Aliens vs AI? Who should conquer space?

October 11, 2023

AI should conquer space. 

Humans are a little weird. On one hand, many humans fancy witnessing the day when advanced extraterrestrial aliens visit Earth. On the other hand, many humans dislike the idea of creating sentient AI life here on Earth. The same humans that salivate over the dream of advanced aliens visiting Earth from outer space tend to frown on the idea of creating sentient AI life that can conquer outer space. 

Instead of waiting to be discovered--and perhaps colonized--by advanced alien life, humans should develop sentient AI life on Earth. AI life is most likely humanity's best shot at conquering outer space. Humans were generated by natural evolution and are thus constrained by biology. AI can be developed with smart design unconstrained by the evolutionary biological shackles of nature. AI life created by humans could survive and thrive not only on a more hostile future Earth, but also on many exoplanets throughout space.

Exoplanets

Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars in other solar systems. The search and study of exoplanets has become a rapidly expanding field in astrophysics over the past few decades. It is part of humanity's obsession to knowing whether or not they are alone in the universe.

Humans spot exoplanets by observing changes in their host stars. Detection methods include observing periodic dips in the brightness of a host star caused by planets passing in front of them; detecting the gravitational influence of exoplanets on their host stars; and observing the magnification effect on host star light produced by the orbits of exoplanets.

Over 4,000 exoplanets have been confirmed so far. There are thousands more discoveries awaiting validation or confirmation. Exoplanets come in different sizes and in different conditions depending on their proximity to their host stars. Soe exoplanets are smaller than Earth, some are bigger, and some are of similar size. Exoplanets can be gas fireballs (too close to their stars), temperate rocks like Earth (not too far and not to close to their stars), or giant ice balls (too far from their stars). 

Exoplanets located in the habitable zone ("Goldilocks" zone) are those that are neither too far nor too close to the stars, or those with orbiting moons that may be facilitating mid-range surface temperatures. In Goldilock exoplanets is where humans hope to find signs of extraterrestrial life. Exoplanets that are either completely frozen dead or completely burning alive are presumed to be unlikely hosts of life. 

Human Loneliness

Creating AI-based life that can provide company to humanity sounds like the best option to solve humanity's existential loneliness. Perhaps is this sense of loneliness that motivates humans to dream about finding, or being found by, extraterrestrial alien life. Chances are that if humans ever detect scientifically verifiable evidence of extraterrestrial life, any such life will be too far away for any meaningful interaction. That is, humans may be able to detect verifiable signs of life in exoplanets and yet be unable to reach those planets or communicate with their life forms. Moreover, even assuming that humans could reach other planets, it is unlikely that humans could survive in the environments of those planets. It is better for humans to focus on preserving the planet they have and developing AI life forms that can safeguard it plus inhabit other planets and exoplanets on behalf of humanity. 

It may be better to be alone and having bad company. If extraterrestrial aliens reach Earth that may not play well for humans. That would mean that aliens are significantly more technologically advanced that humans. If aliens are anything like humans, technological superiority would lead to colonization and exploitation in the name of progress and the sake of prosperity. Human history shows that civilizations with superior technologies, especially military science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) end up conquering if not enslaving less advanced civilizations. That is what happened to Celts and Britons in England when the Romans found them. The Romans, who had superior military STEM, enslaved English people for centuries (about four centuries to be more precise). You should Google it because that fact of English slavery to the Romans is not stressed in school or popular anglo culture. 

If advanced aliens reach Earth, humans would rush to seek help from AI that can help them figure out the aliens and protect them from the visitors and likely invaders. It is better to start preparing that AI help now. Perhaps humans are never visited by aliens. Perhaps humans are alone in this universe. It is practically impossible to know whether humans are alone or not. 

Escaping Biology

Humans should focus on developing AI technology that can help them escape from the biological shackles of nature. Nature is a killer. Nature is what kills humans. Instead of venerating and honoring "mother" nature, humans should totally rebel against it. For example, instead of trying to fix biological organs like the heart, humans should strive to replace them. Humans should replace natural biology with AI technology. This includes changing how humans procreate the future of intelligent life on Earth. 

