[ExI] Would human uploads have emotions?

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 19/02/2024 22:18, BillK wrote:
> It depends on what "uploading" humans means.
> You seem to be taking it to mean a complete emulation of the human
> brain and body environment.
> So presumably you think that cryonics head-only storage is insufficient.
> The more usual definition of "uploading" is creating a detailed
> digital copy of the individual’s brain, including memories, thoughts,
> and personality traits. This digital copy would then be transferred to
> a computer. (Of course, this leads to the fundamental question of
> whether the uploaded consciousness would truly be the same individual
> as the original person or merely a sophisticated simulation).
>
> Mr AI comments -
> In a purely digital environment devoid of physical sensations or
> hormonal influences...
>
> I don't think that to say, "Oh well, just emulate absolutely
> everything!" solves this problem.

OK, this hinges on what 'emulate absolutely everything' means.

When talking about uploading, I do mean a complete emulation of the 
human brain and body, in a virtual external environment. The emulation 
would need to be accurate, but only for all the /relevant/ bits. The 
rest could be an approximation, taken from one or more sets of standard 
data that could be used for anyone (a bit like picking your initial, 
pre-made avatar in current VR environments).

We are pretty sure that there's a ton of relevant bits in the brain, and 
at first would be afraid to omit anything, I expect.
The body and external environment are on a decreasing scale of relevance 
(not importance, but relevance to uploading a specific person).

We have previously discussed on here the idea of a generic upload 
template, which is then varied with information from a specific 
individual. I'm imagining a 'model body', a standard set of information 
that relates to a virtual human body, and includes things like immune 
system, endocrine system, etc. Probably also some representation of the 
microbiome too. Yes, this would be complex, but would only need to be 
done once, not for every single upload.

Maybe a generic standard body would be fine for most people, maybe some 
variations would need to be added for certain people, we don't really 
know yet. Maybe people would turn out to be good at adapting to the fact 
that their new virtual body was lacking the annoying things that most 
people would be happy to change (e.g. their poor vision, or hearing, 
etc., or the proportions of their limbs, etc.). Of course, one of the 
appeals of uploading would be that you could tweak your body to be just 
about anything you like. Perhaps everyone could start out with a 
standard model, then proceed to customise it.

Now someone is going to say "if you don't transfer the right information 
about the endocrine functions (gut microbiome/immune 
system/what-have-you), are they the same person?". That's a 
philosophical question along the same lines as "are you the same person 
you were yesterday/before your operation/last year/before that course of 
antibiotics/etc.?".

I'm of the opinion that these things are vastly less important than the 
structure of your brain, for determining whether you are 'the same 
person'. As long as I was furnished with a capable virtual body, not 
necessarily closely modelled on my biological one, I think I'd be happy 
to upload (given that my mind was correctly reproduced).

So, yes, I think that we will need to emulate more than just the brain, 
but no, I don't think that head-only storage is insufficient. We can, in 
essence, 'make up' the non-brain stuff that will be necessary, but 
doesn't have to be exactly as per the original biological body.

We'd need virtual external environments too, but I don't think anybody 
is going to argue that the details of those will be significant for the 
fidelity of an upload. And we will definitely want to change those anyway.

I can see a set of future jobs, based on designing various things for 
uploads: virtual body design, with lots of specialist areas, sensorium 
design, external environments, etc.

Oh, and Mr AI is clearly talking out of his non-existent arse. I'm 
astonished that there are people who seriously think that an upload 
would be 'devoid of physical sensations'! If this is a widespread idea, 
no wonder lots of people aren't keen on it.

Ben
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