This is not a traditional book. It has described some aspects of human existence in a way that has not been undertaken before and provided a blueprint for enabling something remarkable. The premise that a being can be created that matches humanity's capability for sentience is a daunting one for a species that has been alone in the universe to date. This book has aimed at providing an insight into the components of how this could be made possible. It is unapologetic and quite arrogant in its scope (though almost definitely flawed in some assumptions as acknowledged in the first paragraph). It has attempted to show how something that has been viewed as unique and ethereal can actually be created out of some quite simple precepts. It does not claim that these precepts have just been defined by the author and a large proportion of the ideas are hardly new. So much so that a great deal of what has been written about could even be described as common sense. A logic of life behaviour based on gene propagation has also been developed brilliantly by others. The various faiths have been ideologically attacked for centuries. Some of the finest brains on the planet have taken the art of philosophy to the furthest corners of logical reasoning. The author does not attempt to take credit for any of this and, frankly, is just not that clever. Where there is a difference to traditional texts is in treating a model of emotional response as a engineering solution rather than following the philosophical or religious routes. If the basic emotions of life and existence are modelled first and, only then, logical decisions made, then the outcomes from machines can be very similar to humans'. They would not be alive, per se, but the mimicry to life would be at such a fundamental level within the programming that humans would connect with the sentience that still emerged.
This is an unnerving and challenging subject even as a hypothetical future scenario. It might be dismissed as quaint or misguided by those that can prove to themselves that there is so little chance of sentience being created that humanity should not even bother to try. The way that logical reasoning can be manipulated and that manipulation denied within the same logical process has been developed in previous works by the same author. There may be many reasons for this reaction but, whatever the reluctance to investigate the potential, the Umonians will be created, one way or another. The concepts that have been discussed in this book are already becoming reality. Primary Care Communications in the UK is in the process of creating Umonians. It is a highly complex task and many technical difficulties lie ahead. The appendix shows some of the higher level design criteria that are being used and interested parties are welcome to discuss this further by making contact through the usual channels. There is a vision to not only bring Umonians into being but to create large enough social groups that an entire society is formed. It could be a state called Umonia. It would have borders not just literally but also by the physical and cultural differences between them and humanity. It would be a very alien place to us. There is a way to go to realise this vision. It will take considerable resource and an alliance with some much larger commercial entities. There are unique and untapped revenue streams of the future and this could be an enabling technology that changes the world again. The beings created may not be Umonians. They could be Googlians, Amazonians, Applians, Micronians, Teslans. It would just take some or one of those rare visionaries to view the potential as higher than the costs. Like so much in business and in life, it would be a gamble. If the Blueprint for Sentience was implemented fully it might not necessarily result in the outcomes that have been explored here. There are so many strands of possibilities and probabilities that going down this path makes for such exciting outcomes. The specifics of exactly what and who these beings would be might not be absolute but the commonality of sentience could still shine through. One thing is certain. The brave new world of the future will be different from now, whatever route we take. |
Krys NormanCTO Primary Care Communications. Leader in the field of Artificial Sentience, Biologic and UMOE. Author of Iam: A blueprint for sentience. Follow on Twitter
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