I agree. I don't think a biological Human will ever visit Alpha Centauri even though it's only 4 light years away, but an AI could. The best way to do it would be to send a Von Newman probe there, since it has such a small mass it should be possible to accelerate it to 10% of the speed of light without too much trouble. When it arrives the probe would build a large data farm and insert the neural connection weights of the AI into it. And now the AI is at Alpha Centauri. Using the same method the AI could visit the Andromeda Galaxy, it would take 20 million years instead of 40 but subjectively to the AI it would seem to be instantaneous transportation.
Yes. Humans could still play a role though: the AI at Alpha Centauri could build receivers for human mindfiles beamed from the solar system at the speed of light, receive the mindfiles, and upload them to human-like robotic bodies made with biology-like robotics. This makes me optimistic on the possibility that (post)biological humans could visit Alpha Centauri.
But in the long run, humans and AI will merge and the relative importance of the AI part will grow larger and larger with time, to the point where there is very little that we would call "human." However, I think it's important to learn to see those superAIs (with a tiny little human part) as the fully human persons of the future.
I agree. I don't think a biological Human will ever visit Alpha Centauri even though it's only 4 light years away, but an AI could. The best way to do it would be to send a Von Newman probe there, since it has such a small mass it should be possible to accelerate it to 10% of the speed of light without too much trouble. When it arrives the probe would build a large data farm and insert the neural connection weights of the AI into it. And now the AI is at Alpha Centauri. Using the same method the AI could visit the Andromeda Galaxy, it would take 20 million years instead of 40 but subjectively to the AI it would seem to be instantaneous transportation.
John K Clark
Yes. Humans could still play a role though: the AI at Alpha Centauri could build receivers for human mindfiles beamed from the solar system at the speed of light, receive the mindfiles, and upload them to human-like robotic bodies made with biology-like robotics. This makes me optimistic on the possibility that (post)biological humans could visit Alpha Centauri.
But in the long run, humans and AI will merge and the relative importance of the AI part will grow larger and larger with time, to the point where there is very little that we would call "human." However, I think it's important to learn to see those superAIs (with a tiny little human part) as the fully human persons of the future.