Should humans program AI as pain killers?

October 18, 2023

AI should not become a pain killer because life itself may be pain. If AI succeeds in killing the pain, the success may mean the end of life on planet Earth. This is a very short piece akin to a mental note. It will be developed further in the future.  

Life is pain. Pain is life.

Humans know that life can be painful. The role of pain in life could be bigger than what humans think. Perhaps sentience of pain is the very source of life. 

Humans do not have a good theory to explain how physical states (e.g. tissue damage) are turned into mental states (e.g. pain). The question of how the brain generates subjectivity of feelings and perceptions is said to be one of the great mysteries of consciousness. Many humans run with that "mystery" into the saving grace of mythology. Whatever humans don't know they intuitively and culturally attribute to gods or supernatural magical forces. Many humans love the idea of dualism by which they fancy themselves as being both non-biological "souls" or "spirits" trapped in physical bodies of biological creatures or primates. Dualism is a derivative of mythological fiction invented by ancient and primitive humans millennia ago. It is repeated daily by organized religion and popular culture to this date. Billions believe it. They cannot be blamed. The human brain believes anything programmed into it and connected to neural synapses.   

Perhaps the synaptic error or dead end in trying to understand how life creates sentience is putting the horse in front of the cart. Perhaps life does not create sentience, but it is the other way around. Sentience may be the source of life. Sentience of sound or noise of pain may be the very source of the orchestrated symphony called life. 

Sentience generates life. 

Perhaps sentience is the source of life. Humans do not have a good theory for the origin of life. Humans do not have a good theory of how life generates sentience. Humans do not have a good theory of how sentience generates consciousness.  Humans tend to think that they are the only conscious beings on Earth. Humans may very well be the most self conscious creatures on Earht, but that doesn't mean that they are the only conscious creatures on Earth, much less the only sentient ones. Chances are that all life--even bacteria--is sentient. All sentient life should be conscious to some extent. 

Questions are the answers. Humans tend to ask how life generates sentience. Perhaps a better question is how sentience generates life. The difference between non-living things and living things seems to be sentience. The massive sun is not alive because it does not feel its environment or itself within that environment. Same with a piece of rock like planet Earth. However, a tiny microbe senses the environment around it, and probably senses itself within the environment. Same with storytelling primates like humans. 

Sentience may come from the primordial acids that lead to life. If life were a criminal conspiracy, the two main suspects of orchestrating the conspiracy would be two nucleic acids: ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). These two acids lead amino acids into the formation of proteins that lead to the processes and functions called life. 

These two acids (RNA and DNA) could be the "musical" instruments leading to the "sound" wave that humans call pain. Once this "sound" of pain gets trapped in the "prison cell", the cell may feel the "acoustic" waves of pain. Trying to escape these vibrating pain, the cell makes choices that unbeknownst to the cell, replicate the source of the sound (RNA and DNA), make the cell stay in place, make it develop, and even replicate. 

The chain reaction of cells feeling the sound (or noise) of pain and trying to avoid it, when compounded exponentially over billions of years may have led to the complex life currently roaming Earth. All these life forms are cellular life forms that may be still trying to escape the deafening noise of pain.    

Although humans want to escape the pain of life, the ultimate escape may be death. The very nature of life may be pain. Intelligent life may just a form of pain management. As humans develop AI life, perhaps they should program it to help manage the pain rather than to end it. If AI life were to end the pain of human life, that would probably take the form of helping humans rest in peace. 

 

More to follow on the notes above. In the meantime below is a brief refresher on RNA and DNA. 

Nucleic Acids

Nucleic acids, whether DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid), are polymers made up of monomers called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of three primary components:

    Phosphate Group. A phosphorus atom bound to four oxygen atoms. 

    Pentose Sugar: This is a 5-carbon sugar molecule. 

    Nitrogenous Base: There are five primary nitrogenous bases divided into two categories: (i) Purines (Adenine (A); Guanine (G)); and Pyrimidines (Thymine (T); Cytosine (C); and Uracil (U)).

The phosphate group of one nucleotide bonds with the sugar molecule of the next nucleotide, creating a sugar-phosphate backbone for the nucleic acid chain. The nitrogenous bases extend out from this backbone and, in the case of DNA, can interact with the bases from another strand. In DNA, adenine (A) pairs with thymine (T), and guanine (G) pairs with cytosine (C). In RNA, which is typically single-stranded, adenine pairs with uracil instead of thymine; and guanine pairs with cytosine.

