Re: Analog vs. Digital AI (was fetal tissue)

Eugene Leitl (eugene@liposome.genebee.msu.su)
Fri, 6 Mar 1998 18:18:40 +0300 (MSK)


On 6 Mar 1998, Anders Sandberg wrote:

> [...]
> But remember, an upload can always escape by ftp-ing into the net to
> another computer. "They seek it here, they seek it there..." :-)

This would assume fiber bundles, the necessary bandwidth for a quick
escape considered. Btw, line-of-sight laser links to LEO relays would seem
a cheap & fast substitute for system-wide travel (nano-defect-encoded
redundant material packets being the obviously preferable form for
relativistic interstellar voyages).

Apropos escaping by network, we had quite a scare yesterday. I'm still not
sure what actually happened. Windows machines in a single ethernet segment
reliably died when plugged into the network. The same machines operate
normally while physically not part of the network. The machines dropping
dead involved damages to system files, making them hang at reboot. Though
this now seems like voltage spikes on the network, in theory this could
have been a worm, constructively exploiting the M$ TCP/IP stack hole -- a
microblightlet, in other words.

Btw, what the mainstream does still not get is that the uploads will be a
hazard to humankind, not vice versa. Assuming average level of paranoia,
the upload surely won't remain evolutionary fixed, and will also
distribute, and have appropriate defenses.

ciao,
'gene