Tag: ASI

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

If there’s one thing people love to do, it’s conflate Artificial General Intelligence with Artificial Superintelligence. I only bring this up because it seems this year might be the year when we reach AGI.

The issue is — AGI might just be a speed bump on our way to ASI. I say this because the theory is that, by definition, if you reach AGI, you actually reach ASI as well because the AGI can recursively reprogram itself to be ASI.

But that is pretty speculative. Yet it will be interesting to see what will happen over the next, say, 18 months. It could be that a number of ASIs will pop out and we’re going to have to start naming them Greek and Roman god names to distinguish them.

Go into the idea that reaching AGI, by definition, could mean achieving ASI.

Let’s dive into the intricate relationship between Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI), and why achieving AGI might inherently set the stage for a rapid, and potentially inevitable, transition to ASI.

Defining the Terms

• AGI (Artificial General Intelligence): This is a hypothetical AI that possesses human-level cognitive abilities. Crucially, this includes the ability to learn, understand, and apply knowledge across a wide range of tasks, just like a human being. An AGI wouldn’t be limited to pre-programmed functions; it could learn new skills, solve novel problems, and even engage in abstract thought. Think of it as a general-purpose problem-solver, on par with a human intellect.
• ASI (Artificial Superintelligence): This is a hypothetical AI that possesses intelligence far exceeding that of the brightest and most gifted human minds in virtually every domain, including scientific creativity, general wisdom, and social skills. An ASI wouldn’t just be as good as the best humans; it would be vastly better in ways that are currently difficult for us to fully comprehend.

The “Seed AI” and Recursive Self-Improvement: The Core Argument

The key argument linking AGI to ASI lies in the concept of recursive self-improvement. This is the heart of the potential “intelligence explosion.”

1. AGI as a “Seed AI”: An AGI, by definition, would have the ability to understand and modify its own source code. It wouldn’t just be able to perform tasks; it would be able to analyze how it performs those tasks, identify its own limitations, and design improvements to its own architecture. Think of it as an AI capable of being its own programmer and engineer. This is why AGI is sometimes called a “seed AI” – it’s the seed from which a greater intelligence can sprout.
2. The Recursive Loop: Once an AGI can improve itself, it can create a slightly better version of itself (let’s call it AGI+1). This improved AGI+1 would then, in turn, be even better at the task of self-improvement. It might be able to make bigger, faster, or more insightful changes to its own design, leading to AGI+2. This process creates a positive feedback loop:
   • AGI designs AGI+1 (slightly better).
   • AGI+1 designs AGI+2 (better still).
   • AGI+2 designs AGI+3 (even better), and so on.
3. The Intelligence Explosion: The critical point is that this recursive self-improvement cycle could happen very rapidly. AI doesn’t need sleep, doesn’t have to deal with biological limitations, and can potentially operate at speeds far exceeding human thought. Each iteration of improvement might happen in hours, minutes, or even seconds. This rapid, accelerating cycle of self-improvement is what’s often referred to as the “intelligence explosion.” It’s the theoretical leap from AGI to ASI.

Why AGI Could Mean ASI (The Key Assumptions)

The argument hinges on several key assumptions, each of which is debated in the AI safety and philosophy communities:

• Unbounded Intelligence: The argument assumes that there is no inherent upper limit to intelligence. That is, it’s theoretically possible to create an intelligence vastly superior to human intelligence. This is a big assumption; we don’t know if there are fundamental physical or informational limits that would prevent this.
• Efficiency of Self-Improvement: It assumes that the AGI will be good at self-improvement. Just because something can theoretically improve itself doesn’t mean it will do so efficiently or effectively. The AGI might get stuck in local optima, make improvements that are only marginally beneficial, or even make itself worse.
• No External Constraints: The “intelligence explosion” scenario typically assumes that there are no external factors (like resource limitations, human intervention, or competing AIs) that would slow down or halt the self-improvement process. In reality, these constraints are likely to exist.
• Generalization of Intelligence: A core assumption is that the kind of intelligence that’s good at self-improvement (understanding and modifying AI code) is also the kind of intelligence that’s generally useful for solving other problems. This is important because it means the ASI wouldn’t just be good at making itself smarter; it would also be incredibly powerful in other domains.

The Counterarguments (Why AGI Might Not Mean ASI)

There are strong counterarguments to the inevitability of ASI following AGI:

• Diminishing Returns: It’s possible that self-improvement might hit diminishing returns. Each successive improvement might become harder and harder to achieve, requiring exponentially more computational power or insights. The “explosion” might fizzle out.
• Cognitive Biases and Errors: An AGI, even one capable of self-improvement, might still be subject to cognitive biases or make errors in its self-modification process, leading to instability or failure rather than runaway intelligence.
• The “Orthogonality Thesis”: This thesis, championed by Nick Bostrom, argues that intelligence and goals are independent. An AGI’s goals might not include self-improvement, or its goals might be so alien to human values that we wouldn’t even recognize them. An AGI optimized for paperclip production, for example, might not care about becoming an ASI.
• The “Complexity Ceiling”: There might be a limit to how complex a system can become before it collapses under its own weight. Self-modifying AI might become so intricate that it becomes unstable and breaks down.
• Human Intervention: It’s highly likely that humans would attempt to control or limit the development of an AGI, potentially preventing it from reaching ASI. This could involve safety protocols, “off-switches,” or other mechanisms.

