Send AI to space to spill human secrets to the aliens, scientists urge — but is it worth the risk?
One giant beep for mankind.
Scientists have proposed a radical new method for sniffing out potential alien life on other planets — send AI into space and see if any little green men respond.
The science fiction-worthy suggestion — recalling the Netflix hit show “3 Body Problem” — was recently put forward in an essay published by Scientific American.
“After 40 years of serious search we have not found such ET intelligence, and our messages remain unanswered,” Frank Marchis, director of citizen science at the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, and Ignacio G. López-Francos, a principal research engineer for NASA wrote.
“We cannot conclude that we are alone in the galaxy, given its vastness and our nascent search efforts. It may be time to radically rethink our approach,” the duo stated.
The time could be ripe for sneaking into space’s DM’s — now that distinct signs of life on exoplanets highly similar to Earth have been observed and confirmed.
The two experts suggested that previous attempts to share Earth’s culture with the vast unknown have been far too subtle — most notably a Bach piece put on the Voyager probe’s “Golden Record” in 1977.
Instead, modern alien exploration calls for “something more meaningful.”
Their answer is developing a ChatGPT-like language learning model (LLM) in a to-be-determined format for extraterrestrials to easily engage with, ask questions and learn about our world.
“This would enable extraterrestrial civilizations to indirectly converse with us and learn about us without being hindered by the vast distances of space and its corresponding human lifetime delays in communication,” the future-minded duo wrote.
“Aliens could learn one of our languages, ask the LLM questions about us and receive replies that are representative of humanity,” they said.
The pair suggest a space laser over radio waves for a simple reason — the former is “broad and slow” compared to “directional and fast.”
“It would not only generate text but also images and sounds,” the authors wrote. “Its content, personality and tone should be determined by researchers, philosophers, historians and other experts to represent humanity at large.”
Just reaching our nearest neighboring star system, Alpha Centauri, would take about 100 years — but the pair have a plan for that too.
Restricting the space-borne LLM to essentials only would trim the travel time to less than 20 years as “a feasible project for humanity.”
Still, the science minds aren’t ignorant of the potential greater downside — aiding in our own demise at the hands of an informed, advanced alien species that suddenly knows how to exploit our many weaknesses.
“This is a radical and potentially risky idea because unfriendly aliens could misuse this information,” they wrote, calling to mind countless fictional accounts of similar scenarios.
“Nevertheless, it’s a discussion worth starting, given recent discoveries.”
