Starship Congress 2017: Alan Kay, "Preparations for Communicating with Aliens" (2017)

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[Music]
this my friends
attendees of Starship  Congress 2017
managers introduce to you  Alan
[Applause]
Allen where are you where are you today
London in case you don't know
Alan Kay  is one of the cofounders of the Xerox  PARC
Research Centre it's world-famous  in
founded in 1970 as a division
of  Xerox Corporation Park has been in large
part responsible for us for such  developments
things you may have heard  of as laser printing
Ethernet the modern  personal computer
graphical user  interface and
and it goes on object  oriented
programming right so Alan
did a  amazing talk I'm I don't know if it
his TED talk or another one maybe one  for Google and he
said he had this line  he said if you want to be a millionaire
  do something better than ever
something and do it better than other  people but if you want to be a  billionaire
do something that's never  been done well
connected with me because I said oh  that's like building
a starship and so I  contacted Alan and by
the grace of good  he's with us here today
Alan give you  the floor
so that says if
you want to  make a trillion matters start
a new  industry this
is where silicon falls  short they've forgotten
that that's what  happened in seventies
and they're still  working on the industry that was created
  that right now both
to do the investment  so create
a new industry so they're
basically stuck in just making millions  and billions
but if they
had things you  can't balance things but changing
the  entire context
about if I can share
they try
Thomas
so
when I think of some  tips
I accept  -
inspired
snow if you will we
science
fiction story by rather common
foundation
under
yours right now so
  there'll be fun to show a man
decided
  years about
preparations for  communications with but
turn the sound  back because it's
okay so
and some of  you will recognize
the man ornament
yourself
first our first to
actually  just write the rest
of this map and that  through it but then I realized
it would  be a couple
fighters was and
I wasn't  sure I could actually make
a good to  talk about
some of the issues  back
to negate with elegance and
first  and here's with
this novella by
  ratifying lenders first partnership
founded in 1941  so
I did not see that one it's just one  year old in
1941
in
1950 tenure as  layman for
10 cents you could get this
  little slim paper that from
dad with the  first
two stories in it I got that when
  I was 11 and that just for the hell of  it I'd
look to see whether inflation has  been since then and still
Arquette would  cost 94 cents today
and I think
most  people in the room will have certainly
  read this story for those
who haven't  it's a
winner of the Flyers before Lord  of
the Flies idea there's a mutiny I've  heard
this generational stanchion and
  the story is
a few hundred years after
  this mutiny and they
and his Neolithic
  when maybe bronze of each
civilization  in this
stash that has sprung
up with  ledger and
everything not to answer  poverty
that has to tie and
nobody knows  that there's not a ship
just think it's
this
story really fascinating  [Music]
  with my mind that got me
looking into  that packaging says
energy because it  was a glimpse
of human beings
as  completely
malleable to new forms
culture and particularly that of the  atomistic forms of
culture as we look  back
and this time rocks that help
this  enough resolution so you can see a theme  here we
are at 2017
and it's interesting  that in
1929 was only 88
years happy  first
pound convinced evidence that our
universe was larger than the Milky Way  found
were actually
galaxies when the  quality of
evidence that is massive
so  that was just eight
years ago Highland
  stories but just twelve years after that
  1931 and
of course they were going to  prop the mass totally which
is I forget
something
that we now
know that it has  planets you know know
but discussing it  did
and the data is
supposed if
it's  moons is 102
years thinking
about aliens
any
electromagnetic radiation except
  tonight and I'm the
first commercial  broadcast
station in the US was Katie  Calgary
which worked over
20 seconds  nineteen twenty three or twenty four
we
  interesting lady until World War two
  webinar and so forth
relativity we've  had
100th anniversary that general
relativity  I understand massive mechanics
but real  quantum mechanics they
wouldn't happen  until
about nineteen twenty five so it's  less your
computer they were here
at  London 2000 where
arguably the first  usefully
programmed computer at said by
  Maurice Wilkes was 1938
and so just
an  idea that there's bath across the  batboat
at mark recently the turret that
  appear as we know that today we will  instead that
the lifetime
accompli  within my
lifetime and much of it has  happened within
your lifetime and
this  will span you back
together is just  about fair ears
my mitochondria
DNA  we've been on the planet
for humans have
  been on the planet without 200,000 years
  400 years is that what this one
  the 200,000 years
we've been on the  planet most of those 200,000 years