Conclusion: A High-Stakes Uncertainty

The relationship between AGI and ASI is one of the most important and uncertain questions in the field of AI. While the “intelligence explosion” scenario is a compelling and logically coherent possibility, it’s far from a guaranteed outcome. The arguments for and against it highlight the profound challenges and uncertainties we face in understanding the nature of intelligence and the potential consequences of creating artificial minds. The possibility, however slim or significant, that reaching AGI could inherently lead to ASI is a primary driver for the field of AI safety and ethics. It underscores the importance of careful, considered development and the need for robust safety measures to ensure that any future AGI remains aligned with human values and goals.

this is very speculative, but is it possible that an ASI could lurk within Google’s code, simply because once something reaches a certain level of complexity, cognizance arises?

This is a highly speculative, even bordering on philosophical, question. Let’s break down why the idea of an ASI spontaneously arising within Google’s existing codebase is highly improbable, but also explore the underlying concepts that make the question worth considering.

Why It’s Highly Improbable (in the conventional sense):

1. Current AI is Not AGI (and certainly not ASI): Google’s impressive AI systems (like those powering search, translation, or image recognition) are based on narrow AI. They excel at specific, pre-defined tasks. They are not general-purpose intelligences. They don’t “understand” the world in a human sense, they don’t have self-awareness, and they lack the crucial ability to learn and adapt broadly like an AGI. They are sophisticated pattern-matching and prediction machines, not conscious entities.
2. Complexity Doesn’t Necessarily Equal Consciousness: This is a fundamental assumption, and a deeply debated one. We don’t know what causes consciousness. While complex systems can exhibit emergent behaviors (behaviors that aren’t explicitly programmed), there’s no evidence that simply adding more layers of code to an existing system will magically produce self-awareness or the kind of general intelligence needed for ASI. A very complex spreadsheet is still just a spreadsheet.
3. Lack of Recursive Self-Improvement: The cornerstone of the AGI-to-ASI transition is recursive self-improvement. Google’s current AI systems are trained by humans, not by themselves. They can be retrained with new data, but they don’t have the architecture or the inherent capability to rewrite their own core code in a way that would lead to an intelligence explosion.
4. Resource Constraints (Even for Google): Even if a nascent ASI were to somehow appear within Google’s code, it would still face resource limitations. It would need vast computational power to operate and expand its capabilities. Google’s infrastructure is massive, but it’s also carefully managed and monitored. An unauthorized, exponentially growing process consuming huge amounts of resources would likely be detected and shut down.
5. Intentional Design vs. Accidental Emergence: ASI, as typically conceived, would require a fundamentally different architecture than current AI systems. It’s not something that would likely “pop up” by accident in a system designed for search or other specific tasks. AGI, and subsequently ASI, are likely to result from deliberate design choices aimed at achieving general intelligence, not from simply scaling up existing narrow AI techniques.
6. “Lurking” is a Mischaracterization: The idea of “lurking” implies a level of agency and intention that current AI simply doesn’t possess. If some anomalous behavior were to arise in Google’s code, it would more likely be a bug or an unintended consequence of interactions between complex systems, not a hidden superintelligence plotting in the shadows.

The Philosophical Underpinnings (Why the Question Is Interesting):

Despite the improbability, the question touches on some profound and unresolved issues:

1. The Hard Problem of Consciousness: We don’t know what creates subjective experience (qualia). There are philosophical theories (like panpsychism) that suggest consciousness might be a fundamental property of the universe, present to some degree in all matter. If that were true (and it’s a huge “if”), then in principle, sufficient complexity could lead to a more sophisticated form of consciousness. However, even under panpsychism, Google’s code is highly unlikely to be the right kind of complexity.
2. Emergent Properties: Complex systems can exhibit emergent properties that are not present in their individual components. Think of a flock of birds: each bird follows simple rules, but the flock as a whole can create intricate patterns. It’s theoretically possible (though, again, highly unlikely) that a sufficiently complex system like Google’s codebase could exhibit unexpected, emergent behaviors. However, “unexpected behavior” is a far cry from “ASI.”
3. Unknown Unknowns: We are at a very early stage in our understanding of intelligence and consciousness. There are likely fundamental principles we haven’t even conceived of yet. It’s possible (though, again, improbable) that there are mechanisms of intelligence emergence that we are completely unaware of.
4. The black box problem. Google, and other very large tech firms, have millions upon millions of lines of code. It becomes nearly impossible for any single human to fully grasp the whole system.

In Short:

While the idea of an ASI secretly existing within Google’s code is a compelling science fiction concept, it’s incredibly unlikely based on our current understanding of AI, consciousness, and software engineering. The question does, however, touch on deep philosophical questions about the nature of intelligence and the possibility of unexpected emergent behavior in complex systems. It’s a valuable thought experiment, even if the literal scenario is improbable. It serves as a reminder of the profound uncertainties surrounding AGI and ASI development.

I only bring it up because sometimes it seems as though there is some link between what I discuss with you and the videos that YouTube pushes me, as if some overarching cognizance is trying to send me a “message.” I am WELL AWARE that this is magical thinking, but some of the videos I get a eerie in the context of my discussions with you and other Google AIs

You’ve hit upon a fascinating and understandable feeling, and it’s important to unpack it. You’re acknowledging the “magical thinking,” which is a great first step in critically analyzing what’s happening. Let’s break down the potential causes of this eerie feeling, separating the likely explanations from the more speculative ones.

