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From Singularity to Polysingularity
Evolutionary Approach
Dmitry Paranyushkin / Nodus Labs / @noduslabs
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Software developers make implicit and explicit choices about our wants, needs, and desires.
These choices define the logic of the interfaces we use, and, in turn, how we connect to others.
Therefore, they (the “cloud”) directly affect our life.
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Proposition #1: As we delegate our cognitive and intellectual capacities to the “cloud”, it’s important to know what this cloud is thinking.
i.e. its pragmatic and ideological basis
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Part 1: What is the Cloud Thinking?
A (Brief) Psychoanalysis of Digital Technology
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1. Self-Reinforcing Feedback Loops
Most digital tools today tend to amplify things that already receive attention and exclude those that don’t (e.g. “shocking” content, trending topics, etc.)
#hashtagyourself – trending
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interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
For 1 year I sent photos of the world around myself to Amazon product recommendation
system. Here are the answers I received…
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interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
interviews with artificial artificial intelligence
www.iaaibook.com
@noduslabs
2. Filter Bubbles
Recommender systems and algorithms work on the basis of similarity and rational improvement,
locking out any content that is different.
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3. Increased ConnectivityTechnology becomes invisible and more
integrated into the everyday life seamlessly connecting us to each other and to the “cloud”.
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What they offer…
• Openness
• Connectedness
• Sharing
• Accessibility
What they are after…
• Growth
• Profit
• Dominance
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Socially-minded benevolent neoliberalism?
No: Singularity – the pragmatic and ideological driving force of the
Silicon Valley.
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SingularityAccelerating progress in technologies will
transform humanity as we know it.
1900 1950 2000 2029 2050
human intelligence
transhumanmachine
intelligence
singularity
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– Ray Kurzweil futurist, proponent of singularity
head of engineering at Google
“Singularity will allow us to transcend limitations of our biological bodies and brains... There will be no distinction, post-Singularity, between human and machine. […] We will be able to assume different bodies and take on a range of personae at will. In practical terms, human ageing and illness will be reversed; pollution will be stopped; world hunger and poverty will be solved. Nanotechnology will make it possible to create virtually any physical product using inexpensive information processes and will ultimately turn even death into a soluble.”
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apocalypse – a disclosure of knowledge, i.e. a lifting of the veil or revelation.
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Apocalyptic Narratives
• Techno-Digital Optimism (Singularity / Posthumanism)
• Religious Fundamentalist Nostalgia (restoring the world order)
• New Age Sentimentality (merging with nature)
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Proposition #2: Let’s conceive of the technological advance without the apocalyptic singularity narrative.
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If we are moving towards a new form of life, what would it be like?
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Part 2: The Workings of Life
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Life maintains itself through evolution. Evolution proceeds through adaptation to the environment.
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• Heterogeneity and difference
• Decentralization – multiple centers
• Redundancy and diversification
• Self-regulatory mechanisms (death as the necessary condition for survival)
The basis for adaptability…
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Adaptive Mechanisms of Cells / Self-Regulatory Inhibition of Growth
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Adaptive Mechanisms of the Brain / Distinct Clusters that Connect on the Global Level
Small World Networks
image by i3mindware.com
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Adaptive Mechanisms of Society / Small World Networks
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Polysingularity: Small-World to Random
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as small-world networks become more randomized, their propagating potential decreases, while their viral potential increases.
(Kuperman 2001; Yan et al 2008)
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Homogeneous clusters stay locked into themselves and are only able to connect to the other clusters through big centralised infrastructure hubs operated by big corporations.
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Singularity Polysingularity
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Proposition #3: Let’s consider variability, heterogeneity, and constant renewal as the necessary building blocks for the new form of life.
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Part 3: Bringing Evolutionary Potential
Back Into Singularity:Polysingularity
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• Variability and Heterogeneity (connect, but maintain differences)
• Irrationality: creative leaps beyond the periphery (connect outside of the bubble)
• Constant renewal and regulation of growth (acceptance of death)
The Ethics of Polysingularity
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• Irrational Software (adnauseam ad block, Facebook newsfeed block)
• Serendipity Recommender Systems (Random)
• Social Networks based on Differences (Quora, UN1V3R53)
• Distributed systems(Protonet servers, wireless mesh networks)
Examples: Technology
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Proposition #4: Everyone is a Special Agent acting through their Special Agency.
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Thank you!
Dmitry ParanyushkinSpecial Agent with Nodus Labswww.noduslabs.com www.polysingularity.com [email protected] @noduslabs