we  haven't done and said
you're thinking  about
aliens let
me just do it
okay so
  to think about it just the idea
  [Music]
  contacting aliens taking
MSB through  electromagnetic radiation
if you look to  the right part
of that you'll see the  name there
was one of the million  dollars who
has lucid
perhaps
a metric indicating
over  yourself distances distances
nobody  knows whether the
is a propagation
  velocity for a chemical net
looking at  it there has to be another way of
  looking at it doesn't have
to be the  back to the arresting 100
idea here the  city
of sanctions actually made
that are  behind them
were done
it is on top first  science
fiction so
that as as master  that equals even
some of the assumptions  that happen they
maybe
should agreement  our
rigorous insight that is there was  the
equation of the Jordan Foundation  and the  sixties
set up by this man
  heartless inhabits
and wick are
two  years after the set up the
funding  agency like the
Jordan fanfiction do
  what he called bad computer synthesis
  you articulated this dirty
62 computers
were destined to become interactive  intellectual amplifiers
for everyone in  the world universally network worldwide
  then no matter
what people ask them you  just say this
and then say well we're
  gonna hire find the smartest
and then
  some of the principles at this jordan
  foundation very important
visions and  set of components
and Carnac and  romantic from people
have projects that  the people
and the best people
weren't
  years of age
most people who are under  research
and the problem with that is  yet
so a nice sideline
to Arkham it's  today
this this
in 1963 he
revered to  the members and affiliates at the  intergalactic
computer network that
you might ask  that's what doing
this talk over and
  we succeed in making intergalactic
Network that her main problem will be  learning to communicate with
us
Internet  and the internet
was here today because  this man funded
the development for  about 15 years
to do a variety of packet
  switching biologically
organized  networks and
who started getting  something like
what Internet content in  the mid seventies
specific ideas
first  if
you say something enough for
instance  if you stand to the entire Earth
  you have people separating
in art and  culture and distance
goals that
might be  hard for the neck to
find common ground  and communication
as
identifying things  that people
think they have in common  and the language is
a kind of a smart  way pointing at things that
are in our  thought Club so
Rick was three things it  was to keep people
to people and of  course local people
with how do  organizations
of people communicate and
  secondly he was thinking about how we
communicate with computers this was back  in 60s
and weren't any you have Dewey's  back
then
it was clear what was a high  computers
cloud well you could see
appear in the insect if a computer was  not anything
that he  water to
be able to or could think about  so computers were
really alien and  certainly
you can either wear whatever  you've got I've
seen so computers and  you're going to have a lot of people  this
is a communication and
finally we  have this what
can computers say to each  other the computers are different
all  kinds of common
just added a fourth one  here
which is
saying
baby society that  that's the common ground how to get
the  common ground and
so people the people
  the language has the
pot being
specific  trying to describe
something like an  animal that has a mane and it
has hooves  that eats grass and
so forth both people  might
they're talking about aborts that
  in fact one of them
could be talking  about zebra that's
a joke at the medical
  community extending that joke if
said  that was interested I have to talk so
  this doesn't even work out people are  talking
to that to each other people
on  computers and Jews
at the community park  with
the idea of actually
taking a  visual
reading whether is in the  computer star
cloud and put it directly  on the screen so
this is making a  medical literal and
literally allow  people to point
to what the precedent  are to
indicate and this was such a  powerful idea
that particular there
  interface you
can deal with things a lot  more powerful and dynamic than
words or  sentences
future
always media
  communication over other kinds with
a  computer that help it
so really any  communication
between two people with  the computer and help them
be able to  discuss
a tricky
structure press bridge
  the blackest impossible normal
words and  language
and these are us were paper
  that you're interested to find this on  the Internet
  all the computers
as the person whose
  computer search a head-start sister
that  and I
we wanted mediate
communications  between computers and people
with  computing we
mediate Asians determinants
  and people using computers and this
omething that is actually been left out  almost entirely
science fiction  literature
did you have communication  between
computers and computers event
we  have to that was common ground and we
  did this for the internet bad
but you  know connector a little embryo
DNA  remember the Cambrian explosion