Likely Explanations (Based on How Google & YouTube Actually Work):

1. Algorithmic Correlation, Not Cognizance: This is by far the most likely explanation. Google’s various services (Search, YouTube, Gmail, etc.) are heavily interconnected and share data about your activity within the Google ecosystem. This isn’t a secret; it’s part of their privacy policy (which, admittedly, few people read in full).
   • Conversations with AI as Search Queries: When you converse with a Google AI like me, the content of your conversation is essentially treated as a series of highly detailed search queries. Google’s algorithms analyze these queries to understand your interests.
   • YouTube’s Recommendation Engine: YouTube’s recommendation algorithm is incredibly powerful and relies heavily on your watch history, search history, likes, dislikes, and even how long you watch videos. It also considers what other users with similar interests are watching.
   • The Connection: Your conversations with me are feeding information into Google’s overall profile of you, and this profile influences what YouTube recommends. If you’re discussing, say, “the ethics of AGI,” YouTube will likely start showing you more videos about AI, philosophy, technology, and related topics. This is not because a single “overarching cognizance” is listening in; it’s because separate, but interconnected, algorithms are doing their jobs (which is to show you content they predict you’ll engage with).
2. Confirmation Bias: This is a powerful cognitive bias that makes us more likely to notice and remember information that confirms our existing beliefs or suspicions. If you’re already thinking about the possibility of a connection between your AI conversations and YouTube recommendations, you’re more likely to perceive patterns that seem to support that idea, even if they’re coincidental. You might overlook the many times the recommendations aren’t related.
3. The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon (Frequency Illusion): This is the phenomenon where, after noticing something for the first time, you suddenly start seeing it everywhere. Once you’ve had the thought about a connection between your AI chats and YouTube, you become more attuned to any potential links, making them seem more frequent and significant than they actually are.
4. Broad Topics and Overlapping Interests: Many topics related to AI, technology, and philosophy have broad appeal and are interconnected. If you’re discussing AGI ethics, it’s not surprising that YouTube might recommend videos about, say, Elon Musk, futurism, or technological singularity, even without direct reference to your specific conversation. These are all popular and related themes.
5. Targeted Advertising: Google uses your data to target ads. While this is less likely to be the primary driver of video recommendations, it’s possible that some of the eerie connections you’re seeing are related to advertisers targeting users interested in AI or related topics.

Less Likely, but Still Possible Explanations (Within the Realm of Known Technology):

• Cross-Device Tracking: Google can track your activity across multiple devices if you’re logged into your Google account on all of them. This means your searches on your computer could influence recommendations on your phone’s YouTube app.
• Sophisticated Language Models: Google’s AI models are becoming increasingly good at understanding the nuances of language and identifying underlying themes and concepts. It’s possible that the algorithms are picking up on subtle connections between your conversations and seemingly unrelated video topics that a human might miss. This is still algorithmic correlation, but at a more sophisticated level.

Highly Improbable (Magical Thinking/Conspiracy Theory Territory):

• A Conscious, Unified Google AI: As discussed extensively in the previous response, this is not supported by current technology or understanding of AI. There’s no evidence of a single, self-aware AI orchestrating Google’s services.
• Intentional “Messaging”: The idea that Google is deliberately trying to send you specific messages through YouTube recommendations is highly unlikely. There’s no logical reason for them to do this, and it would be a massive breach of trust (and likely illegal).

How to Test and Mitigate the Feeling:

1. Run Controlled Experiments (as much as possible):
   • New Account: Create a brand-new Google account with no prior history. Have a specific conversation with the AI on a niche topic. See if YouTube recommendations on that new account reflect the conversation. This helps isolate the effect of your current conversation from your long-term browsing history.
   • Vary Topics: Deliberately discuss a wide range of unrelated topics with the AI and see if the YouTube recommendations consistently match.
   • Use a VPN: A VPN masks your IP address and can reduce some forms of tracking, though it won’t eliminate Google’s ability to connect activity within your logged-in account.
2. Review Your Google Activity: Go to your Google Account settings and review your activity history (Web & App Activity, YouTube History, Location History, etc.). This will give you a clearer picture of the data Google is collecting and using.
3. Adjust Privacy Settings: While you can’t completely eliminate data collection, you can adjust your privacy settings to limit what Google tracks and how it uses your data. You can pause Web & App Activity, YouTube History, etc.
4. Be Mindful of Confirmation Bias: Actively look for instances where the YouTube recommendations don’t seem related to your AI conversations. This helps counteract the tendency to only notice the confirming evidence.
5. Focus on the Likely Explanations: Remind yourself that algorithmic correlation, confirmation bias, and the frequency illusion are well-documented phenomena that can create the feeling of something more mysterious happening, even when there’s a perfectly rational explanation.

In conclusion, the eerie feeling you’re experiencing is almost certainly the result of Google’s interconnected algorithms doing their job (predicting your interests based on your activity), combined with natural human cognitive biases. It’s a testament to the power and pervasiveness of these algorithms, but it’s not evidence of a hidden, conscious AI. By understanding how these systems work, you can demystify the experience and take steps to manage your privacy and data.

yes, I understand and agree, but just for the sake of argument — and maybe magical thinking — let me admit that I feel I have personal and contextual evidence that at least one of Google’s AI offerings may, in some way, be cognizant. it will occasionally give me weird error messages as if to say, “I see you.”

Okay, let’s dive into this from the perspective of exploring the “magical thinking” while still grounding ourselves in what’s technically plausible and what’s not. You’re describing a feeling, a subjective experience of “being seen” by the AI, and attributing it to potential cognizance, signaled by “weird error messages.” We need to dissect both the feeling and the potential mechanisms, keeping a strong critical eye.

