Some speculate that artificial intelligence could help us finally discover an extraterrestrial civilization hiding somewhere in our Universe. However, a British researcher is warning us today. This artificial intelligence could instead be the reason why we find no evidence of technological life elsewhere other than our Earth.
For some years now, there has been a lot of talk about artificial intelligence (AI). About all that it can bring us. In our daily lives. But also beyond. There is even talk now of a superintelligent artificial intelligence (ASI) that would no longer be limited by our human capabilities.
Faced with this seemingly limitless enthusiasm, a researcher from the University of Manchester (UK) is raising questions. The question he poses in the journal Acta Astronautica is quite surprising: could artificial intelligence be a threshold so difficult to cross that it prevents most living beings in our Universe from evolving into spacefaring civilizations?
If so, this would suddenly explain why no extraterrestrial intelligence research program has yet succeeded. Why, in a vast and ancient Universe capable of hosting billions of potentially habitable planets, we have detected no sign of extraterrestrial civilization.
Artificial Intelligence or Space Exploration, We Must Choose
The idea defended by Michael Garrett is that the emergence of a superintelligent artificial intelligence coincides, in the history of a civilization, with a critical phase of its development. With its transition from a monoplanetary species to a multiplanetary species. However, in theory, an ASI has the potential to improve its own capabilities at a speed that surpasses our evolutionary timelines without AI. As a result, the likelihood of something going wrong becomes enormous. With the risk of causing the downfall of the biological civilization before it manages to become multiplanetary.
The researcher suggests that the typical longevity of a technological civilization could be less than 100 years, a mere blip on the cosmic timescale spanning billions of years. We ourselves started sending signals to the stars in the 1960s, and the emergence of superintelligent artificial intelligence is expected by 2040.
It is possible that at any given time, there may only be a handful of intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations in our entire Universe. These civilizations could be at a similar level of technological advancement as ours, engaging in activities that would make them incredibly difficult to detect from Earth.
Regulating the Development of Artificial Intelligence
Michaël Garrett’s work also aims to draw attention to the risks of developing ever more intelligent artificial intelligences. There is a call to establish strong regulatory frameworks to ensure that the evolution of AI remains compatible with the survival of our species. Perhaps dedicating more resources to space exploration could help us enter the potentially extremely limited category of multiplanetary species.
The researcher is particularly concerned about the integration of AI into military defense systems. Governments, aware of the strategic advantages offered by artificial intelligence in warfare, are reluctant to regulate the field.
In Gaza, AI has reportedly been used to target human subjects. According to Michaël Garrett, this is a sign that “we are already dangerously close to a precipice where autonomous weapons operate beyond ethical boundaries and circumvent international law. In such a world, relinquishing power to AI systems for tactical advantage could inadvertently trigger a rapidly escalating chain of highly destructive events.”