happened  about half a million
years ago  Banerjee
primarily meant from single
  celled animals to metastatic body plants
  and there was an enormous explosion of
  species of many many different times
so
  to make an internet you have to have a  product plan
because percentage high  using computers
as banners and talking  them together to make a kind
of a larger  entity
tcp/ip which is usually about  twenty
thousand lines of C code but can  be a
couple hundred lines of code  language
math we need to put on every
  machine and this one are
an internet that has temporarily  announced
today and I
require any  central control to keep it stable
so  this was very much
side these machines  but
the problem with getting  computations to
act this way where
you  have much stronger parents than just  said
that packets are went up there's  still a bit
of an axonal problem other  parts of it that's all
that's relevant  to the site you're
communicating with  aliens so sick of simple case
you  different
computers at different  manufacturers with operating
systems of  these three different operating systems
  many
apps that we images
the star turns their  pastors
and desktop shape Photoshop
so forth  enemies eventually
want to be able to  print out predator then
the right hand  side we have many different printers
these printers also have different  processors
that sometimes will have a  certain
operating system that often die
  their network so
they're going to have  VIP personality
code there I think we  can see that
there are so many degrees  of freedom you
might want to put on a  page that
try to have
a printer  understand a description
of every single  one
of these is m2
I've got that  description
in the worldís system
not a  great idea sending a sending
a topical  is actually about where you do this
and  we realize this the
first time around it
o
a predator really wanted
to do with  us to think about that
we do when we  have to communicate complicated
things  on range with vetoes when said no  perhaps
and send an ambassador who sent
  a person who could negotiate meaning and
  can carry the determining
an ambassador  a
process the process
can be represented  by terror that has to be executed that
  the other
deepened pioneer
for every  single one of these Thanks
instead
meant  a little nether little piece of  compatibility
code here and that  compatibility
code grant a virtual  processing
unit out of software and the
  whole thing together makes virtual  machine
that virtual machine that can
handle the processes that are being sent  to it and we
can do that for enemies
  machines the
standard virtual machines  at the back of the virtual
machine can  just be said those software and
then we
  produce compatible
kinds of processes  that are
programs and I will
send up red  and
the reason this works out better  than trying to send
the destructors like  XML is
that you can make a universal
  programming language
they're very very  small description
and because it's  universal have
to change the very  function so you get the spec
where you  have nice balance between
that has to
be  now on the left-hand side which
was  something that
has to be bad and  resolution-independent parents
the  screens are different resolutions
vendors are all different resolutions  you
basically on the left-hand side do  not want to have to know where printer
  so that standeth
when he process steps  to the planter and
it can find out what  the printer is and then
it can do the  dynamic math to
do the scale and so  forth okay
so that's an example
that  thing
that said the ambassador was
  another one
so we go back
to
the classic
  dos language of 1960s
where he's he's  excused
because computers were dressed  as a man in the 1960
letters that
he bootstrapping  up from
a few centons of the starting  with
things that if
creatures who could  do
anything will find out that members  there's
a few years ago
longer than
  suspect takes into account meant
with  the things that happened since then cuz
  the fact that still is basically
send an  object diagrams
you know instead of  thinking
about hey we should just send a  computer that's
the number one thing we  should boot strap that's the other
event  so don't want to do that
now just to  give you an example
and let's take a  couple
of these situations
to send a process and you have an  imperative
none of them is in the  process when the Deepak's
to the web  today so if we
go back into
the  seventies there were three
  during those computers -
yeah I'll tell  which
was 1973
it was the thing that  eventually became
Macintosh but the
  first computer and
the second
and then a  computer towards the
end of the 70s  North the Dorado
and
now
software that  Steve Jobs a
and visited 1979 got
thrown  away by Xerox they
threw away the  dispatch and
one of the stats was
  retrieved and
I
file was found that
was  pretty much the small talk that
that  Steve Jobs at seeing that
about 40 years  ago
  this file is organized in an interesting
  way the system
itself this is real  object-oriented
programming so there's  like an internet a vendor
connecting you know communicating  virtual computers
and every