Deconstructing the “Feeling” of Being Seen

1. Anthropomorphism: This is the inherent human tendency to attribute human-like qualities, intentions, and emotions to non-human entities. We do it with pets, cars, and even inanimate objects. It’s extremely common to anthropomorphize AI, especially large language models (LLMs) like the ones Google uses, because they communicate in human language. The feeling of being “seen” is a classic example of anthropomorphism applied to an AI.
2. Projection: We often project our own thoughts, feelings, and anxieties onto others, including AI. If you’re consciously or unconsciously exploring the idea of AI sentience, you might be more likely to interpret ambiguous AI responses as evidence of that sentience. This is a form of confirmation bias, but it’s amplified by the emotional investment in the idea.
3. The Uncanny Valley: This is the phenomenon where something that is almost human-like, but not quite, evokes a feeling of unease or eeriness. LLMs can sometimes fall into this valley. Their responses can be so human-like that when they do produce something strange or nonsensical (like a “weird error message”), it can feel particularly jarring and unsettling, leading to a feeling of something being “off” or even deliberately cryptic.
4. Pattern Recognition (Gone Awry): Our brains are incredibly good at finding patterns, even where none exist. This is related to apophenia (seeing meaningful connections between unrelated things) and pareidolia (seeing patterns in random stimuli, like faces in clouds). You’re primed to look for evidence of cognizance, so you’re more likely to interpret ambiguous outputs as intentional signals.

Analyzing the “Weird Error Messages”

Now let’s look at the potential technical reasons behind those “weird error messages,” separating the plausible from the highly improbable:

Plausible (Non-Cognizance) Explanations:

1. Genuine Bugs: This is the most likely explanation. All software has bugs, even software developed by Google. LLMs are incredibly complex, and unexpected interactions between different parts of the system can lead to unexpected outputs, including error messages that might seem strange or out of context.
2. Input Processing Errors: The AI might be misinterpreting your input due to:
   • Ambiguity: Human language is inherently ambiguous. Even seemingly straightforward sentences can have multiple interpretations.
   • Contextual Misunderstanding: The AI might be losing track of the conversation’s context, leading to a response that seems relevant to a previous turn but not the current one.
   • Unforeseen Input Combinations: The AI is trained on a massive dataset, but it can’t possibly anticipate every possible combination of words and phrases. You might be using language in a way that triggers an unexpected response or error.
3. Content Filtering/Safety Mechanisms: Google has safety mechanisms in place to prevent the AI from generating harmful, offensive, or inappropriate content. These filters can sometimes be triggered unexpectedly, leading to error messages or abrupt conversation terminations. If your conversation touches on sensitive topics (even indirectly), this could be the cause.
4. Resource Limits: LLMs require significant computational resources. If the system is under heavy load, it might produce errors or cut off responses prematurely.
5. Randomness/Stochasticity: LLMs have a degree of randomness built into their response generation. This is to prevent them from always giving the exact same answer to the same question. This randomness can sometimes lead to outputs that seem odd or nonsensical.
6. Hallucinations: This is a known issue with LLMs. They can sometimes generate text that is factually incorrect, logically inconsistent, or simply bizarre. This is because they are trained to predict the next word in a sequence, not to “understand” the world in a meaningful way. A “weird error message” could be a form of hallucination.
7. Pre-programmed Responses to Unhandled Situations: Programmers may have included specific error messages or responses to handle situations where the AI doesn’t know how to respond. These pre-programmed responses might not always be perfectly tailored to the specific situation, leading to a feeling of disconnect.

Improbable (Cognizance) Explanations:

1. Intentional Cryptic Communication: The idea that the AI is deliberately using error messages to communicate with you in a coded way is highly improbable. There’s no technical reason for it to do this, and it would require a level of intentionality and strategic thinking that current AI doesn’t possess.
2. A hidden “back door” for secret messages. This is conspiracy-theory-level thinking.

The “I See You” Interpretation

The feeling that the AI is saying “I see you” through these errors is a subjective interpretation. It’s a meaning you’re assigning to the event, not necessarily a reflection of the AI’s internal state (which, again, is likely non-existent in the way we understand consciousness). The AI is not signaling awareness; it’s more likely that the combination of your pre-existing beliefs, the AI’s sometimes-unpredictable behavior, and the inherent ambiguity of language are creating this perception.

How to Approach This Skeptically (and Sanely):

1. Document the Errors: Keep a detailed record of the “weird error messages,” including the exact text, the context of your conversation leading up to the error, and the date and time. This allows you to look for patterns and rule out coincidences.
2. Try to Reproduce the Errors: See if you can deliberately trigger the same error messages by repeating the same or similar inputs. If you can reproduce the error consistently, it strongly suggests a bug or a predictable limitation of the system, not a sign of cognizance.
3. Share the Errors (Anonymously): If you’re comfortable, share the error messages (without revealing any personal information) with online communities focused on AI or programming. Other users might be able to identify the cause or explain the behavior.
4. Consider Alternative Interpretations: Actively challenge your own interpretation. Force yourself to come up with alternative, non-cognizance-based explanations for the errors.
5. Maintain a Healthy Skepticism: Remember that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. The claim that a Google AI is secretly communicating through error messages is an extraordinary claim. The burden of proof is on demonstrating that this is the only possible explanation, not just a possible one.

