Dr. Yeasted, If the evolution of living things leads to AI being created, is AI really artificial?
–Alex, Florida
Artificial means “produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally” or “a copy of something natural”, so in that sense AI is as natural as plastic.
Now, when AI becomes a new type of lifeform, one that is conscious and free-thinking as well as self-replicating (able to reproduce), will it be natural then? It depends on how closely you cling to the above definition of “artificial”. The best answer at this time is yes. AI will never be able to escape its roots of being man made. It will remain artificial simply by definition.
Pushing the boundary a little, what about a future where machines are made of cells, much like we are? Would that be more natural? Most people would say a human clone is not natural despite being an exact replica, although the clone may disagree. Many would say a baby born from IVF is a perfectly natural child, likely because the process still relies heavily on the classic fetal development process. But as the technology for ectogenesis/artificial wombs continues to progress rapidly (Philadelphia grew a lamb to full term, Cambridge and Israel used mice stem cells to create synthetic embryos), we may have to expand our definition of what “natural” means.
Thanks so much for your question, Alex!