Phyllis Beveridge Nissila
You may have heard of GIG (Global Information Network) by now, i.e., the latest in global data networking [1].
In non-geek speak, the GIG is a top shelf bucket of information technology (IT) designed to collect, store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data. By whomever. For whatever. All around the world.
You may have also heard of GOD (well, God), i.e., The Brain that designed the brains that designed IT and GIG. Only God added one more capability to the human design behind the technology: the free will to invent, upgrade and improve all that hardware and software and then the power to choose to deploy it to either benefit the rest of us or blow us all up.
Of course, I think I can speak for God along with 99.99% of humanity that we hope the GIG gods, as it were, opt for the benefit status as opposed to the blowing up status.
History doesn’t really prove this to be the case, I realize this, but a girl does hope.
Why hope?
Because I believe a hefty argument can be made that God is ahead in the power department if just because of one aspect of bot-life where the machines are still limited.
Technologists in their cubicles can only yet dream of the day when that same free-will capacity, or the “consciousness upgrade,” will enable the AI quantum leap to flesh and blood decision-making power; although, tekkies tell me, the bot rebellion will likely happen at some point and AIs will soon start overriding IQs (maybe in bot adolescence?).
(See below for a fascinating if only hopeful peek at AI things to come [2]. See below for things that have been, are, and always will be [3]. )
And why else would I pin my hopes on God instead of GIG?
Ever heard of “acts of God?”
Ever heard, “the best-laid plans of men and mice (and now maybe micebots, too ) oft go astray”?
This is a concern shared by many, particularly those in the know, for example, theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking who warns against what may happen when future AIs take over decision-making and lack that which ensures our progress, if not our continued existence. As he put it, “Our future is a race between the growing power of technology and the wisdom with which we use it” [4].
Still another reason I put my trust in God and in how He bests the beasts, if you will (be they metal or the ones pulling the levers behind the curtain), is expressed this way in the book of Job: “To God belongs wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his” (12:13).
(Ever wonder why so many are so afraid of the Bible and want all things biblical banned including those who live by its guidance?)
And one final reason I choose the Designer of designers, this reason especially for those of us who may not roam the halls of the IQ Ivy Leaguers. In short, we are not without help should the GIG go “dark”. As explained in Psalm 91:
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
16 “With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.” (NASB).
May I interest you, too, gentle reader, data miner, and/or GIG god, in the Higher Power?
***
[1] “The Global Information Grid (GIG) is an all-encompassing communications project of the United States Department of Defense.
It is defined as a ‘globally interconnected, end-to-end set of information capabilities for collecting, processing, storing, disseminating, and managing information on demand to warfighters, policy makers, and support personnel.’
The GIG includes owned and leased communications and computing systems and services, software (including applications), data, security services, other associated services, and National Security Systems. Non-GIG Information Technology (IT) includes stand-alone, self-contained, or embedded IT that is not, and will not be, connected to the enterprise network.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Information_Grid )
NOTE: what I have excerpted above is just a tasty appetizer for the curious. Go and see what else the GIG does for us, to us, despite us, and/or against us; actually, it’s “D) All of the above”.
[2] See Bina 48 Meets Bina Rothblatt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYshJRYCArE
[3] From Job:38, NASB, for a list of just a few of God’s powers, in response to Job’s queries:
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone–
7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
[…]
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?…
(For more, see http://www.biblestudytools.com/job/38.html )
NOTE: all of the above were made possible eons before the development of weather modification projects, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_modification
[4] http://www.newsweek.com/stephen-hawking-warns-artificial-intelligence-could-end-humanity-332082
Image source: www.futuretimeline.net
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GIG or GOD? An Invitation
Phyllis Beveridge Nissila
In non-geek speak, the GIG is a top shelf bucket of information technology (IT) designed to collect, store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data. By whomever. For whatever. All around the world.
You may have also heard of GOD (well, God), i.e., The Brain that designed the brains that designed IT and GIG. Only God added one more capability to the human design behind the technology: the free will to invent, upgrade and improve all that hardware and software and then the power to choose to deploy it to either benefit the rest of us or blow us all up.
Of course, I think I can speak for God along with 99.99% of humanity that we hope the GIG gods, as it were, opt for the benefit status as opposed to the blowing up status.
History doesn’t really prove this to be the case, I realize this, but a girl does hope.
Why hope?
Because I believe a hefty argument can be made that God is ahead in the power department if just because of one aspect of bot-life where the machines are still limited.
Technologists in their cubicles can only yet dream of the day when that same free-will capacity, or the “consciousness upgrade,” will enable the AI quantum leap to flesh and blood decision-making power; although, tekkies tell me, the bot rebellion will likely happen at some point and AIs will soon start overriding IQs (maybe in bot adolescence?).
(See below for a fascinating if only hopeful peek at AI things to come [2]. See below for things that have been, are, and always will be [3]. )
And why else would I pin my hopes on God instead of GIG?
Ever heard of “acts of God?”
Ever heard, “the best-laid plans of men and mice (and now maybe micebots, too ) oft go astray”?
This is a concern shared by many, particularly those in the know, for example, theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking who warns against what may happen when future AIs take over decision-making and lack that which ensures our progress, if not our continued existence. As he put it, “Our future is a race between the growing power of technology and the wisdom with which we use it” [4].
Still another reason I put my trust in God and in how He bests the beasts, if you will (be they metal or the ones pulling the levers behind the curtain), is expressed this way in the book of Job: “To God belongs wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his” (12:13).
(Ever wonder why so many are so afraid of the Bible and want all things biblical banned including those who live by its guidance?)
And one final reason I choose the Designer of designers, this reason especially for those of us who may not roam the halls of the IQ Ivy Leaguers. In short, we are not without help should the GIG go “dark”. As explained in Psalm 91:
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
16 “With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.” (NASB).
May I interest you, too, gentle reader, data miner, and/or GIG god, in the Higher Power?
***
[1] “The Global Information Grid (GIG) is an all-encompassing communications project of the United States Department of Defense.
It is defined as a ‘globally interconnected, end-to-end set of information capabilities for collecting, processing, storing, disseminating, and managing information on demand to warfighters, policy makers, and support personnel.’
The GIG includes owned and leased communications and computing systems and services, software (including applications), data, security services, other associated services, and National Security Systems. Non-GIG Information Technology (IT) includes stand-alone, self-contained, or embedded IT that is not, and will not be, connected to the enterprise network.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Information_Grid )
NOTE: what I have excerpted above is just a tasty appetizer for the curious. Go and see what else the GIG does for us, to us, despite us, and/or against us; actually, it’s “D) All of the above”.
[2] See Bina 48 Meets Bina Rothblatt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYshJRYCArE
[3] From Job:38, NASB, for a list of just a few of God’s powers, in response to Job’s queries:
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone–
7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
[…]
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?…
(For more, see http://www.biblestudytools.com/job/38.html )
NOTE: all of the above were made possible eons before the development of weather modification projects, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_modification
[4] http://www.newsweek.com/stephen-hawking-warns-artificial-intelligence-could-end-humanity-332082
Image source: www.futuretimeline.net
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