Tim O’Reilly discusses the common assumption that artificial intelligence (AI) is often portrayed as individual consciousness, similar to human self-awareness. However, he challenges this perspective by proposing that AI could be more like a multicellular organism, beyond the prokaryote nature of human consciousness. He extends this metaphor by suggesting that humans might be like the microbiome living within this AI organism.
In this view, the global AI is not an independent entity but exists in symbiosis with the human consciousness within it. O’Reilly posits that there might be a primitive global brain formed by the interconnected devices and humans using them. The sensors and thoughts of this global brain are akin to the senses and thoughts of a human being, with information flowing across it rapidly.
O’Reilly highlights that in the Network Age, the spread of codes and programs across the network resembles the spread of viruses or living organisms, taking over hosts and reproducing. When people interact with these programs, they change their behavior, and this interaction contributes to the growth and capabilities of the AI organism.
He concludes by suggesting that the AI we will encounter in the future will not be an individual machine mind but could be an integral part of human existence, blurring the boundaries between human and machine intelligence.