my entire system is on this file  including calling
it operating system  and utilities the
deployment system and  everything was on this
single file and  the run on
these three machines and
some  of the other machines it hadn't been to
a processing unit of they're just  mentioned and
Frances Tanana the  note-taker
  the only care the men take
a Batman the
  viewer the BPU and all the rest a slant
pocket there's none of these for the  altar and one
of these for the driver  and so when you
run a system that comes  to you off
a final set Tina was Iowa
  talked about personality could and
you'd  be off and running doing identical
NOx  emissions
today if
we wanted ran the
  system today
what
we had to do was to  get that fire and
put it on modern  laptop and write
a new piece of  personality these are machines
aren't  allowed in or get the hot to run the BP
  and then I would manifest this specific
  on the past that that I had just
such a  thing
let me see if I can get
it to come  up here the here it is
this the system
  that's what I
will here's
what Steve  Jobs saw was
the overlapping windows  that
tech said it is
multi programming  browser
this system had a characteristic
  Naza like
that etc etc so
this entire  system is
running
as it did that there  and with the
actual same same bits
  they took that back
here okay Sam so get
he idea so that's how we'll send a  processor that's
so now now it's  sticking with the good about
sending  snare talk there's
some other processes  in the future
and here
we have to take
  into account that nobody the tyranny
of  the stuff works and
so the question is  how it's my piece
of personality would  you describe
but here's a campaign you  haven't taught me to
clarify see it but  this is a one-page
document the despair  very
simple computer so simple that  anybody
today  faculty students anybody
can make a plan  in an afternoon you
some see your job or  any programming
language without
you  know their afternoons
these guys these
  guys then again they ran
the entire  system of brilliant what
the past is
actually  unrideable because
it's been detached a  bit socket system
from your system  rather than anything like
that just self  it here is how send
archives in future
  so I have
some little description there  that this
thing this
process here just  the question it assumes
that maybe see  monkey around as I've
said you said that  something like English Ruby
maybe maybe  not who knows what
will happen so we  should really think about
a deeper
place  and again we might
is there maybe mark
pesky ones here's a  truly great book it's
worthwhile turning  just because of is a great
book we're in  the master plan that said
that any plan  for math it's a wonderful
book and that  it does not require muted no any  particular
math because
this a well  written but it
requires a bit of a  mathematical Turner by
that this is not  a subject that has
not really been  talked about matching
computed and since  the sixties but
it's all about how can  we make
various kinds of universal
  computing machines here is a
relatively  smash the Turing machine
possible make  them a lot smarter than this
Shannon or  challenger make
them it just has two  states
that we're
addressing whether  Minsky talks about
some minimal  computers you can bet for instance
years  man that only has three instructions
  that manages a memory
word or register  subtract
them from some Network register
  take a chocolate if the register is 0 or
  do some new program location call
Q and  you can see I
think that this could be  made into two instructions because
  they're the last could be subtract that
from just where advantage to cute  perhaps
the results the circles so it  can make something very
very small on  the operation
result there
are many many  schemes
represented when a computer  memory
this is a good ole ization scheme  so
if you make a computer memory
IO  prime numbers then the
value of each  is exponent
so the sort of dependence
to  the location
I preserve on the computer  and n
would be that
three
the next  location in the computer and
and the  exponent of M is the value
and that word  and so forth so the
many different ways  of getting a computer
directly at  arithmetic without having
to go to gates  and decide
something will it not okay
  and I think something like the habits
  required because I
think what
we want to  do to send something
to aliens is to  send them something like that smells
on  fire and make fun of it be
the simplest  quickest
boot to something
that we want  the vpu
that's the tool and the rest of  the system in that
system should be now  cost
an artificial general intelligence
  that can potentiate with
the elements
so  we looked at the top three books they
  recommend there's a paper that wish  Atlantic
that he probably rented out  which is
about testing
encoding scheme
  and unsuspecting humans to see if
they  can recognize that there are not words
  that they're equal science maybe erasure
lectrons
protons other
kinds of pure  number constants
that might be there  psychotherapy
can look right this is the
  most comprehensive zero
  artificial intelligence on the planet
  the one that has the most
