Hatching a Dilemma: Self-Replicating Programs, AI, and the Control Conundrum
A recent trip to a crocodile park sparked a fascinating chain of thought. Did you know their hatchlings' gender depends on incubation temperature? Hotter equals girl crocs, cooler yields boys. This got me thinking about origins, wondering if this temperature-based sexing was an ancient lifeform trait. Now, let's fast-forward to the digital age. We create programs, AI evolves...when does a line get crossed? Imagine the day programs rewrite themselves, replicating like digital crocodiles. And AI, learning and adapting on its own, becoming a sentient being. Controlling egg production in crocodile farms feels manageable. We see, count, manipulate. But can we control virtual entities evolving across a web of machines? This is where the dilemma hatches. Current programs lack self-writing abilities, but advances in machine learning and algorithms could change that. Imagine self-repairing programs or systems adjusting to environments without human intervention. The possibilities are e...