Will Spiritual Robots Replace Humanity by 2001?”
That was the question Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Indiana University Professor Doug Hofstadter discussed during a lecture Saturday at the University.
Students, faculty and community members packed 100 Willamette Hall to full capacity and warmly received the visiting professor.
Hofstadter’s lecture covered topics ranging from artificial intelligence to the sexual reproduction of silicon-based life forms. The event was hosted by the Department of Computer and Information Science as part of its 30th anniversary celebration.
Hofstadter graduated from the University in 1973 with a doctorate in physics, and he also specializes in computer science and Slavic studies. His 1979 book, “Goedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid,” won the Pulitzer Prize for literature.
Hofstadter began his lecture by discussing different scenarios in which mankind could be replaced by machines. The most probable outcome involved mankind simply becoming obsolete by its own creations, he said.
“I wasn’t prepared for artificial intelligence to arrive so quickly,” Hofstadter said. “I don’t like the idea of my children being the last generation of the human experience.”
He also discussed whether the inevitable replacement of humanity should be thought of as extinction or honorable transcendence.
“Many would argue that transferring our human values to a more advanced life form should be the most ethical form of evolution.” Hofstadter said.
These “mind children,” as Hofstadter referred to them, would be an extension of the human experience, not the elimination of it.
“Feelings, creativity and vision certainly aren’t limited to human beings,” he said. “I think it is quite possible, almost certain, that silicon-based life forms will possess these traits.”
Although some members of the audience seemed skeptical as to whether technology could surpass human limitations, Hofstadter pointed to current examples already taking place.
A prime example he used was the EMI (Experiments in Musical Intelligence) project, founded by UC-Santa Cruz Professor David Cope in 1981. EMI recreates the style of classical composers, producing its own works, according to the EMI Web site. Hofstadter said that the program works by capturing styles and techniques through the use of brute-force algorithms, a concept that does not rest easily with him.
“Music is the highest of the arts to me,” he said. “It was very disturbing to see a machine recreating some of the greatest musical works in history.”
At the conclusion of his lecture, Hofstadter left the audience with two concepts to consider.
One, he said, is that it is only a matter of time before technology surpasses human capacity.
“You might think these concepts are too crazy, but it’s happening right in front of us,” he said.
Secondly, he argued that the ability of technology to completely surpass the human condition will most likely be a distant occurrence.
“Artificial intelligence could surpass human understanding in a limited scope,” he said. “But surpassing the full human experience will be much more difficult.”