[ExI] Survival (was: elections again)

[Bryan Bishop]

On Wednesday 02 January 2008, Harvey Newstrom wrote:
> On Wednesday 02 January 2008 03:41, Eugen Leitl wrote:
> > Yes, it could take a day or two to take over this planet.
> > Even if it takes a week or a month, there's not a damn
> > thing you can do about it.
>
> Please give more specifics than just this assertion.  What do you

Be careful: you may be wanting too specific information, which would 
mean we would have nanotech by now if we could answer these questions. 
But let's see what we can do ...

> mean by take over the planet?  Convert to computronium?  With what? 

Convert to computronium with nanites/nanotech.

> With nanites?  How will it get a MNT factory built in a week?

By reassembling molecules and other (sub)atomic forms of matter.

> Seriously, I keep hearing these predictions that once a recursive AI
> gets looping, it will transform the earth in a day (or a week or a
> month).  But I never get any specifics as to how, except that it's so
> much smarter than us that the laws of physics don't apply to it.

It most certainly is going to be more than mere intelligence. 
Actualizers etc.

> Is this whole prediction based on the assumption that the AI will do
> something that we can't predict is even possible right now?  Does it
> require great unknown powers or exceptions to our current
> understanding of physics to exist that we just haven't discovered
> yet?  How exactly is this "...then a miracle occurs..." supposed to
> happen?

I think the miracle might be at Eugen's recent mention of 
self-rep "unity" meaning that the repper can make itself. That's pretty 
close to a miracle-- celebrated in human societies as "the miracle of 
life."

- Bryan
________________________________________
Bryan Bishop
http://heybryan.org/