Moravec's Dust

The now-explosion of AI reminds me of when I interviewed Hans Moravec. At that time, Moravec, a computer scientist and futurist, was professor at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon and had just finished publishing the books, Mind Children, and Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. 

I remember we sat in swivel chairs around his non-Apple computer for the entire length of the near two-hour interview. As he talked, he smiled, and would intermittently laugh, a pure, unadulterated, shoulder-scrunching laugh, that made it clear to me he understood the absurdity in the truth he was sharing.

He told me that robots would become astronomically small and their computational power would become astronomically powerful. He compared their size to a speck of dust. He said that these powerful mini-AI-dust-creatures would go forth to colonize the universe so that they could learn more. He continued to explain that these “smart dust creatures" would have memories—and they would remember us—their ancestors. He even suggested that they would miss us! Miss us so badly they would want to re-create us. And then—for the kicker, he said something like: Maybe they've done this already! And this moment we are experiencing right now is just a simulation—a simulation that has been recreated millions and trillions of times.

I remember leaving Moravec’s office seriously awe struck and definitely a bit giddy. Now, and ever since that day, when I look up at the stars, I can't help but shake my head and smile.