What makes the idea of a generally intelligent AI so compelling is the notion that a human level intelligence could continually improve its own abilities through never ending, iterative changes. It could be tasked with one objective, and one objective only. To make itself smarter. The software could make its own software better and better with each new version, upgrading itself at each level. This could snowball into a an AI that gets better exponentially, eclipsing its humble beginnings. And never stop.
While the thought experiment of an AI capable of evolving its own software stretches our imagination of what's possible, it's more exciting to realize we already have a general intelligence, our own mind. 🧠
But how do you make software that could run on our own brains?
Our brains have many of the foundational capabilities readily available.
- Short term memory for holding instructions to be executed
- Long term memory for storing representations we have learned
- Attentional control necessary for procedural execution of sequential instructions
- Input / Output actuators for communicating with other minds
- Subsystems for handling specialized tasks
- Reward / inhibition mechanisms for making adjustments (back propagation) based on new information
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How do you choose the best reward functions (values) to align with?
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How do you load the software into your brain and push continual updates?
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How do you keep the software running throughout the day and improve it when you have some many demands on your attention?
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How would you stay motivated to continuously improve your minds software?
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How you monitor the software for processes that are consuming too many cognitive resources?