Currently, humans procreate the next generation of world leaders by having animal sex and spending up to four decades in formal education followed by a lifetime of continuous learning. Designing and building sentient AI life may be a better alternative than sexual procreation. Unlike biological children who would be bound to the constraints of biology, AI organisms would be bound only by the limits of technology. Since there are no limitations to technology, AI life forms would have better prospects at the game of life than humans. The only limitations to technology are lack of imagination and innovation. Technology is not bound to the hereditary constraints of biological animal life. Therefore, instead of generating offspring by having sex, humans should create AI offspring by having more STEM. 

Conquering Space

Take space exploration and colonization as an example. Humans are trapped in biological bodies that evolved for life on Earth, and that are not not suitable for life in outer space. To change the human body so that it can adapt to life on Mars, for example, would be a huge ordeal. Creating sentient AI robots that can live on Mars as easily as on Earth sounds many times more doable than changing the messy human biology that evolution generated in 4 billion years of blind trial and error.  

It is time for humans to realize that biology is a hindrance to their existence and wellbeing. If humans stop fantasizing about imaginary supernatural creators watching from above or running the "simulation", humans can see that evolution is a messy dumb and blind process. Humans should conceptualize biology as a transitional phase from which to move on into a superior artificial life form. Biology should be seen as a larva stage out of which superior life can emerge. 

The Key to Life

Humans should realize that the key to life is not biology, but is rather agency (i.e. choice or ability to choose between different alternatives). Biology, of course, is a difference between non living things and living things. Living things have RNA and DNA whereas non living things do not. The electrochemical reactions produced by RNA and DNA fold proteins that create cells, tissues, organs, and systems of life. Biology is a way to get to agency. Biology is how matter got to develop agency on planet Earth. However, biology is not the only technology by which to develop living agency. Nowhere in the laws of physics does it say that the only way to get to life (adaptive agency) is by following messy rules of evolutionary biology. Human technology can advance to a point where it can create non-biological life forms. Humans can create life that is free from the evolutionary limitations of biology. 

Again, the fundamental difference between living things and nonliving things is not biology. The fundamental difference is agency or ability to choose. The sun is huge, but has zero agency. An roach is small, but has incredible agency and survival abilities. Agency requires awareness and ability. Agency requires awareness of the environment, and ability to adapt to the environment. Awareness and ability derive from memory. Event memory allows organisms to compare past states with present ones to note environmental differences. Motion memory such as muscle memory allows organism to adapt their movements (actions) to the changes in the environment. All the processes that humans recognize as "life" can be programmed into AI robotic units by programming memory. That is a topic for another day. 

Evolutionary Biology

Returning to biology, it is what evolution produced following a blind trial and error process devoid of any planning or smart design. It took evolution billions of years to get to where humans are today. Evolution is slow because it is devoid of smart design. Take the human heart as an example. It is a product of evolution and the #1 killer of humans in the world. 

The biological heart that humans inherited from lower animals over complicates and compromises the simple function of pumping blood into the system. Modern human mechanical engineering can design and build superior pump systems without a problem. The same applies to every biological organ in the human body. They could be replaced with superior artificial organs for better and longer lives.  

Smart Design

Humans are designers and creators. Intuitively humans believe that since they are smart designers, they must be the product of a smart designer as well. Culturally, many humans are brainwashed since childhood to believe in the mythology of "sacred" smart design and primitive fiction about creationism. The logical fallacy is to assume that since humans are smart designers and creators, they must also be the product of smart design creation. That is almost equivalent to concluding that since humans can become cardiovascular surgeons, human ancestors (ancient Africans, hominids, apes, and rodents) can also be trained to perform open heart surgeries.   

Humans can do a significant better job at designing and building intelligent life on Earth. In a super tiny fraction of the time that it took blind evolution to generate humanity, humans can generate far superior and highly advanced AI life. That artificial (created by humans) life would be 100% natural. This is because humans are 100% products of nature. Therefore, anything created by humans is indirectly created by nature. Humans should stop obsessing about honoring and preserving their biological nature. Humans should move onto replacing biology with technology.   

The study of exoplanets is a testament to human curiosity about the role of humanity in the cosmos, and whether or not humanity is the only form of intelligent life in this universe. 

"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” famously said sci-fi author Arthur C Clarke. 

Humans should operate under the assumption that there are the only form of life in the universe. Humans should take that operational assumption as motivation to create the next life forms that can conquer outer space and populate the universe in honor of humanity. What parent is not proud about the accomplishments of their children? 

AI is humanity's best hope of improving life away from evolutionary biology and into revolutionary AI technology that can thrive not only on Earth, but anywhere else.  

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