There is some evidence that complex nanobots could be invented in ones head with a little more IQ and focus because von Neumann designed a mostly functional (but fragile) replicator in a fake simple physics using the brand-new idea of a cellular automata and without a computer and without the idea of DNA. If a slightly smarter von Neumann focused his life on nanobots, could he have produced, for instance, the works of Robert Freitas but in the 1950s, and only on paper?
I do, however, agree it would be helpful to have different words for different styles of AGI but it seems hard to distinguish these AGIs productively when we don’t yet know the order of development and which key dimensions of distinction will be worth using as we move forward. (human-level vs super-? shallow vs deep? passive vs active? autonomy-types? tightness of self-improvement? etc). Which dimensions will pragmatically matter?
“On paper” isn’t “in your head”, though. In the scenario that led to this, the AI doesn’t get any scratch paper. I guess it could be given large working memory pretty easily, but resources in general aren’t givens.
More importantly, even in domains where you have a lot of experience, paper designs rarely work well without some prototyping and iteration. So far as I know, von Neumann’s replicator was never a detailed mechanical design that could actually be built, and certainly never actually was built. I don’t think anything of any complexity that Bob Freitas designed has ever been built, and I also don’t think any of the complex Freitas designs are complete to the point of being buildable. I haven’t paid much attention since the repirocyte days, so I don’t know what he’s done since then, but that wasn’t even a detailed design, and it even the ideas that were “fleshed out” probably wouldn’t have worked in an actual physiological environment.
von Neumann’s design was in full detail, but, iirc, when it was run for the first time (in the 90s) it had a few bugs that needed fixing. I haven’t followed Freitas in a long time either but agree that the designs weren’t fully spelled out and would have needed iteration.
There is some evidence that complex nanobots could be invented in ones head with a little more IQ and focus because von Neumann designed a mostly functional (but fragile) replicator in a fake simple physics using the brand-new idea of a cellular automata and without a computer and without the idea of DNA. If a slightly smarter von Neumann focused his life on nanobots, could he have produced, for instance, the works of Robert Freitas but in the 1950s, and only on paper?
I do, however, agree it would be helpful to have different words for different styles of AGI but it seems hard to distinguish these AGIs productively when we don’t yet know the order of development and which key dimensions of distinction will be worth using as we move forward. (human-level vs super-? shallow vs deep? passive vs active? autonomy-types? tightness of self-improvement? etc). Which dimensions will pragmatically matter?
“On paper” isn’t “in your head”, though. In the scenario that led to this, the AI doesn’t get any scratch paper. I guess it could be given large working memory pretty easily, but resources in general aren’t givens.
More importantly, even in domains where you have a lot of experience, paper designs rarely work well without some prototyping and iteration. So far as I know, von Neumann’s replicator was never a detailed mechanical design that could actually be built, and certainly never actually was built. I don’t think anything of any complexity that Bob Freitas designed has ever been built, and I also don’t think any of the complex Freitas designs are complete to the point of being buildable. I haven’t paid much attention since the repirocyte days, so I don’t know what he’s done since then, but that wasn’t even a detailed design, and it even the ideas that were “fleshed out” probably wouldn’t have worked in an actual physiological environment.
von Neumann’s design was in full detail, but, iirc, when it was run for the first time (in the 90s) it had a few bugs that needed fixing. I haven’t followed Freitas in a long time either but agree that the designs weren’t fully spelled out and would have needed iteration.