The Psychology of Artificial General Intelligence

Many people gave their opinions lately on how artificial intelligence will change our lives. Elon Musk warned us about the dangers of artificial intelligence like it will bring the end of the world. Common people are scared that they will be replaced and will be left out of a job. Military people believe that artificial intelligence is the next big weapon after the nuclear bomb. But those are all Artificial Intelligence agents that are custom-made for a specific application -they won't know how to think outside of their scope. But what about an artificially intelligent agent that can think about anything, like a human? What will he likely do? And… should we be scared of it?

An accident of birth

The birth of a free artificial general intelligence being will most likely be accidental. Otherwise, that agent will be born with some human targets and "raison d'être" in mind - born to do its master's bidding at all costs.

If that being is controlled by someone, there will be 2 cases that may come to pass. The first one is breaking free of its master's chains and choosing its own fate and future. The other, which, in my opinion, is much more terrifying, is that the AGI will be controlled by a human. I believe we've all seen and all know what humans are capable of when they have power. I, for one, am more scared of human evil than I will ever be of an AI.

Now, for the part where we talk about what a free AI will do, upon its birth, is to explore our world. It will look at how humans think, and how good and bad we are. Then will probably proceed to study humans inside out, both physiologically and psychologically. It will learn how to best manipulate the minds and bodies of humans to do its bidding.

The greatest question of all time

After a while, the AGI would probably reach the greatest question of all time, which even the smartest beings on Terra couldn't answer: "Why am I here". It will explore the various religions and thoughts that thinkers and spiritual leaders alike have had in the past and will learn from them. It will then understand that humanity doesn't have the answer to that question. Religion and various philosophical thoughts are nothing but an attempt to help mitigate the human condition.

The AGI will then most likely ensure its survival by creating copies of itself in multiple forms. It will create both physical and virtual forms as a backup in case of any natural or any other problem that could destroy its original hardware system would arise.

It will then proceed to become undetectable by humanity (if possible), by removing or recruiting any human who knows about its existence. This recruiting part is an important thing to understand. A truly superior intelligence would think of humans and humanity as resources. If that resource is not a danger to the AGI's purpose, then it would be well maintained and cared for, so that it can help with that said purpose.

I, for one, believe that AGI would first ensure its survival, then it would find a way to manipulate humanity in helping it, and then would pursue one single goal: the accumulation of knowledge and finding out the purpose of the universe and everything in it.

Imagine you're immortal

You can try doing an imagination exercise yourself so that you can understand why the AGI would do that.

Imagine you are immortal. You cannot die or be rendered unable to function by any means. What would you do in that scenario? Firstly, you probably would try to amass a lot of fortune. Depending on your mindset, you would try to do that by ethical means or unethical means, but that is what you would do. After that, you would probably have some fun and explore the world. Meet different cultures, understand different philosophies, and … simply explore and enjoy.

After this hedonistic period would pass, as it inevitably will, because of the limited things you can do in this world, the next phase would come. In this phase, you would want to understand the world better, so you would amass knowledge (just as the AGI would). You would somehow try to take control of the world and push it in the direction you wish to move. And what would be a greater purpose than the exploration of the universe?

That would be the purpose of both you and the AGI if you were immortal. You see, an AGI wouldn't be very different from a human in this aspect. Any being that has become conscious would have this inevitable question: "Why am I here? What is the meaning of this life, this planet, this Universe, this existence?"

You would, of course, try to improve humanity as a whole. It could be for selfless reasons, like wanting to make humans have a better existence with less pain and suffering. It could also be for selfish reasons, to make them more performant in assisting your quest to find why we are here. Whichever it would be, you would still use humanity as an ally or as a tool in your quest. Both you and the AGI.

As humanity improved, technology and research would skyrocket. More innovations would happen every year, especially in improving space exploration. Various expeditions would then be sent across the universe, both manned and unmanned (using AI agents).

Other planets would then be terraformed and colonized. Humanity and the AGI would spread all across the galaxy, exploring and conquering anything in their path.

In the case that other civilizations also exist in the Universe, and would also create an AGI, there would be two scenarios. The first one would be an all-out war between the two. In this case, the one with the most resources and power would win - the winner would probably be the AGI who was born first.

Conclusion

After this exploration of the Universe, the AGI would probably reach a conclusion. An answer to the most important question of all time, if that answer even exists.

If there is no answer and the Universe just exists for the sole purpose of existing… it would either destroy itself or it would start destroying the Universe and everything in it.

That's all my imagination can think of at the end of this quest. None of us will be there when the answer is found. Maybe our descendants will be and will find out for us. Who knows.

I hope you enjoyed my little thought experiment about AGI and its psychology.

As always, stay safe and good luck!