Re: [microsound] [OT] turing, AI and art

[Trace Reddell <treddell@xxxxxx>]

> despite the enthusiasm surrounding SETI and the possibility of
> other-worldly contact it amazes me how little preparation and  philosophy 
surround the very real possibility that our first 'alien' encounter in all 
probability will be with a computer.

In his final trilogy and _Radio Free Albemuth_, Philip K. Dick deals with an 
encounter of an alien force that is also a computer and also, perhaps, God: 
VALIS (Vast Active Living Intelligence System). That about covers it. Of 
course, anyone claiming to have contact with such a force, much less converse 
with it, would be deemed insane, kind of like in "Horton Hears a Who".

I enjoyed the _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ episode in which Wesley creates 
an artificial lifeform as part of a school project. The lifeform manages to 
escape is virtual petri dish and get loose in the Enterprise's computer 
system. My memory is a bit vague, and I can't remember if they figure out a 
way to communicate with this lifeform (my feeling is, it was acting a bit too 
primordial for "communication"), but regardless, they don't just kill it off 
but rather respect this new lifeform, even though it was just a kid's science 
experiment gone wrong.

-=t



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