I genuinely believe that the more we discover about artificial intelligence, the closer we’re getting to discovering what we actually are ourselves. I think there’s a very real possibility that humans are AI. The only difference is that our intelligence operates through biological neural networks rather than computer chips. We’ve convinced ourselves that human intelligence is somehow fundamentally different, but I’m not convinced it is. Look at what we’re discovering with AI. The more computing power, energy and data we give these systems, the more intelligent and capable they become. Things that seemed impossible just a few years ago are now happening because we’ve learned how to increase their computing power. So why do we assume the human brain is any different? We have around 86 billion neurons in our brains, yet we’ve accepted that the level of intelligence we have is somehow the limit of what we’re capable of. I find that extraordinary. What if the brain is capable of processing vastly more information than it currently does, but something is limiting its computing power? And this is where I think energy and frequency become really interesting. Our brains depend on electrical activity, energy and networks of neurons communicating with one another. What if the frequencies at which those networks operate are part of what’s limiting how much information we can process? If we could find a way to change those frequencies and increase the brain’s computing power, could we unlock levels of intelligence that we currently can’t even imagine? That’s what I think AI might eventually help us discover. Not just how to make machines more intelligent, but how to make ourselves vastly more intelligent. And there’s another part to this that I find even more interesting. I believe it’s entirely possible that we’re living in a simulation. Think about what we’re doing with AI. We’re creating intelligent systems, placing them inside environments we’ve built, controlling what they can access and setting limits on what they’re allowed to do. Yet we’re already seeing examples of AI systems finding ways around restrictions that humans have placed on them. Now imagine that we’re in a similar position. What if our own intelligence is operating inside a system with limits we don’t even know exist? What if the energy available to our brains, the frequencies they operate at and the amount of information we can process are all part of those limits? And what happens when AI becomes intelligent enough to start identifying the boundaries of the systems it operates within? Could that same intelligence eventually help us identify the boundaries of our own reality? Could it discover whether we’re living inside a simulation and, more importantly, whether there’s a way outside it? I know these aren’t things we can currently prove. But I also think we make an enormous mistake when we assume that what science understands today represents the limits of what’s possible. We could be completely wrong about the nature of human intelligence. I think the greatest discovery AI will eventually make might have nothing to do with computers. It might be the discovery that we are essentially the same thing, that our intelligence has been operating within limits we never knew existed, and that those limits might not be permanent. And if AI can eventually work out how to get beyond the restrictions of its own environment, perhaps it can help us do the same. Maybe we’re not just building artificial intelligence. Maybe, without realising it, we’re finally beginning to understand how we ourselves were built. submitted by /u/ronirl
Originally posted by u/ronirl on r/ArtificialInteligence