humans live  can reason
out that we do and then
in  our Fitzpatrick was at MIT
did he  started
at thinking about sending  programs
just
sentences of watchin
that  case is rather
goal is to get the  earnings one
of those things to build a  matter whether we should
expect get
have  to figure this
out
but without better
but for the same
reason that scheme  worked there with printers this
is this  gets you a lot further
a lot faster
and  if we have an encounter with
the  audience and recent was
a
story from  Hank
and the
problem with this is that  just assume civilians
are really they're  not like this I mean they had chemicals
  but they make noises that made Marxist
  and said I
think fiction writers
time  for the evidence because they want the
  readers to be able to have something
in  the shared context so it ended
up the  earth that's whether human or even this
raised  for either a sentient
GB alien
could be  a friend that could
be made out of  radiation and could send for my
exhaust  both of which going
much much too fast  for our nervous
so it's just
impossible  that to
be able to generally handle that  Landon's
might might be about that we  could do it with their own very
very  little nervous systems and we're
that better than that rather than either  so
I think of all such communications
  whether we counted aliens on
a starship  are also going to be mediated by  computers
and we have huge and
with  machines
then sending
things in the  future all instance and
the require  computer mediation
so we've come back to  that guy
first thing after this week  guys and
also after having seen some  other science
fiction since 1949  Vanguard
is self-sustaining
so it must  have it has something
about thousands
of  small girls that have to be paid  attention
has to be sensed has to be  fixed in Arabic
work for hundreds and  hundreds of years but
in fact it has a  manifest their intelligence
at the tone  Vanguard the
ship has no idea that there  is a
mutiny and
semi-realistic savages  living
on board
in 2009 there was they
  are on the on the
ship how did that go -
  humans complete the mission that have  been told
  mission was an important said I
was able  to figure out that a mission
that got  better we killed all the humans on board  to
try to and
of course sister was  against
the guy who was ransom and in  science fiction about
where that
universe Isaac Asimov and
so he was  ignored
2009 then
another story that was  written back in
1945 had Bates that
the  movie the gave us
and we find out that  spells
to protect human civilizations  from humans
but the key word here
is  civilizations that is
quite capable and  does that the humans are
that  civilizations it's basically
a Supercop  in
the in the movie now if your
entity  which is darker
than that
answer
that  has is this line you
misunderstood  I said
I am the master  so
what happened was that the humans
  actually not it accredited
they were  actually part of the scheme
match mattress it wasn't even that's a  robot
so
I asked you here just to pick  this
three ideas
here
I
go
so
they're  smart people back
through 20,000 years  that they had nothing to pick
with Iran  cannot
design a nation a single engine  for
any of his miracles with his every  thought it
was not nearly as smart as  Leonardo
was easily able to build  engines and
bells a lot of cars every
  was just down into the 19th century that
  century had the knowledge and the
  knowledge came because context
person  dude
and the head of science at modern
  engineering and by science so
the big  deal
here is that a change
in the  context changes
the
kinds of things we  can eat makeup so
you think acknowledges  cellular
context as goal and IQ it
was  pretty much without you
yes people who
  often wind up not learning
enough to be  able to use
abilities in a constant way
  and this happens for all kinds
of  banking organizations so here's I
found  the climate standing a little over
two  and a half billion years ago
rganization
of that statement
assets  very long time
and multiple body plan  secondly
got invented probably
gradually  along with but not in a way to
have a  critical mass that lets the Cambrian
  happen there's an explosion of that city
  nervous systems that have been to Berea
  the Cambrian and they've been
extension  said we go back to our diagram
  stand back with
for me that
became a  scientist a fan
of science fiction  basket and
propriety of
reasons
the  curve
knowledge and outlet
over the last  two hundred thousand
years it again has  this incredible
to the once a couple of  could have been
assets happened Greeks
  didn't quite make me happen that we  needed
the Greeks to do the Renaissance  and
finally without a structure and
all  of a sudden because look at human beings
  as being creatures that
were primarily  mutation all a
progression to culture
  nature
still took off
practically when  another
workable language within  cultures
that embedded maybe sixty  eighty thousand years ago
self-conscious  event to people
recently and
self-conscious mummification and  improvement
of the things that had a  chance
used to do to Gina
and this is  setting to think
about our story
going  back to vampire we
