The Internet of Bodies and the Plot to Enslave Mankind

[Iconoclast]

True; but it doesn't need to be one that can think on the level of a human being.

As things progress, they are finding that they don’t actually need strong AI to do the things once thought to be limited to the realm of human intelligence tasks. All they need are a hodgepodge of specialized AIs capable of performing specific tasks. And then, in the end, these AIs can be combined into a “Gestalt”. For instance, multimodal LLMs can feed commands to image generators, and then interpret the result.

We have not solved the hard problem of consciousness. We don’t know if consciousness can even be simulated in a computer or if it requires as-yet unknown physics. Without an understanding of the fundamental physics of consciousness, engineering a self-aware AI is out of the question. GPT-4 is not a person, but it is capable of an astonishing mimicry of intelligence through statistical modeling, to the point where it appears capable of planning and insight.

 

[Iconoclast]

RAND have a new report out as a 42-page PDF. "Plagues, Cyborgs, and Supersoldiers".

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2520-1.html?utm_campaign=

Some of their vignettes in the report include things like a hypothetical spy going in for cataract surgery and having a tiny camera installed in their eye to steal classified documents, and aging congressmen having BCIs implanted to supplement or replace their declining mental faculties only to become mentally unstable as a consequence. IoB is discussed extensively, as well as the emergence of the human body itself as a "new domain of warfare".

 

[DarthOne]

RAND have a new report out as a 42-page PDF. "Plagues, Cyborgs, and Supersoldiers".

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2520-1.html?utm_campaign=

Some of their vignettes in the report include things like a hypothetical spy going in for cataract surgery and having a tiny camera installed in their eye to steal classified documents, and aging congressmen having BCIs implanted to supplement or replace their declining mental faculties only to become mentally unstable as a consequence. IoB is discussed extensively, as well as the emergence of the human body itself as a "new domain of warfare".

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

-Howard Philips Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu.

 

[49ersfootball]

Following! Keep it up!

 

[Iconoclast]

A friend shared this paper with me, recently. Wow. Just wow.

A Role for Bottom-Up Synthetic Cells in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things?

The potential role of bottom-up Synthetic Cells (SCs) in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is discussed. In particular, this perspective paper focuses on the growing interest in networks of biological and/or artificial objects at the micro- and nanoscale (cells and subcellular parts...

www.mdpi.com

The potential role of bottom-up Synthetic Cells (SCs) in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is discussed. In particular, this perspective paper focuses on the growing interest in networks of biological and/or artificial objects at the micro- and nanoscale (cells and subcellular parts, microelectrodes, microvessels, etc.), whereby communication takes place in an unconventional manner, i.e., via chemical signaling. The resulting "molecular communication" (MC) scenario paves the way to the development of innovative technologies that have the potential to impact biotechnology, nanomedicine, and related fields. The scenario that relies on the interconnection of natural and artificial entities is briefly introduced, highlighting how Synthetic Biology (SB) plays a central role. SB allows the construction of various types of SCs that can be designed, tailored, and programmed according to specific predefined requirements. In particular, "bottom-up" SCs are briefly described by commenting on the principles of their design and fabrication and their features (in particular, the capacity to exchange chemicals with other SCs or with natural biological cells). Although bottom-up SCs still have low complexity and thus basic functionalities, here, we introduce their potential role in the IoBNT. This perspective paper aims to stimulate interest in and discussion on the presented topics. The article also includes commentaries on MC, semantic information, minimal cognition, wetware neuromorphic engineering, and chemical social robotics, with the specific potential they can bring to the IoBNT.