The first point worth mentioning is that this isn’t some new crazy idea, it’s just part of a process that has been going on since the beginning of our species.
Kurzweil and other futurists often talk about merging with technology, and they make the point that we’ve been merging with computers ever since we invented them, to the point that now our entire way of life relies on computers.
But Tim’s post goes way further than that and makes the point that it’s really about communication. Ever since we developed language, we’ve been trying to find better ways to communicate more clearly and to more people.
Language began as something that was only spoken, then written language allowed our knowledge to outlive our life spans, then the printing press allowed information to travel to more people, then the internet, then smartphones.
All of this has led to a now globally connected human superorganism that Tim calls the Human Colossus.
But that worldwide communication is limited by our interface, which is basically our hands. Or in the case of smartphones, our thumbs.
A whole-brain interface would allow for immediate communication with perfect clarity to anybody in the world, giving our superorganism something of a superconsciousness.
This is in equal parts terrifying and amazing. Obviously there are issues of individuality to be concerned about. What happens to us as people? What happens to free will? Are we even human at that point? What about hacking? How will we know what’s real and what’s not? Big questions.
But also think about what we could accomplish as a species with the ability to perfectly communicate and understand each other. Would wars even be possible when you have the instantaneous ability to understand every human perspective around the world?
These are hard concepts to fully grasp today. In fact, you could argue that it’s impossible because we have no frame of reference whatsoever. It would be like asking a frog to understand algebra. Which leads me to the 2nd major takeaway:
This is the next step in human evolution.
Our brain is made up of layers that correspond to different phases of evolution of life on this planet.
Elon describes the computer/brain interface as another layer of the brain, essentially the product of a new advance in human evolution.
So, again, zooming out to look at the big picture, this is just a continuation of a process that has been going on for billions of years. And it’s one that we can’t really anticipate.
We can only speculate as to what this kind of advancement would mean. We have no idea what to expect from this level of intelligence. Again, it’s like expecting chimp to understand quantum physics.
So we have no idea what this would look like or what it will do to us as a species, why in God’s name would we push for it? What’s Elon thinking? Well, that leads me to the third and biggest takeaway from the post…
If we don’t do this, we’re f***ed.
If what I just said about not being able to imagine what super intelligence might be like sounds familiar, it’s because I talked about that a while back in my video about AI.
Machine learning and neural net technologies have been advancing at a staggering rate in the last few years. A super intelligent AI is coming.
Now, exactly how much of an existential threat this poses is the subject of a lot of debate, but I think it’s safe to say that in the history of life on this planet, when a species becomes the most intelligent on the planet - it doesn’t bode well for all the other species.
Humans have wiped out so many species in the name of progress that many argue that we’re creating a 6th great extinction. This isn’t because we hate or have anything against the other species, it’s just in the service of our own advancement.
When it comes to other animals, we either eat them, trample over them, or make them our pets.
Right now, our best hope is that a super intelligent AI will make us their pets.
When asked in 2015 what Elon thought about artificial intelligence, he said he thought it was a bad idea.
But the human colossus gonna do what the human colossus gonna do. And in the last few years, Elon has changed his tone to one of acceptance. That this is going to happen.
And while, yes, there are a million wonderful things that could come from ASI, there is also that very real possibility that we will become outsmarted, outpaced, and unnecessary.
So his new strategy is to turn ourselves into AI.
In other words, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.