Beyond Zero and One (Andrew Smart) / quote 6 of 171
The closer to brains, the less belief in superintelligence
Contrast this view with that of Duke University neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis,5 who is actually building brain-machine interfaces, or BMIs. “The arguments favoring the emergence of a relativistic brain strongly suggest,” writes Nicolelis, “that the primate central nervous system, and the human mind in particular, may not be compressed into any type of classical computational algorithm.” Bostrom and Rothblatt are preparing for a future in which it is assumed that technology will achieve these dazzling heights of superintelligence and cyberconsciousness. Both are much more concerned with economic and social issues surrounding superintelligence than with the actual science, philosophy, and engineering involved. There seems to be a curious correlation between how closely an author works with actual brains and her views on AI—the more you work in neuroscience the less you believe in superintelligence.