October 6, 2023
No, AI is not close to solving the Fermi Paradox. Humanity does not seem to be anywhere close to finding scientifically verifiable signs of extraterrestrial life. AI is beginning to help. However, the universe remains too big and too dark for current human technologies to detect extraterrestrial life.
To make matters worse for humans, the universal property referred to as "dark energy" keeps expanding the universe and pushing galaxies farther apart from each other at an accelerated pace. It will take some time (maybe a lot of it) for AI to expand human technology to a level that can solve the Fermi Paradox. In the meantime, the bulk of humanity will keep filling in the void of knowledge (i.e. ignorance) with the soothing effects of faith-based mythology.
The Fermi Paradox, "Where's everybody?", is a question related to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The paradox is named after physicist Enrico Fermi and is essentially a contradiction between the high probability estimates for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence of such civilizations.Considering the vast number of stars and planets in the Milky Way plus all other galaxies, it seems likely that life (i.e. matter with agency or capacity of choice) should be common. However, humans have not detected any extraterrestrial form of life yet. "Where is everybody?"
Several solutions or explanations have been proposed for the Fermi Paradox:
Rarity. Hypotheses based on rarity include that life is extremely rare and even unique to Earth; that life may take long times to develop and Earth may be one of the pioneers if not the first life platform; and that life gets destroyed for one reason or another before it reaches galactic exploration age.
Detection Limitations: Human detection technologies may not be advanced enough yet. Alien civilizations may be more advanced and effectively shielding off detection to hide from humans.
Simulation: Humans may be living in a simulation, and the entities or entity (the "gods" or the "god") running the simulation limit what humans can observer or comprehend. This one is a gullible favorite because it strikes a chord with the mythology of smart design and creationism. Humans have always fancied being the creation of a smart and supernatural force that has a secret plant revealed to select and few humans on Earth.
Isolation: The vast distances between stars and galaxies, combined with ever increasing expansion from "dark energy" means that civilizations are too isolated to ever come into contact. Communication between stars and galaxies may be too difficult or physically impossible.
As stated above, many humans fancy the simulation idea. Consciously or unconsciously they associate it with the mythology of smart design and creationism. The simulation concept implies the notion of smart creators (gods), or a smart creator (e.g. the "one and only" god of the desert) running the simulation. Humans are smart creators and instinctively or intuitively believe that they must be products of smart design and creationism.
The combination of rarity, youth, and isolation may be the solution to the Femi paradox. It may take a long time for random processes to generate life. Add to that the incredible distances between stars and galaxies and you have a perfect recipe for loneliness in space time.
Dark Energy
Dark energy may be a misnomer because it is not a traditional form of energy. It is something that counters gravity and keeps expanding the universe. Dark energy is believed to be the force or phenomenon responsible for the observed accelerated expansion of the universe.
The discovery of dark energy stems from observations of Type Ia supernovae. In the late 1990s, two independent teams of astronomers were trying to determine the rate at which the universe's expansion was slowing down. Surprisingly, they found that the expansion wasn't slowing down at all; it was accelerating!
Current measurements indicate that about 68% of the universe is dark energy, while about 27% is dark matter, and only about 5% is ordinary matter (the stuff we're familiar with, like stars, planets, and ourselves).
One of the leading hypotheses for dark energy is that it is a "cosmological constant," a form of energy that has a constant density throughout space. This idea was originally introduced by Albert Einstein in 1917 as a term in his equations of General Relativity. He introduced it to allow a static universe solution, but later abandoned the constant when it was discovered that the universe was expanding. Ironically, this constant, which Einstein once referred to as his "biggest blunder," could be the key to explaining the observed acceleration of the universe's expansion.
There are theories that propose modifications to general relativity which could explain the accelerated expansion without invoking dark energy. One such idea is Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND), though it primarily addresses dark matter discrepancies. However, the standard model with dark energy remains the most widely accepted explanation for the observed phenomena.
Dark energy may be contributing to human loneliness and the Fermi Paradox by spreading galaxis even farther apart from each other over time with lesser chances of encounters between different civilizations. It took millennia for humans in the European continent to reliably reach the American continent. Imagine how much longer it would have taken if the continents were spreading further apart from each at an accelerating pace each year.
