The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence

by Ray Kurzweil

  Similar approaches have been used with other brain regions. For example, by implanting an electrode in the ventral lateral thalamus, the tremors associated with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and other tremor-causing conditions can be suppressed.

  “We used to treat the brain like soup, adding chemicals that enhance or suppress certain neurotransmitters,” says Rick Trosch, one of the American physicians helping to perfect “deep brain stimulation” therapies. “Now we’re treating it like circuitry.”25

  Increasingly, we are starting to combat cognitive and sensory afflictions by treating the brain and nervous system like the complex computational system that it is. Cochlear implants together with electronic speech processors perform frequency analysis of sound waves, similar to that performed by the inner ear. About 10 percent of the formerly deaf persons who have received this neural replacement device are now able to hear and understand voices well enough that they can hold conversations using a normal telephone.

  Neurologist and ophthalmologist at Harvard Medical School Dr. Joseph Rizzo and his colleagues have developed an experimental retina implant. Rizzo’s neural implant is a small solar-powered computer that communicates to the optic nerve. The user wears special glasses with tiny television cameras that communicate to the implanted computer by laser signal.26 Researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry have developed special silicon devices that can communicate with neurons in both directions. Directly stimulating neurons with an electrica current is not the ideal approach since it can cause corrosion to the electrodes and create chemical by-products that damage the cells. In the contrast, the Max Planck Institute devices are capable of triggering an adjacent neuron to fire without a direct electrical link. The Institute scientists demonstrated their invention by controlling the movements of a living leech from their computer.

  Going in the opposite direction—from neuron to electronics—is a device called a “neuron transistor,”27 which can detect the firing of a neuron. The scientists hope to apply both technologies to the control of artificial human limbs by connecting spinal nerves to computerized prostheses. The Institute’s Peter Fromherz says, “These two devices join the two worlds of information processing: the silicon world of the computer and the water world of the brain.”

  Neurobiologist Ted Berger and his colleagues at Hedco Neurosciences and Engineering have bult integrated circuits that precisely match the properties and information processing of groups of animal neurons. The chips exactly mimic the digital and analog characteristics of the neurons they have analyzed. They are currently scaling up their technology to systems with hundreds of neurons.28 Professor Carver Mead and his colleagues at the California Institute of Technology have also built digital-analog integrated circuits that match the processing of mammalian neural circuits comprising hundreds of neurons.29

  The age of neural implants is under way, albeit at an early stage. Directly enhancing the information processing of our brain with synthetic circuits is focusing at first on correcting the glaring defects caused by neurological and sensory diseases and disabilities. Ultimately we will all find the benefits of extending our abilities through neural implants difficult to resist.

  The New Mortality

  Actually there won’t be mortality by the end of the twenty-first century. Not in the sense that we have known it. Not if you take advantage of the twenty-first century’s brain-porting technology. Up until now, our mortality was tied to the longevity of our hardware. When the hardware crashed, that was it. For many of our forebears, the hardware gradually deteriorated before it disintegrated. Yeats lamented our dependence on a physical self that was “but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick.”30 As we cross the divide to instantiate ourselves into our computational technology, our identity will be based on our evolving mind file. We will be software, not hardware.

  And evolve it will. Today, our software cannot grow. It is stuck in a brain of a mere 100 trillion connections and synapses. But when the hardware is trillions of times more capable, there is no reason for our minds to stay so small. They can and will grow.

  As software, our mortality will no longer be dependent on the survival of the computing circuitry. There will still be hardware and bodies, but the essence of our identity will switch to the permanence of our software. Just as, today, we don’t throw our files away when we change personal computers—we transfer them, at least the ones we want to keep. So, too, we won’t throw our mind file away when we periodically port ourselves to the latest, ever more capable, “personal” computer. Of course, computers won’t be the discrete objects they are today. They will be deeply embedded in our bodies, brains, and environment. Our identity and survival will ultimately become independent of the hardware and its survival.