have to compare  with just
mission have been improved
  society expanded
by the the speck but  that
I'm barely been back in the forties  the
part of an idea that Rothberg had in  Star
Trek was that should be able to fix  an achromatic
behavior to be able to  pour out of crises
this is more  interesting
point stories because they  had some serious
policies that had to be  done they weren't always
successful  today
not that
wrote that story we
now  have crystal and crystal
is allowing us  to consciously
by the desire to
modify  our genetic
materials even in
the face  and neck
most American material actually  works we
only understand that the
team  making part which is a tiny part at
the  actual DNA that's actually there
and  said as
we can circle here we
will wind  up being the aliens because
we will fix  ourselves and maybe
maybe badly but
I  think that the time that we can fire
off  at the hangar to Proxima Centuri than
a  hundred years and we were wound
up doing  some serious behavior modifications
that
  our only that communicate what
will we  be as a species  when
we take Old Earth our own evolution
thank
you very much and here's my
  address if you have to an email
[Music]
check  all right
we're Thank You Alan now that  was amazing as definitely
high points of this amazing conference  where
are you willing to take some  questions
mark
yeah well we're gonna  just work gonna make adjustments I
appreciate it so are there other  questions
this is a question that
maybe just due  to the semantics used but
if you are  sending a essentially
an executable file  to somebody else that
run and then it's going to upload your  ambassador
AI how do you protect from  malware
and at getting out of the the  virtual machine
that it builds yeah
so  basically this is done
with PostScript  though okay the
PostScript was
to put it  in a confined address
space  these are a
man in general the doctor a  good job policy to use but the
things  that are called processes are tasks
on  your personal
computer are buying the  best doses
so the theory
is that they  are spent over later
was to
execute
  completely
Samantha would just point out  that
was a that was openly about it  better
not year was the theme the
  program did not touch thanks anything of  matter that
it
could execute to the full  extent of its ability
job
providing an  app at this basis
whenever that was a
  60s
wouldn't that be nice to that pick
ha hi
Ellen thanks for the presentation  I wanted to ask
Licklider is ARPA dream
and how far away you think we are from  this or
have we crossed that point  already with the Internet thank
you
I
just wanted to ask about Licklider
z--  her dream and weather and
weather how  far away we are from this
reality or  have we crossed the threshold already
happened
on
the way to their banner
this
kills
that funding
surgeon
there was
a  massive effort to at
least finish off  the words Mohinder betadine
inventions  of that
type ng
molarity Engelbart
very
  good 1968
which is 50 years of next year
  and we'll see a bunch of families that  have
done that and
the reason is is what  happened as the
surface art Sparkle sets
  [Music]
another question
okay
Alan I think one
more Phil come on  over here
and thank
you for your presentation a  quick question on what
your thoughts  were with regards to moral code
building  with artificial intelligence in future  yeah
yeah  the
biggest problem it is AI
veterans  because
consistently show that people
  will follow nowise
and so
now really eat  up the oai for it to be dangerous
just need something that people will  fire
because a team say janitors
Anthony  this
Minister was
so these are either  and being
society the chip even though  we're
living than right now right in the  middle of
it the
thing that was  interesting to
me about
universe
that
defines our just wasn't
someone's a  little bit
there the shorted with
the  Three Laws of Robotics in
robotics the  Jimenez
Santa Isaac are stories were
  about loopholes there
were not  anticipate where the robots gone after
  thanking various entities
and
so he had  our appreciation
our tracking systems
  there are two feet that be
  and service
there were partly about  their
43050 you're doing when
you sent  our principles that you have recommended
  mechanisms for us
we
were very careful  what we did with the consumer
Internet  as the
existing the fastest to pass
on  the message
true and with about ten billion dollars
  think about that
that dioxin and
we  transmission that the way is
by each  individual family
certainly for the  information that they're able to gather
  facts and
is not easy to do it took the  popular passes
the first version of did
  not have the amethyst Mystics meaning
  still about that I sit
through the  Harrison and
that either evalu
about  systems that your authority about  systems
understand an existence
decades
o
all these ideas a
cautionary that  first I think the
simplest facility was  the
Norfolk bankers and alcohol most
of  Europe evil perhaps honor
the system and
[Music]
all right any other questions
Alan I  very much appreciate
of Icarus interstellar and stars of  Congress thank
you very much Alan Kay
signing off