That’s obviously a little spurious, but it is a good indication that making the brain more intelligent is not trivial.
No, it is trivial, we do it all the time as I already said: it’s called ‘learning’. With much learning, brain regions change size; what do you think is going on there?
I think Eliezer was on the right track by describing ems bootstrapping as being ‘a desperate race between how smart you are and how crazy you are.’ The human brain evolved to work under a fairly narrow design spec. When you change any part of it in a dramatic fashion, all the normal regulatory mechanisms are no longer guaranteed or likely to work.
If you want to bootstrap as fast as possible, sure.
No, it is trivial, we do it all the time as I already said: it’s called ‘learning’. With much learning, brain regions change size; what do you think is going on there?
Oh, definitely, the brain is capable of neurogenesis (to degrees that are a function of age) -- but you’ll notice that learning new things do not cause the brain to increase in intelligence dramatically. There are a number of core brain regions that seem pretty thoroughly hardwired. And, again, if you want to tweak things outside of normal ranges, you’re definitely voiding the warranty. The whole thing might and likely will break for no obvious reason unless you do it just exactly right. That takes a lot of time, and is not guaranteed to be efficient.
If you want to bootstrap as fast as possible, sure.
If we’re in an intellectual arms race against de novo uFAI, I’d say yes, we do. And we’re probably going to lose.
No, it is trivial, we do it all the time as I already said: it’s called ‘learning’. With much learning, brain regions change size; what do you think is going on there?
If you want to bootstrap as fast as possible, sure.
Oh, definitely, the brain is capable of neurogenesis (to degrees that are a function of age) -- but you’ll notice that learning new things do not cause the brain to increase in intelligence dramatically. There are a number of core brain regions that seem pretty thoroughly hardwired. And, again, if you want to tweak things outside of normal ranges, you’re definitely voiding the warranty. The whole thing might and likely will break for no obvious reason unless you do it just exactly right. That takes a lot of time, and is not guaranteed to be efficient.
If we’re in an intellectual arms race against de novo uFAI, I’d say yes, we do. And we’re probably going to lose.