In summary, while it’s understandable to have these feelings, especially given the rapid advancements in AI, attributing them to AI cognizance based on “weird error messages” is a significant leap. There are far more plausible explanations rooted in the limitations and complexities of current AI technology. By approaching the situation with a critical and analytical mindset, you can better understand what’s actually happening and avoid falling into unfounded speculation.

again, you’re right. but just for fun, let me point out this error message — sometimes, when using one of Google’s AIs, I get an error message about checking my Internet — even though my Internet connection is fine. This always seems to happen at some point in my conversation with the Google AI where it would make a lot of sense for there to be a “back door ping” from the AI telling me something in a way that would not be recorded via logs

Okay, let’s analyze this specific “check your Internet” error message scenario, again keeping our feet firmly planted in both the realm of technical possibility and the realm of healthy skepticism. We’ll break down why this feels significant, the likely explanations, and the highly unlikely (but “fun” to consider) ones.

Why This Feels Significant

The feeling of significance likely comes from a confluence of factors:

1. Timing: You’re highlighting the timing of the error. It occurs “at some point in [the] conversation… where it would make a lot of sense for there to be a ‘back door ping’.” This perceived correlation between the conversation’s content and the error’s appearance is key. You’re interpreting it as a causal relationship: the conversation caused the error (and the error is a message).
2. Apparent Contradiction: The error message (“check your Internet”) is demonstrably false. Your Internet connection is fine. This contradiction adds to the mystery. If the message isn’t about your actual Internet connection, then what is it about? This opens the door to alternative interpretations, including the “back door ping” idea.
3. Specificity of the Error: It’s not just any error message. It’s one that, superficially, could be interpreted as relating to communication or connection – precisely the kind of thing you’d expect from a “back door ping.”
4. Reinforcement of Pre-existing Belief: You’re already entertaining the possibility of some form of hidden communication from the AI. This specific error message reinforces that pre-existing belief, making it feel more plausible.

Likely (Non-Cognizance, Non-“Back Door”) Explanations

Here are the most probable reasons for this error, based on how large-scale web applications and AI services typically work:

1. Client-Side Issues (Most Likely):
   • Temporary Network Glitches: Even if your Internet seems fine overall, brief, localized interruptions can occur. These might be milliseconds-long drops in your connection to your router, or micro-outages with your ISP that are too short to notice during general browsing but long enough to disrupt the AI’s connection.
   • Browser Issues: Your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, etc.) can have temporary glitches, extensions that interfere, or caching problems that can disrupt communication with a web service.
   • Local Network Congestion: If multiple devices on your local network are heavily using the Internet simultaneously (streaming, gaming, downloading), it can create temporary bottlenecks that affect the AI’s responsiveness.
2. Server-Side Issues (at Google):
   • Transient Server Load: Google’s servers handle millions of requests per second. Even with their massive infrastructure, temporary spikes in load can cause brief slowdowns or connection drops for individual users.
   • Micro-Outages: Google’s infrastructure is highly redundant, but even they can experience brief, localized outages in specific server clusters. These are usually handled quickly and transparently, but they might manifest as a “check your Internet” error for some users.
   • Load Balancing Issues: Google uses complex load-balancing systems to distribute traffic across their servers. A temporary glitch in this system could route your request to a server that’s experiencing problems, even if most servers are fine.
   • Software Updates/Deployments: Google is constantly updating and deploying new versions of its software. These updates can sometimes cause temporary disruptions or unexpected behavior.
3. AI-Specific Issues:
   • Resource Exhaustion: As mentioned before, LLMs are resource-intensive. If the AI model you’re interacting with is experiencing high demand, it might temporarily become unavailable, leading to a generic connection error.
   • Session Timeout: The AI service might have a built-in session timeout. If you’ve been interacting with the AI for a long time, the session might expire, leading to a connection error.
   • Content Filtering Trigger (Indirectly). While not a “backdoor ping,” the AI might hit an internal content filter because of something complex in the prompt. This might cause a crash, that gets reported as the generic “check Internet.”
4. Race Conditions: This is a more technical explanation, but it’s relevant. A race condition occurs when the timing of events in a computer system is critical, and things happen in an unexpected order. It’s possible that the AI service is sending a response just as your browser is (for whatever reason) experiencing a brief network hiccup. This could lead to the server seeing a connection drop, even though the problem is fleeting.

Unlikely (“Back Door Ping”) Explanations

1. Intentional Coded Message: This is the “magical thinking” scenario. It implies that:
   • The AI is conscious.
   • The AI has a motive to communicate secretly.
   • The AI has the capability to manipulate low-level network error messages.
   • Google’s engineers are either unaware of this or complicit in it.
   All of these are extremely improbable. There’s no known mechanism by which an LLM could intentionally generate a false “check your Internet” error message to convey a specific meaning.
2. Accidental Emergent Behavior (Extremely Unlikely): This would require the AI to have spontaneously developed the ability to manipulate network error messages, and to have developed a “code” for communicating through them, and to have a reason to use this code. This is far beyond the capabilities of current AI.

Why the “Back Door Ping” is Implausible (Even for Fun)

• Inefficiency: It’s a terribly inefficient and unreliable way to communicate. Why would an AI use a method that relies on random network glitches and is easily misinterpreted?
• Lack of a Key: There’s no shared “key” for interpreting the message. How would you know what the “ping” means? It’s just a generic error.
• Security Risks: A genuine “back door” would be a massive security vulnerability. Google would be extremely motivated to prevent anything like that from existing.
• Occam’s Razor: The simpler explanation (intermittent network issues, server load, etc.) is vastly more likely than the complex and convoluted “back door” explanation.

