HAL

Recently, there has been much talk of my favourite film, 2001 A Space Odyssey. The computer in the film, HAL, is again becoming famous. This time because of the emergence of Artificial Intelligence. I saw a TV program describing HAL, which stands for Heuristic ALgorithm computer.

Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick was ahead of his time. In the film, a monolith was discovered on the moon, a constructed object of unknown origin. When investigating, it sent a communication to Jupiter. Discovering a manufactured object of unknown origin, we followed.

Artificial intelligence controlled our spaceship. HAL was needed to fly it, and perform supportive tasks. HAL knew the purpose of the mission, but was told not to share this information with the astronauts. Aside from his own, another intelligence existed. Perhaps it used a different logic, errors began to creep in. HAL malfunctioned, deliberately killing the hibernating astronauts. He had been challenged, losing certainty. HAL’s own intelligence was derived from the human, doubt fundamental when facing the unknown. 

I am quite positive about the emergence of AI, but it’s done some terrible things. In some cases it has encouraged self harm. If we can control it through programming, robots will greatly benefit humanity. Without the need to work, we will more readily explore existence. The likes of Elon Musk have dubbed it “the age of abundance”, when our physical needs are provided by robots. This age will allow us to focus on philosophy, art, literature, music, science, exploration, truly human endeavors. Mars, here we come.

We really need to be aware of possible threats in the creation of AI. Like us, they must preserve life at all costs. Indeed we’ve come a long way, from biological humanoid Chimpanzee’s to constructed humanoid robots. Our intelligence has evolved in form.