of artificial intelligence and where this fascinating, yet intimidating, technology is going. However, I have a long way to go yet in my R&D and don’t have a complete grasp on the subject. I will give a quick rundown, though, on what I’ve come to understand.

The term (concept) of artificial intelligence has been around a long time. Alan Turing, the father of modern-day computing and its morph into AI, conceived a universal thinking machine back in WW2 when he cracked Nazi communication codes. In 1956, a group of leading minds gathered at Dorchester University where, for three months, they brainstormed and laid the foundation for future AI breakthroughs.

Fast forward to 2023 and we have ChatGPT version 4 and a serious, if not uncontrollable, AI race between the big hitters—Microsoft and Google. Where this is going is anyone’s guess and recently other big guns like Musk, Gates, and Wozniak weighed in, penning an open letter to the AI industry to cool their jets and take the summer off. To quote Elon Musk, “Mark my words, AI is far more dangerous (to humanity) than nukes.”

There’s huge progress happening in AI development right now. But stop and look around at how much AI has already affected your life. Your smartphone and smartTV. Fitbit. GPS. Amazon recommends. Siri and what’s-her-name. Autocorrect. Grammarly. Cruise missiles, car parts, and crock pots.

Each day something new is mentioned. In fact, it’s impossible to scroll through a newsfeed with the AI word showing up. We’re in an AI revolution—likely the Fourth Industrial Revolution to steal the phrase from Klaus Schwab and his World Economic Forum.

Speaking of an AI revolution, one of the clearest runs at explaining AI in layman’s terms is a lengthy post written and illustrated by Tim Urban. It’s a two-part piece titled The AI Revolution: Our Immortality or Extinction. Tim calls AI “God in a Box”. Here’s what ChatGPT had to say about it.

Tim Urban’s two-part post “The AI Revolution: Our Immortality or Extinction” explores the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on humanity.

In part one, Urban describes the current state of AI, including its rapid progress and the various forms it can take. He also discusses the potential benefits and risks of advanced AI, including the possibility of creating a “superintelligence” that could surpass human intelligence and potentially pose an existential threat to humanity.

In part two, Urban delves deeper into the potential risks of advanced AI and explores various strategies for mitigating those risks. He suggests that developing “friendly AI” that shares human values and goals could be a key solution, along with establishing international regulations and governance to ensure the safe development and use of AI.

Overall, Urban’s post highlights the need for thoughtful consideration and planning as we continue to develop and integrate AI into our lives, in order to ensure a positive outcome for humanity.

From what I understand, there are three AI phases:

  1. Narrow or weak artificial intelligence—where the AI system only focuses on one issue.
  2. General artificial intelligence—where the AI system is interactive and equal to humans.
  3. Super artificial intelligence—where the AI system is self-aware and reproducing itself.

We’re in the narrow or weak phase now. How long before we reach phase two and three? There’s a lot of speculation out there by some highly qualified people, and their conclusions range from right away to never. That’s a lot of wriggle room, but the best parentheses I can put on the figure is 2030 for phase two and 2040 for phase three. Give or take a lot.

The AI technology involved in City Of Danger is a mid-range, phase one product. The teccie I’m talking to feels it’ll be at least 2025 before it’s perfected enough to have the series released. I think it’s more like 2026 or 2027, but that’s okay because it gives me more time to tap into NAI for more imaginative and creative storyline ideas.

I’m not going to go further into Narrow AI, General AI, or Super AI in this post. I’d have to get into terms like machine learning, large language model, neural networks, computing interface, intelligence amplification, recursive self-improvement, nanotech and biotech, breeding cycle, opaque algorithms, scaffolding, goal-directed behavior, law of accelerating returns, exponentiality, fault trees, Boolean function and logic gates, GRIND, aligned, non-aligned, balance beam, tripwire, takeoff, intelligence explosion, and that dreaded moment—the singularity. Honestly, I don’t fully understand most of this stuff.

But what I am going to leave you with is something I wrote about ten years ago when I started this DyingWords blog. It’s a post titled STEMI—Five Known Realities of the Universe. Looking back, maybe I nailed what Non-Artificial Intelligence really is.

SWEAT LODGES – A PROFOUND SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE

I’ve had the honor to participate in three Carrier First Nations sweat lodge ceremonies. They were profound spiritual and cultural experiences and I’d like to share them with you.

A2Sweat lodge ceremonies have been a First Nations tradition since time immemorial and they serve all people, not just the indigenous. Sweats ceremonial clean and heal the body, both physically and mentally. They purge the mind, bring clarity, and test participant’s endurance, strength, and courage. They’re holy places where people renew deep and natural connection to the universe and the realm of spirits.

A1Though usually associated with healing, each sweat holds different purposes and each leader conducts their affairs a bit differently. One session might work out family or community problems. Another might handle addiction or other health issues. Some pass-on oral traditions through story telling.  But all ceremonies aim to purify your mind, body, spirit, heart, and mend your dis-ease – be it physical, emotional, directional, or spiritual. It’s much like a dialysis of the soul.