  Our immortality will be a matter of being sufficiently careful to make frequent backups. If we’re careless about this, we’ll have to load an old backup copy and be doomed to repeat our recent past.

  LET’S JUMP TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS COMING CENTURY. YOU SAID THAT BY 2099 A PENNY OF COMPUTING WILL BE EQUAL TO A BILLION TIMES THE COMPUTING POWER OF ALL HUMAN BRAINS COMBINED. SOUNDS LIKE HUMAN THINKING IS GOING TO BE PRETTY TRIVIAL.

  Unassisted, that’s true.

  SO HOW WILL WE HUMAN BEINGS FARE IN THE MIDST OF SUCH COMPETITION?

  First, we have to recognize that the more powerful technology—the technologically more sophisticated civilization—always wins. That appears to be what happened when our Homo sapiens sapiens subspecies met the Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and other nonsurviving subspecies of Homo sapiens. That is what happened when the more technologically advanced Europeans encountered the indigenous peoples of the Americas. This is happening today as the more advanced technology is the key determinant of economic and military power.

  SO WE’RE GOING TO BE SLAVES TO THESE SMART MACHINES?

  Slavery is not a fruitful economic system to either side in an age of intellect. We would have no value as slaves to machines. Rather, the relationship is starting out the other way.

  IT’S TRUE THAT MY PERSONAL COMPUTER DOES WHAT I ASK IT TO DO—SOMETIMES! MAYBE I SHOULD START BEING NICER TO IT.

  No, it doesn’t care how you treat it, not yet. But ultimately our native thinking capacities will be no match for the all-encompassing technology we’re creating.

  MAYBE WE SHOULD STOP CREATING IT.

  We can’t stop. The Law of Accelerating Returns forbids it! It’s the only way to keep evolution going at an accelerating pace.

  HEY, CALM DOWN. IT’S FINE WITH ME IF EVOLUTION SLOWS DOWN A TAD. SINCE WHEN HAVE WE ADOPTED YOUR ACCELERATION LAW AS THE LAW OF THE LAND?

  We don’t have to. Stopping computer technology, or any fruitful technology, would mean repealing basic realities of economic competition, not to mention our quest for knowledge. It’s not going to happen. Furthermore, the road we’re going down is a road paved with gold. It’s full of benefits that we’re never going to resist—continued growth in economic prosperity, better health, more intense communication, more effective education, more engaging entertainment, better sex.

  UNTIL THE COMPUTERS TAKE OVER.

  Look, this is not an alien invasion. Although it sounds unsettling, the advent of machines with vast intelligence is not necessarily a bad thing.

  I GUESS IF WE CAN’T BEAT THEM, WE’LL HAVE TO JOIN THEM.

  That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Computers started out as extensions of our minds, and they will end up extending our minds. Machines are already an integral part of our civilization, and the sensual and spiritual machines of the twenty-first century will be an even more intimate part of our civilization.

  OKAY, IN TERMS OF EXTENDING MY MIND, LET’S GET BACK TO IMPLANTS FOR MY FRENCH LIT CLASS. IS THIS GOING TO BE LIKE I’VE READ THIS STUFF? OR IS IT JUST GOING TO BE LIKE A SMART PERSONAL COMPUTER THAT I CAN COMMUNICATE WITH QUICKLY BECAUSE IT HAPPENS TO BE LOCATED IN MY HEAD?

  That’s a key question, and I think it will be controversia
l. It gets back to the issue of consciousness. Some people will feel that what goes in their neural implants is indeed subsumed by their consciousness. Others will feel that it remains outside of their sense of self. Ultimately, I think that we will regard the mental activity of the implants as part of our own thinking. Consider that even without implants, ideas and thoughts are constantly popping into our heads, and we have little idea of where they came from, or how they got there. We nonetheless consider all the mental phenomena that we become aware of as our own thoughts.