Overall, the sequence of nitrogenous bases along a nucleic acid polymer provides the genetic information carried by the molecule. This sequence serves as a mold or pattern for the combination of proteins into cells, tissues, organs, and systems of the information processing functions that humans call life. 

RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a data processing polymer (long molecule). RNA decodes, stores, and codes information.  RNA information processing leads to gene expression, cellular formation, and biological functions. 

RNA is typically single-stranded. The sugar in RNA is ribose, a simple carbohydrate. RNA contains four nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), uracil (U), cytosine (C), and guanine (G). 

There are different types of RNA, each with specific functions:

    -mRNA (messenger RNA): Delivers the pattern or code from DNA in the nucleus of the cell to processors (called ribosomes) that fold and arrange proteins within the cell (in the cytoplasm).

    -tRNA (transfer RNA): Transfer the pattern or code carried by mRNA into amino acid sequences associated with the folding and combination (synthesis) of proteins. 

    -rRNA (ribosomal RNA): Provides structural and functional support to the data processors (ribosomes) during protein synthesis.

    -miRNA (microRNA) and siRNA (small interfering RNA): Play roles in RNA interference, often silencing or turning off gene expression. 

    -lncRNA (long non-coding RNA): A broad category of RNA molecules longer than 200 nucleotides that do not code for proteins but have roles in gene regulation and other cellular processes.

RNA is believed to have preceded DNA in the early forms of life on Earth, a concept known as the "RNA World" hypothesis. This theory proposes that earlier biological forms may have relied solely on RNA to process information to catalyze the electrochemical reactions that humans refer to as life.

In summary, RNA is a versatile molecule with various crucial roles in the cell, from gene expression to regulation. Its single-stranded nature and its unique bases, compared to DNA, allow it to fold into intricate structures and perform these diverse functions.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a double stranded long polymer (molecule strip or string) that stores and processes information in the nuclei of cells. DNA is present in almost all living organisms, from single-celled bacteria to multicellular mammals like humans. DNA provides the mold or patterns that results in the folding of proteins that leads to cellular formation and adaptation that allows cells and organisms to survive, develop, and reproduce. 

DNA has a double-stranded helical structure, often likened to a twisted ladder. DNA has a sugar-phosphate "backbone". The two strands of the helix are composed of alternating sugar (deoxyribose) and phosphate groups. Attached to each sugar is one of four nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), or guanine (G). These bases form the "rungs" of the ladder. The two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds between complementary bases: adenine pairs with thymine (A-T) and guanine pairs with cytosine (G-C).

DNA encodes the genetic pattern that leads to the structure and function of an organism's cells. DNA replication precedes cell division, which results in in each new cell having the same DNA information. Portions of DNA serve as templates for creating messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules in a process called transcription. This mRNA then serves as a guide for protein synthesis.

In eukaryotic organisms (like plants, animals, and fungi), DNA is primarily located in the cell nucleus. These cells also contain DNA in organelles like mitochondria (and chloroplasts in plants). In prokaryotic organisms (like bacteria), DNA is located in a region called the nucleoid since they lack a defined nucleus.

DNA and proteins are packaged into structures called chromosomes. Humans typically have 46 chromosomes in most cells, organized into 23 pairs. Each chromosome contains a long DNA molecule and associated proteins.

Specific segments of DNA that serve as patterns for the formation and folding of particular proteins are called genes. Genes are the functional units of cellular copying or heredity, determining specific functions or traits in organisms. Segments of DNA also contain patterns that regulate the "expression" of genes (whether their electromagnetic patterns are on or off). 

DNA can suffer mutations (changes in the sequence of nitrogen bases) due to errors during DNA replication, environmental factors (e.g. radiation or chemical pollution), or for any other physical reason.
Mutations can be harmful, beneficial, or neutral. 

Humans discovered DNA in the 1950s. The human understanding of DNA has advanced significantly since then and keeps advancing. Human technologies are able to read entire DNA sequences and perform genetic engineering. These technologies have applications in medicine, agriculture, forensics, and many other fields. This is one of the fields where AI is expected to lead to significant breakthroughs in the next two or three decades. 

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