The discovery of dark energy stems from observations of Type Ia supernovae. In the late 1990s, two independent teams of astronomers were trying to determine the rate at which the universe's expansion was slowing down. Surprisingly, they found that the expansion wasn't slowing down at all; it was accelerating!
Current measurements indicate that about 68% of the universe is dark energy, while about 27% is dark matter, and only about 5% is ordinary matter (the stuff we're familiar with, like stars, planets, and ourselves).
One of the leading hypotheses for dark energy is that it is a "cosmological constant," a form of energy that has a constant density throughout space. This idea was originally introduced by Albert Einstein in 1917 as a term in his equations of General Relativity. He introduced it to allow a static universe solution, but later abandoned the constant when it was discovered that the universe was expanding. Ironically, this constant, which Einstein once referred to as his "biggest blunder," could be the key to explaining the observed acceleration of the universe's expansion.
There are theories that propose modifications to general relativity which could explain the accelerated expansion without invoking dark energy. One such idea is Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND), though it primarily addresses dark matter discrepancies. However, the standard model with dark energy remains the most widely accepted explanation for the observed phenomena.
Dark energy may be contributing to human loneliness and the Fermi Paradox by spreading galaxis even farther apart from each other over time with lesser chances of encounters between different civilizations. It took millennia for humans in the European continent to reliably reach the American continent. Imagine how much longer it would have taken if the continents were spreading further apart from each at an accelerating pace each year.
If the current understanding of dark energy holds true, its expansive dominance over gravity could lead to a future universe that continues to expand at an ever-increasing rate. This might result in the "Big Freeze" or "Heat Death" scenario where the universe grows increasingly cold, diluted, and dormant.
The exact nature of dark energy is still one of the biggest open questions in physics. Projects like the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and future space missions aim to provide more detailed measurements of the universe's expansion and structure, which could shed light on the properties and nature of dark energy.
The exact nature of dark energy is still one of the biggest open questions in physics. Projects like the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and future space missions aim to provide more detailed measurements of the universe's expansion and structure, which could shed light on the properties and nature of dark energy.
AI technology
Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Machine Learning (ML), has become an indispensable tool in astrophysics and cosmology due to the massive amounts of data generated by modern telescopes and observational campaigns. AI is performing analysis of galaxy surveys to understand the distribution of matter in the universe and provide insights into dark matter and dark energy. AI is mining big data through enormous astronomical databases looking for correlations, patterns, or anomalies that might hint at new phenomena or insights. AI is predicting molecular signatures and understanding complex chemical reactions in interstellar clouds or protoplanetary disks that could help detect signatures of intelligent life beyond Earth.
ML models are running simulations to predict the properties of the universe under various scenarios, which can then be compared to actual observations. ML algorithms can help separate signal from noise in astronomical datasets, enhancing the detectability of faint or obscured objects. ML algorithms are being successfully trained to detect potential exoplanets by recognizing patterns in starlight dimming caused by transiting planets.
AI neural networks are being developed, programmed, and trained to perform automated classification of galaxies based on their morphology (e.g., spiral, elliptical, irregular), and to analyze galaxy mergers and interactions. AI is helping detect and classify gravitational wave signals amidst noisy data from observatories. AI is analyzing patterns in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which is the radiation left over from the Big Bang to help human scientists understand the early properties of the universe. AI is simulating the universe's evolution based on different cosmological models and parameters using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs).
With instruments like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) being constructed in Chile, millions of transients (e.g., supernovae, variable stars) will be detected every night by AI. ML applications can classify telescope observations faster and more efficiently than any human could even using advanced computers and traditional (non-AI) solutions.
As astronomical datasets keep growing in size and complexity, AI will continue playing an increasingly critical role in extracting meaningful insights, making predictions, and advancing human understanding of the universe. AI can help humanity understand the dark energy and solve the Fermi Paradox.
Can AI help humans find gods, or the one and only god, in outerspace? That's highly unlikely because the evidence shows that gods and spirits are products of human imagination without any scientific basis in the universe. The day when gods, or the one and only god of the desert, reveal themselves to humans in scientific verifiable ways will be the time to return to ancient mythology. In the meantime, it's time to keep making progress levering science and technology.
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