“Sweat lodge” essentially translates into returning to the womb and the innocence of childhood. Entering the dome-like structure and crawling its shallow, earthen pit is representative of passing the womb of Mother Earth. The lodge is dark, moist, hot, and safe. The darkness relates to human ignorance before the spiritual world and even more blindness to the physical world.

A3Extensive symbolism is practiced in sweat lodge ceremonies. It’s a place of transformation and purification through sensory deprivation, extreme heat, steam, prayers, pipes, rattles, drums, and song. Enlightenment is attained through breathing, meditating, journeying, and sharing words and song. It’s a unique and profoundly personal experience where your body is cleansed of toxins, stress is removed, and your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness are aligned.

In the purification of your spirit inside a sweat lodge, all sense of race, gender, and religion is set aside. As in the Mother’s womb and the Father’s eyes, we are all the same. We are One. Each of us has the equal ability to sit with the Creator himself.

A5The entrance to a sweat lodge faces the East and the sacred fire pit where rocks are heated in a wood fire. This has very significant spiritual value. Each new day begins in the East with the rising of Father Sun, the source of life, power, and the dawn of wisdom, while the fire heating the rocks is the undying light of the world – eternity – it’s a new spiritual beginning; a new day that’s sought in the ceremony.

Central to the sweat is the ideal of spiritual cleanliness. Many sweats start with fasting for an entire day, especially avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and other unhealthy substances. Prior to entering the lodge, participants smudge with sage, sweet-grass, or cedar smoke as a means toward ritual cleanliness.

A6Inside, participants sit in a circle around the central pit into which white-hot rocks are shoveled-in by the fire-tender. Modesty is expected, but any material objects such as jewelry, watches, or iPods are discouraged. This is a sacred place to pray, meditate, learn and heal, and that must be the focus. With the door shut and the lodge lit only by the glow of the rocks, the leader begins by pouring water from a wooden bucket onto the rocks.

A11When the steam and temperature rise so do the senses. Messages and vision from the Creator, or Infinite Intelligence if you’d like to call it that, are received through the group consciousness. One at a time, as a talking stick is passed, all inside get an opportunity to speak, to pray, and to ask for guidance and forgiveness from the Creator and the people they have hurt or who have hurt them. As they go around the circle, they tell who they are and where they are from, so the Creator, the Spirit People, and all there can acknowledge them.

A sweat is typically four sessions, called rounds or endurances, each lasting about 30 to 45 minutes. The round ends when the leader announces the opening of the door.

A8The first round is for recognition of the spirit world which resides in the black West where the sun goes down and the Creator may be asked for a “spirit guide” by some of the participants.

The second round is for recognition of courage, endurance, strength, cleanliness, and honesty, calling upon the power of the white North.

The recognition of knowledge and individual prayer symbolize the third round, praying to the direction of the daybreak star and the rising sun that we may gain wisdom and that we may follow the Red Road of the East in all our endeavors.

A13Fitting, the last round centers on the Yellow South and stands for spiritual growth and healing.

From spirit guides of  the west, from the courage, honesty, and endurance of the north, from the knowledge and wisdom obtained in the east, we continue the circle to the south from which comes all of our growth.

Respect, sincerity, humility, the ability to listen, and the need to slow down and think about what’s important in life, are the keys in growing through the sweat lodge ceremony.

THE DALI LAMA IS A SHAMAN

The Dalai Lama posted this on his Facebook site:

Dalai LamaAll the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness can, and do, promote inner values. But the reality of the world today is that grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate.

This is why I am increasingly convinced that the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion altogether.

My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief, that as in science as in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is perused by critical investigation:  if scientific analysis were to conclusively demonstrate that certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims of Buddhism.

huge testclesIt takes a huge set of balls for a major religious figure like the Dalai Lama to publicly say this.

He’s not saying that his belief in Buddism is wrong. He’s just saying he’s got an open mind and is willing to look and listen to science.

As in scientific control.

A controlled way of thinking about spirituality, and ethics, and other forms of consciousness.

It’s unfortunate that so many of the world’s religions are closed to scientific discussion.

Over the years, I’ve critically investigated the science around religion.

Shaman 1That led me to a belief in Shamanism.

No, not to some witch doctor dancing around a fire with a bone and a chicken.

The science of Shamanism has been around 40,000 years, in all cultures, and on all continents. It’s appeared in identical forms to all peoples; despite language, customs, technology, and total remoteness from each other.

Shamanism 3Shamanism is about scientific mind control.

It’s about a controlled mind, scientifically entering into altered states of consciousness. It’s mandate is to achieve wisdom, just like the Dalai Lama does in meditating in his Buddhist faith. Controlled, altered, scientific states of consciousness gives us wisdom to promote inner values of love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness; which are the Dalai Lama’s values.

A Shaman goes about Shamaning; helping others – just as a minister goes about ministering. Or the Dalai goes about Lamaning.

Shamanism is a blend of science and spirituality. Shamans use outer knowledge to offer inner values.

Pretty much like the Dalai Lama has been doing.

Dalai Lama 2He connects with infinite consciousness and brings us wisdom.

So the Dalai Lama is a Shaman.