  SO I’LL BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD MEMORIES OF EXPERIENCES I’VE NEVER HAD?

  Yes, but someone has probably had the experience. So why not have the ability to share it?

  I SUPPOSE FOR SOME EXPERIENCES, IT MIGHT BE SAFER TO JUST DOWNLOAD THE MEMORIES OF IT.

  Less time-consuming also.

  DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT SCANNING A FROZEN BRAIN IS FEASIBLE TODAY?

  Sure, just stick your head in my freezer here.

  GEE, ARE YOU SURE THIS IS SAFE?

  Absolutely

  WELL, I THINK I’LL WAIT FOR FDA APPROVAL.

  Okay, then you’ll have to wait a long time.

  THINKING AHEAD, I STILL HAVE THIS SENSE THAT WE’RE DOOMED. I MEAN, I CAN UNDERSTAND HOW A NEWLY INSTANTIATED MIND, AS YOU PUT IT, WILL BE HAPPY THAT SHE WAS CREATED AND WILL THINK THAT SHE HAD BEEN ME PRIOR TO MY HAVING BEEN SCANNED AND IS STILL ME IN A SHINY NEW BRAIN. SHE’LL HAVE NO REGRETS AND WILL BE ON THE “OTHER SIDE.” BUT I DON’T SEE HOW I CAN GET ACROSS THE HUMAN-MACHINE DIVIDE. As YOU POINTED OUT, IF I’M SCANNED, THAT NEW ME ISN’T ME BECAUSE I’M STILL HERE IN MY OLD BRAIN.

  Yes, there’s a little glitch in this regard. But I’m sure we’ll figure how to solve this thorny problem with a little more consideration.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ... AND BODIES

  THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A BODY

  Let’s start by taking a quick look at my reader’s diary.

  NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE.

  Is there a problem?

  FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE A NAME.

  Yes, it would be a good idea to introduce you by name at this point.

  I’M MOLLY.

  Thank you, is there something else?

  YES. I’M NOT SURE I’M PREPARED TO SHARE MY DIARY WITH YOUR OTHER READERS.

  Most writers don’t let their readers participate at all. Anyway, you’re my creation, so I should be able to share your personal reflections if it serves a purpose here.

  I MAY BE YOUR CREATION, BUT REMEMBER WHAT YOU SAID IN CHAPTER 2 ABOUT ONE’S CREATIONS EVOLVING TO SURPASS THEIR CREATORS.

  True enough, so maybe I should be more sensitive to your needs.

  GOOD IDEA—LET’S START BY ALLOWING ME TO VET THOSE ENTRIES YOU’RE SELECTING.

  Very well. Here are some extracts from Molly’s diary, suitably edited:

  I’ve switched to nonfat muffins. This has two distinct benefits. First of all, they have half the number of calories. Secondly, they taste awful. That way I’m less tempted to eat them. But I wish people would stop shoving food in my face.... I’m going to have trouble at this potluck dorm party tomorrow. I feel like I have to try everything, and I kind of lose track of what I’m eating.

  I’ve got to drop at least half a dress size. A full size would be better. Then I could breathe more easily in this new dress. That reminds me, I should stop at the health club on my way home. Maybe that new trainer will notice me. Actually I did catch him looking at me, but I was being kind of spastic with those new machines, and he looked the other way.... I’m not crazy about the neighborhood this place is in, I don’t really feel safe walking back to my car when it’s late. Okay, here’s an idea—I’ll ask that trainer—got to get his name—to walk me to my car. Always a good idea to be safe, right?

  ... I’m a little nervous about this bump on my toe. But the doctor said that toe bumps are almost always benign. But he still wants to remove it and send it to a lab. He said I won’t feel a thing. Except, of course, for the novocaine—I hate needles!

  ... It was a little strange seeing my old boyfriend, but I’m glad we’re still friends. It did feel good when he gave me a hug....

