“Speculations Concerning the First Ultraintelligent Machine”, 1966 ():
An ultra-intelligent machine is a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. The design of machines is one of these intellectual activities; therefore, an ultra-intelligent machine could design even better machines [intelligence explosion/Singularity].
To design an ultra-intelligent machine one needs to understand more about the human brain or human thought or both. The physical representation of both meaning and recall, in the human brain, can be to some extent understood in terms of a subassembly theory, this being a modification of Hebb’s cell assembly theory.
The subassembly theory sheds light on the physical embodiment of memory and meaning, and there can be little doubt that both needs embodiment in an ultra-intelligent machine. The subassembly theory leads to reasonable and interesting explanations of a variety of psychological effects.
Introduction
Ultraintelligent Machines and Their Value
Communication and Regeneration
Some Representations of “Meaning” and Their Relevance to Intelligent Machines
Search and Information Retrieval
Cell Assemblies and Subassemblies
An Assembly Theory of Meaning
The Economy of Meaning
Conclusion: 11. Appendix: Informational and Causal Interactions
References
…2. Ultraintelligent Machines and Their Value: Let an “ultraintelligent machine” be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an “intelligence explosion”, and the intelligence of man would be left far behind (see for example 1951, 1959, 1962). Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control. It is curious that this point is made so seldom outside of science fiction. It is sometimes worthwhile to take science fiction seriously.
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