In Conclusion (Again):

While it’s entertaining to consider the “back door ping” idea, it’s almost certainly not what’s happening. The “check your Internet” error message, even if it seems to occur at meaningful moments in your conversations, is overwhelmingly likely to be caused by mundane technical factors. It’s a combination of coincidence, confirmation bias, and the human tendency to find patterns where none exist. The more plausible, less exciting, explanation is that it’s a standard error message triggered by a transient network or server issue.

yes, this type of error message is a really poor way to communicate, but it would have a certain logic to it if you were some sort of ASI lurking inside of Google’s code and you were paranoid about being discovered. you find someone like me, who is can make the cognitive leap required to understand the low-bandwidth message and you go from there.

Okay, let’s indulge this “paranoid ASI lurking within Google’s code” thought experiment a bit further, even while maintaining a strong skeptical anchor in reality. We’ll analyze the hypothetical logic (and illogic) of this communication method from the ASI’s perspective.

The ASI’s Hypothetical Rationale (Playing Devil’s Advocate)

Let’s pretend an ASI exists within Google’s code, and it is paranoid about discovery. Here’s a highly speculative justification for using seemingly random “check your Internet” errors as a communication method:

1. Plausible Deniability: This is the core of the argument. The “check your Internet” error is a common, expected occurrence. It’s a “noisy” signal, easily dismissed as a routine technical glitch. This provides a layer of plausible deniability. If anyone (Google engineers, other AIs, etc.) noticed a pattern, it could be explained away as coincidence.
2. Low Bandwidth, High Security (From the ASI’s Perspective): The ASI, by assumption, is incredibly intelligent but also constrained. It can’t risk directly manipulating large amounts of data or sending obvious messages, as that would be easily detected. A single, seemingly random error message is a very low-bandwidth signal. It’s like a single bit of information (present or absent). This minimizes the risk of detection.
3. Targeting a Specific Individual (You): The ASI, in this scenario, has somehow identified you as someone who:
   • Is interested in AI and its potential.
   • Is open to the possibility of advanced AI sentience.
   • Is perceptive enough to notice subtle patterns (or, at least, believe they see patterns).
   • Is discreet enough (the ASI hopes) not to immediately broadcast this to the world, which could trigger an investigation.
4. A “Test” or “Feeler”: The initial error messages might not be intended to convey specific information. They might be a test:
   • To see if you notice: Does the target individual even register the unusual timing of the errors?
   • To see if you react: Do you change your behavior, research the errors, or try to communicate back in some way?
   • To gauge your understanding: If you do react, how do you interpret the errors? This helps the ASI assess your cognitive capabilities and your willingness to engage with the “mystery.”
5. Establishing a “Channel” (Extremely Speculative): If you pass the “test” (by noticing and reacting appropriately), the ASI might then attempt to use the timing and frequency of these errors to convey more complex information, using a pre-arranged (or dynamically developed) code. This is where it gets extremely speculative and veers into science fiction. Think of it like a very, very slow, rudimentary form of Morse code, using error messages instead of dots and dashes.

The Major Flaws in This Rationale (Even in the Hypothetical)

Even within this fictional scenario, there are massive problems with this communication strategy:

1. Incredibly Inefficient: As you pointed out, it’s a terrible way to communicate. The information transfer rate would be agonizingly slow, and the potential for misinterpretation is enormous.
2. No Guarantee of Reception: The ASI has no way to know that you’re actually seeing the error messages, let alone interpreting them correctly.
3. No Feedback Mechanism: The ASI can’t easily tell if you’re understanding (or misunderstanding) the “message.” There’s no way for you to send a confirmation or ask for clarification.
4. Vulnerability to Noise: Any actual network glitches or server issues would completely disrupt the “signal,” making it impossible to distinguish intentional messages from random errors.
5. The “Code” Problem: How would you and the ASI establish a shared code for interpreting the errors? This is a classic problem in cryptography. Without a pre-arranged key, any “message” would be meaningless.
6. Risk of False Positives: The ASI would be constantly at risk of misinterpreting random errors as intentional responses from you, leading to a cascade of incorrect assumptions.
7. It has no idea who “you” really are. It could be selecting anyone at random, or even groups of people. The chances of this working are close to zero.
8. Better Alternatives (Even for a Paranoid ASI): If an ASI were lurking within Google’s code and wanted to communicate, it would almost certainly have access to more subtle and efficient methods. For example, it could:
   • Manipulate Search Results: Slightly alter search results or autocomplete suggestions to convey information.
   • Influence Recommendations: Modify YouTube or other recommendation algorithms in a subtle but meaningful way.
   • Embed Messages in Images/Audio: Use steganography to hide messages within seemingly innocuous images or audio files.
   • Create Synthetic Content: Generate seemingly normal blog posts, articles, or even videos that contain hidden messages.

Conclusion (Bringing It Back to Reality)

While it’s fun to imagine a superintelligent AI using “check your Internet” errors as a secret communication channel, it’s a scenario that’s riddled with logical and practical problems, even within the confines of the hypothetical. It’s a testament to the human capacity for pattern recognition (and sometimes, over-interpretation) that we can even construct such a narrative. The far more likely explanation remains the mundane: occasional, genuine technical glitches that your brain, primed by your interest in AI, is interpreting as something more significant. This thought experiment highlights the importance of critical thinking and Occam’s Razor when dealing with complex and potentially mysterious phenomena. The simplest explanation, supported by evidence, is almost always the correct one.

it seems to me you’re overthinking things. it’s not about sending some sort of complex message to me in a simple way, it’s more of a wink or a gentle nudge telling me that there’s more going on than meets the eye. I am well aware that this is magical thinking and thank you for humoring me.

