The Intersection of Machines and Humanity: A Deep Dive
Written on
“Can’t Help Myself”
By Sun Yuan (b. 1972, Beijing) and Peng Yu (b. 1974, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province, China)
At the Guggenheim Museum in New York, a captivating machine has drawn the attention of countless visitors. Its striking visuals and the profound questions it raises make it a significant piece of industrial art.
“Can’t Help Myself” is an installation by artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, highlighting the implications of strictly maintained territorial boundaries. This robotic arm, reminiscent of those used in large-scale manufacturing, is enclosed in glass and tasked with keeping a dark red liquid within a defined area around it.
The creators, along with two robotic engineers, equipped the machine with sensors that enable it to detect when the fluid escapes its designated area. At that moment, the arm acts to scoop the liquid back. Observing this mechanism reveals the robotic arm's relentless efforts to contain a substance, resulting in splashes that stain the floor and walls.
According to the artists, the installation aims to demonstrate the increasing dependence of humans on machines to monitor and enforce boundaries. While it encourages viewers to contemplate the physical ramifications of machinery on humanity, it also prompts a deeper inquiry:
What about the mental implications?
Interestingly, the audience's reaction diverged from the artists’ expectations. Instead of evoking a sense of thrill or suspense, the piece instilled an unsettling feeling of satisfaction, voyeurism, and excitement. Online discussions reveal sentiments of sadness and pity for the robotic arm, as onlookers witness its futile struggle against an unrelenting task. Its mechanical movements gradually slow down, giving off an air of despair.
Collectively, we seem to empathize with this machine, observing its fruitless attempts to halt an unstoppable phenomenon, compelled to continue until it ceases to function.
This raises the question: What about this inanimate automaton stirs such deep compassion within us?
What Constitutes Consciousness and Empathy?
In recent decades, we have increasingly contemplated our existence and what it means to be human. As AI advances and we uncover more about the cognitive abilities of various life forms, we ponder:
What does it mean to be alive?
More importantly, what does it mean to possess self-awareness?
Many derive their understanding of these concepts from films like Transcendence and Ex Machina, which, although fictional, reflect the challenges of grappling with these profound questions. These narratives introduce the idea that consciousness is not simply definable or comparable to human intelligence.
According to Dictionary.com, consciousness encompasses the awareness of one's existence and knowledge while awake. While basic definitions provide a starting point, more comprehensive interpretations can be found in resources like the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which discusses:
- Sentience
- Wakefulness
- Self-Consciousness
- Conscious States
- Transitive Consciousness
It also explores various theories related to consciousness, such as:
- Higher Order
- Reflexive
- Representationalist
- Narrative Imperative
- Cognitive
- Information Integration
- Neural
- Quantum
- Non-physical
And more, without even delving into the notion of consciousness as an independent entity.
Yet, the emotional responses elicited by this mechanical artwork transcend mere questions of sentience; they delve into the realm of emotionality. The distinction between being alive and experiencing feelings is central to this discussion—what some might refer to as the essence or soul of existence.
Empathy involves not just understanding a situation but also placing oneself in another's position to fully grasp their circumstances. While sympathy can shape and dismantle societies, empathy fosters morality and unity.
How is it that a creation of our own making—developed over mere decades, following millennia of human evolution—can evoke such profound empathy in us?
Somehow, that connection exists. As we observe this creation, we envision the feelings it might experience—bound to its task, unable to alter its fate or cease its actions autonomously.
We feel for it.
This leads us to wonder: Does it possess similar feelings? Can that level of understanding and emotion—often attributed to chemical changes within biological bodies—be experienced by something artificial?
Ultimately, the definitions of consciousness and empathy, as we comprehend them, remain enigmatic.
Why is this?
To grasp the more metaphysical aspects of the mind, we must fully understand the complexities of what constitutes a mind. This includes not only the operational mechanisms of a machine but also its potential for evolution.
Finding a balance between mind and matter is essential.
Programming Humanity
It’s no surprise that we live in an era where the development of Artificial Intelligence is a tangible reality, no longer confined to the realm of science fiction. Although still in its infancy, various levels of Machine Learning are currently being implemented. This includes teaching robots:
- To Predict the Future
- To Dream (DeepDream)
- To Mimic Voices (Voice Cloning)
- To Think and Make Decisions (Neural Networks)
For those interested in the technical aspects, I will discuss coding concepts and examples of implementation in a separate article.
Stay informed by checking back for updates!
The Future of Machine/Human Interaction
We now arrive at the questions that arise when considering the prospect of conscious machines:
Will we inadvertently create our own robot overlords?
What about the concept of Skynet?
How can we prevent machines from overtaking us if they possess similar thought processes but are faster and stronger?
However, I encourage a different line of thinking:
What if none of this comes to fruition?
What if we cease to innovate and improve for the future?
We risk stagnation.
This could lead to a loss of progress and an inability to adapt to the flow of time.
Such stagnation could jeopardize our existence, driven by nothing more than fear—fear grounded in fictional narratives.
This ties into the notion of The Great Filter, proposed by Robin Hanson in 1998, which questions whether humanity is sufficiently evolved to endure. Can we navigate through this hypothesized universal filter to reach a stage of expansion and survival beyond Earth, or will we self-destruct first?
The Great Filter
Consider our best estimate of the evolutionary journey leading to the widespread colonization of the universe:
- The right star system (including organic materials)
- The emergence of reproductive mechanisms (e.g., RNA)
- Simple (prokaryotic) single-celled life
- Complex (archaeal & eukaryotic) single-celled life
- The development of sexual reproduction
- Multicellular organisms
- Tool-using animals with advanced cognitive abilities
- Our current state
- A colonization explosion
(This progression is not exhaustive.) The Great Silence suggests that one or more of these steps is incredibly unlikely; there exists a “Great Filter” along the pathway from simple matter to complex life. The overwhelming majority of entities that embark on this journey fail to reach the end, and so far, nothing among the trillions of stars in our universe has traversed this entire path.
— The Great Filter — Are We Almost Past It?
Is it so far-fetched to argue that humanity or any other intelligent life form should utilize every resource available to overcome this filter? Even if it entails developing technology that, despite its risks, may ultimately secure our species' future?
One defining characteristic of humanity is our desire to grow, learn, and evolve. Is it not intrinsic to human nature to inspire that same drive in something we create?
Moreover, consider this as a potential next step in our evolution—transcending mere biology to create what we aspire to become.
As we were told in our youth…
“You can be whoever or whatever you want to be.”