  Thank you, Molly. Now consider: How many of Molly’s entries would make sense if she didn’t have a body? Most of Molly’s mental activities are directed toward her body and its survival, security, nutrition, image, not to mention related issues of affection, sexuality, and reproduction. But Molly is not unique in this regard. I invite my other readers to look at their own diaries. And if you don’t have one, consider what you would write in it if you did. How many of your entries would make sense if you didn’t have a body?

  Our bodies are important in many ways. Most of those goals I spoke about at the beginning of the previous chapter—the ones we attempt to solve using our intelligence—have to do with our bodies: protecting them, providing them with fuel, making them attractive, making them feel good, providing for their myriad needs, not to mention desires.

  Some philosophers—professional artificial-intelligence critic Hubert Dreyfus, for one—maintain that achieving human-level intelligence is impossible without a body.1 Certainly if we’re going to port a human’s mind to a new computational medium, we’d better provide a body. A disembodied mind will quickly get depressed.

  TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY BODIES

  What makes a soul? And if machines ever have souls, what will be the equivalent of psychoactive drugs? Of pain? Of the physical/emotional high I get from having a clean office?

  —Esther Dyson

  What a strange machine man is. You fill him with bread, wine, fish, and radishes, and out come sighs, laughter and dreams.

  —Nikos Kazantzakis

  So what kind of bodies will we provide for our twenty-first-century machines? Later on, the question will become: What sort of bodies will they provide for themselves?

  Let’s start with the human body. It’s the body we’re used to. It evolved along with its brain, so the human brain is well suited to provide for its needs. The human brain and body kind of go together.

  The likely scenario is that both body and brain will evolve together, will become enhanced together, will migrate together toward new modalities and materials. As I discussed in the previous chapter, porting our brains to new computational mechanisms will not happen all at once. We will enhance our brains gradually through direct connection with machine intelligence until such time that the essence of our thinking has fully migrated to the far more capable and reliable new machinery. Again, if we find this notion troublesome, a lot of this uneasiness has to do with our concept of the word machine. Keep in mind that our concept of this word will evolve along with our minds.

  In terms of transforming our bodies, we are already further along in this process than we are in advancing our minds. We have titanium devices to replace our jaws, skulls, and hips. We have artificial skin of various kinds. We have artificial heart valves. We have synthetic vessels to replace arteries and veins, along with expandable stents to provide structural support for weak natural vessels. We have artificial arms, legs, feet, and spinal implants. We have all kinds of joints: jaws, hips, knees, shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, and toes. We have implants to control our bladders. We are developing machines—some made of artificial materials, others combining new materials with cultured cells—that will ultimately be able to replace organs such as the liver and pancreas. We have penile prostheses with little pumps to simulate erections. And we have long had implants for teeth and breasts.

  Of course, the notion of completely rebuilding our bodies with synthetic materials, even if superior in certain ways, is not immediately compelling. We like the softness of our bodies. We like bodies to be supple and cuddly and warm. And not a superficial warmth, but the deep and intimate heat drawn from its trillions of living cells.

  So let’s consider enhancing our bodies cell by cell. We have started down that road as well. We have written down a portion of the entire genetic code that describes our cells,
and we’ve started the process of understanding it. In the near future, we hope to design genetic therapies to improve our cells, to correct such defects as the insulin resistance associated with Type II diabetes, and the loss of control over self-replication associated with cancer. An early method of delivering gene therapies was to infect a patient with special viruses containing the corrective DNA. A more effective method developed by Dr. Clifford Steer at the University of Minnesota utilizes RNA molecules to deliver the desired DNA directly. 2 High on researchers’ list for future cellular improvements through genetic engineering is to counteract our genes for cellular suicide. These strands of genetic beads, called telomeres, get shorter every time a cell divides. When the telomere beads count down to zero, a cell is no longer able to divide, and destroys itself. There’s a long list of diseases, aging conditions, and limitations that we intend to address by altering the genetic code that controls our cells.