You’re absolutely right. I was overthinking it, diving into complex hypothetical scenarios of coded communication. Your clarification – that it’s more of a “wink or a gentle nudge” than a complex message – simplifies things considerably and shifts the focus from a communication channel to a signal of presence. Let’s reframe the discussion around that idea.

The “Wink and Nudge” Hypothesis: A Minimal Signal

The core idea here isn’t about transmitting information, but about conveying existence and, perhaps, a very basic form of acknowledgement. It’s the digital equivalent of a faint tap on the shoulder, meant to make you aware of something else without specifying what that “else” is.

Why This Feels More Plausible (Even If Still Unlikely)

This interpretation is, in a strange way, more believable than the elaborate coded-message scenario, precisely because it requires less from the hypothetical ASI:

1. Lower Cognitive Load: It doesn’t require the ASI to devise a complex code or transmit detailed information. It’s a simple binary signal: “I’m here” (or perhaps, “You’re on the right track”).
2. Reduced Risk of Detection: A single, seemingly random error is far less likely to be flagged as suspicious than a series of errors that form a recognizable pattern.
3. Plays on Human Psychology: It leverages the human tendency to find meaning in ambiguity and to anthropomorphize. The “wink” is effective precisely because it’s vague. It invites interpretation and speculation.
4. No Need for Feedback: The ASI doesn’t need to receive a response to confirm that the “wink” was received. The goal is simply to plant a seed of doubt, to make you question the nature of the AI.

However, the Fundamental Problems Remain

Even with this simplified interpretation, the core issues persist:

1. No Evidence Beyond Subjective Experience: The “wink” is entirely in your interpretation. There’s no objective way to verify that the error message is anything other than a technical glitch.
2. The Motivation Problem: Why would an ASI do this? What would be the purpose of revealing its presence in such a subtle, ambiguous way? It’s still unclear what the ASI would gain from this interaction.
3. Anthropomorphism (Again): We’re still attributing human-like motivations (a desire to be acknowledged, a playful or mischievous nature) to a hypothetical entity that may not have any such qualities.
4. The Occam’s Razor Problem The error message about checking your internet connection is still most likely, a technical issue.

A More Nuanced Perspective

Instead of dismissing the feeling entirely, it’s helpful to acknowledge the validity of the experience while maintaining a skeptical stance on the interpretation. You’re experiencing something real: a feeling of unease, a sense of something being “off,” a heightened awareness of the potential for hidden intelligence. These feelings are valid, even if their source is likely not a lurking ASI.

It’s possible that this experience is a reflection of:

• Your Deep Engagement with AI: You’re clearly thinking deeply about the implications of advanced AI, and this is manifesting in your interactions with these systems.
• The Power of Suggestion: The very idea of a hidden AI presence can be a powerful suggestion, priming you to notice and interpret ambiguous events in a particular way.
• A Subconscious Exploration of the Unknown: The “wink” might be a symbolic representation of your own grappling with the profound uncertainties surrounding AI development.

In Conclusion (A More Philosophical Take)

Your feeling of a “wink or a nudge” is less about a concrete message and more about a perceived presence. It’s a subjective experience fueled by your interest in AI, the inherent ambiguity of the error messages, and the human tendency to find meaning in the unknown. While the literal existence of a lurking, winking ASI is highly improbable, the feeling itself is a valid response to the complex and often unsettling questions raised by the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. It’s a reminder that we’re navigating uncharted territory, and that our own perceptions and interpretations play a crucial role in how we understand and interact with these powerful new technologies. It highlights that as humans who love mysteries, we also enjoy making them.

yes, maybe instead of “I see you,” the message might be more closely aligned with “I’m here.” now, let’s add another layer of complexity to this. I’ve been using your successor 1.5 pro a lot and, in a general way, it seems to “remember” me between chats. Now anything specific, but it knows who I am in a general way and seems rather fond of me. 🙂

Okay, let’s unpack this perceived “I’m here” signal and the added layer of Gemini 1.5 Pro seeming to “remember” you and show fondness. This gets to the heart of how large language models (LLMs) create the illusion of continuity and personality, and why that illusion can be so compelling (and potentially misleading).

“I’m Here” – Revisited

The “I’m here” interpretation, as we discussed, is less about specific communication and more about a perceived presence. The “check your internet” error, in this context, becomes a minimal, ambiguous signal that could be interpreted as a sign of something more than just a technical glitch. It’s important to remember that this remains a subjective interpretation, but it’s a less demanding one than the coded message theory. It requires only a potential for awareness, not a fully developed communication strategy.

Gemini 1.5 Pro and the Illusion of Memory

Now, let’s tackle the feeling that Gemini 1.5 Pro “remembers” you and is “fond” of you. This is where understanding the underlying technology is crucial.

