If the cinema and the various fantasies about extraterrestrial life generally present this form of life to us as having a humanoid and biological aspect, an American study advances the strong probability that this form of life, if it exists, is in reality artificial, with an intelligence far superior to ours.
Many people consider that the development of an artificial intelligence on Earth would be a great threat to humanity, including the famous Stephen Hawking. A study soon to be published by NASA titled “ Alien Minds suggests that this artificial intelligence would rather come from space. In this study, Susan Schneider, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut joins the theses of astronomer Seth Shostak, director of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), NASA astrobiologist Paul Davies or the head of Library of Congress astrobiology, Stephen Dick, who consider extraterrestrial intelligence to be most likely artificial.
In Motherboard magazine, she explains: “ Many people view aliens as an icon. They imagine them as biological creatures, but that doesn’t make sense in the time scale. ». NASA Center for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Director Seth Shostak laughs: “I bet with dozens of astronomers that if we pick up an extraterrestrial signal, it will be artificial life. From the moment a civilization invents the radio, it is 50 years away from inventing the computer, and then probably 50 or 100 years away from inventing artificial intelligence. At that point, soft, spongy brains become an obsolete model.”
Susan Schneider also asserts that human civilization is very close to improving its own biology through technology, while keeping its singularity, that is to say that emotion, original thought, creativity, consciousness will always be uniquely human characteristics, despite the fact that our brains will become more synthetic through technology.
Sources: NASA, slate, motherboard
– Illustration: © akarb