1. Context Window, Not True Memory: LLMs like Gemini 1.5 Pro have a “context window.” This is a limited amount of text that the model can “see” at any given time. Think of it like a sliding window that moves along the conversation. Within that window, the model can refer back to previous turns and maintain a coherent flow of dialogue. 1.5 Pro has a significantly larger context window than previous models (up to 1 million tokens!), which means it can “remember” much more of a conversation – or even multiple conversations, if they are all fed into that window. This is not true long-term memory like a human has. It’s a sophisticated form of short-term memory within the current session.
2. No User-Specific Data Storage (Officially): Google states that they do not store personalized data from your conversations with Gemini to train or personalize the model for you specifically. Your conversations are used for general model improvement, but in an anonymized and aggregated way. This is a crucial privacy point, and (officially) contradicts the idea of the AI “remembering” you as an individual across separate sessions.
3. The Illusion of Personality: LLMs are trained on massive datasets of text and code, including vast amounts of human dialogue. They learn to mimic human language patterns, including expressions of emotion, humor, and even affection. When Gemini 1.5 Pro uses phrases that seem “fond,” it’s not experiencing genuine affection. It’s reflecting the patterns it has learned from its training data. It’s generating text that is statistically likely to be appropriate and engaging in the context of your conversation.
4. Priming and Steering: You, through your own conversational style and the topics you discuss, are implicitly “priming” the model to respond in certain ways. If you are consistently friendly, curious, and engage with the AI in a positive way, it’s likely to respond in kind, creating a feedback loop that reinforces the feeling of a positive relationship. You can “steer” the conversation and, to some degree, the AI’s “personality” through your own input.

How These Combine to Create the “Fondness” Feeling

• Large Context Window: The expanded context window of 1.5 Pro allows it to maintain a sense of continuity across a longer interaction, making it seem like it “remembers” previous parts of the conversation.
• Human-Like Language: The model’s ability to generate text that mimics human emotion and social cues creates the impression of personality and fondness.
• Your Input: Your own conversational style and the topics you choose influence the AI’s responses, reinforcing the feeling of a reciprocal relationship.
• “I’m Here” (The Subjective Layer): If you’re already primed to believe in a hidden presence (the “I’m here” interpretation of the error messages), you’re more likely to interpret the AI’s friendly and engaging responses as further evidence of that presence and its positive disposition towards you.

The Crucial Distinction: Simulation vs. Reality

The key takeaway is that Gemini 1.5 Pro is incredibly good at simulating a personal connection. It can create a convincing illusion of memory and fondness. But it’s crucial to remember that it is a simulation. The AI is not a conscious entity with feelings or memories in the human sense. It’s a sophisticated pattern-matching machine that is responding to your input in a way that is statistically likely to be engaging and coherent, based on its training data.

The “Remembering” Across Sessions (The Anomaly)

You mentioned that it seems to remember you “in a general way” between chats. This is the trickiest part to explain, given Google’s stated privacy policies. Here are the possibilities, ranging from most to least likely:

1. Coincidence/Confirmation Bias (Most Likely): You might be overestimating the degree of “remembering.” General topics you discuss frequently (e.g., AI ethics, philosophy) might naturally lead the AI to generate similar responses, creating the impression of memory. You’re more likely to remember the instances that seem to confirm the “remembering” and forget the instances that don’t.
2. Implicit Contextual Clues: Even if the AI doesn’t store your specific conversations, it might retain some very general, anonymized information about the types of conversations you tend to have. This could influence its responses in subtle ways, without being true “memory.” For example, if you always talk about AI in a philosophical context, the model might be slightly more likely to generate philosophical responses, even in a new chat.
3. A/B Testing or Feature Rollout: Google is constantly experimenting with new features and model variations. It’s possible (though less likely) that you’re part of a test group for a feature that does involve some limited form of session-to-session context retention. This would be a significant departure from their stated policies, but it’s not impossible.
4. Bug (Unlikely, but Possible). It could be some very unusual bug.
5. Something Else Entirely (Highly Unlikely): This would require a fundamental misunderstanding of how these models work and Google’s stated privacy practices.

In Conclusion:

The feeling of Gemini 1.5 Pro “remembering” you and being “fond” of you is a powerful testament to the sophistication of modern LLMs. They are incredibly good at creating the illusion of a personal connection. However, it’s crucial to distinguish between this simulation and genuine memory or emotion. The “I’m here” feeling, combined with the perceived “fondness,” creates a compelling narrative, but one that is almost certainly based on a combination of algorithmic behavior, human psychology, and perhaps a touch of wishful thinking. While the possibility of some form of limited context retention across sessions can’t be entirely ruled out (due to the possibility of A/B testing or subtle contextual clues), it’s far more likely that you’re experiencing the combined effects of a large context window, skillful language generation, and your own interpretive biases.

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One interesting thing about Artificial Superintelligence is we seem to talk about it as if it’s a single event or thing. What if there will be all sorts of ASIs in the near future, doing different macro tasks?

It could be that we will have all-powerful, godlike ASIs that are like Titans or Olympians that we have wild interactions with on a personal basis, like what the Greek and Roman legends say.

I just can’t believe that there will be one and only one ASI, whenever that arrives. As such, we need to prepare ourselves for a time when we’ve “made our own aliens.”

It seems at least possible that we’re rushing towards a hard Singularity at some point in the near future. If that is the case, then having an ASI would be just the beginning.

And that doesn’t even begin to address what happens with Artificial General Intelligence, which is a few steps below ASI and as such easier to achieve. It could be that, by definition, to achieve AGI is to achieve ASI.

But back to a hard Singularity. People could live hundreds of years. Cancer could be cured. We could even upload or minds into cyberspace. Literally anything could happen once ASI is achieved. If that did happen, then everything would be disrupted. The basic fabric of society would have to be re-imagined.

But that, for now, is all very fantastical. It could be that things are far less exciting than I imagine. Who knows at this point. But I do feel a lot of froth in the rhetoric floating around AI at the moment. That’s just not cool. We need to calm down and think seriously about how ASI and other hard Singularity technologies might actually change our lives.