Extraterrestrial Contact: Would machines be inherently more adaptive?

If an extraterrestrial civilization designed intelligent machines to roam the universe those machines would likely have an important characteristic: the ability to adapt. Learning is part of intelligence. The ability to adapt would be combined with the learning process for active endeavors to overcome challenges and respond to new problems as they occur.

Machine extraterrestrial intelligence is a topic worth pursuing.  Considering that humans send probes into space to explore, it seems possible that extraterrestrial civilizations might do the same. Paul Davies and Seth Shostak have talked about this idea for years now.

There would be possible benefits and many issues in such an extraterrestrial First Contact.

What would the adaptability of intelligent machines mean for us? It could take away many of the barriers in terms of communication and cultural understanding if extraterrestrial machines were to visit our solar system. Why? If they wished to make contact, they would learn and adapt to do so. An intelligent machine wanting to make contact would likely spend some time learning about us- our languages, our cultures and our technology. This would make sense for any intelligent extraterrestrial visitor. It’s probably what we would do if we discovered an extraterrestrial civilization in our travels. There would not be much to gain by charging in without knowing languages or understanding the cultures of the beings on the planet you wished to contact. Alien machines would want to learn human languages, they would be interested in how we might react and, perhaps most importantly, they would have a game plan, a process for undertaking an introduction.

Could alien machines be better able to adapt than biological visitors? They probably wouldn’t be hung up with the prejudice of biology and culture, perhaps making them less judgmental and more open to other ways of being. However, their programming and base intelligence would probably be very different from ours. Sorting that out could be difficult for us. Also, our conception of machine intelligence might be very different from the type of advanced technology we might encounter. Our machines serve us. Alien machines could be self aware and have their own agenda, different over time even from their creators.

There is certainly plenty of fun science fiction on this topic. And all of this imaginative speculation would have positive and negative impacts if a real situation was to develop some day. There could be fear of machines on our part, thanks to the Terminator movies, the TV show Battlestar Galactica and other popular fiction that features computers taking over the world. This alone would force adaptive alien machines to consider human public relations and carefully study how we interact and how we would best respond.

It all comes back to motives. Intelligent machines, just like biological extraterrestrials, would have a reason for coming to our solar system. Perhaps they are designed to explore, much like our probes? Perhaps they are designed to make contact? We could hope that would be the case, because then the need to understand human culture could be built into the machine programming. Any help we could get in First Contact would be a good thing. If the machines were not designed to adapt or even care about human interaction it could be a mysterious alien encounter that we would never fully understand. And that could be the most frustrating scenario of all.

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Extraterrestrial Contact: Post it on You Tube?

I thank the readers of this blog for providing great insight over the years. There are not many of you out there, but those who are reading tend to have thoughtful and well-considered ideas about the aspects of alien First Contact that are rarely discussed.

Mark from Australia had an interesting thought about the use of social media in a First Contact scenario. I have proposed using the traditional media to bypass national governments, allowing extraterrestrials to reach all humans at once and perhaps start a process of diplomacy with the United Nations. Mark wonders if some sort of landing, and the resulting video sharing, pictures and social media posts it would produce, could mean that the aliens wouldn’t even have to worry about the traditional media.

The idea of social media or internet contact of some kind is interesting. I suppose it really comes down to a matter of control. Aliens may not care how we react. They may not have a specific agenda that requires a certain response from us. If so, merely sending a signal from outer space in the areas we are currently searching would be the easiest method of contact. However, if aliens did want a specific reaction they would want to carefully control the process. I know that sounds a bit devious, and it certainly could be, but controlling the process isn't devious, in and of itself. It's something those of us in the PR profession do all of the time. We control not only the message, but also the way in which the message is delivered, in order to achieve the reaction and response we hope for. The traditional media is easy to understand, because they have set patterns of behavior. The same could be said of law enforcement and military personnel. If you have a good idea of how these groups might react you can design the process to get the response that you want. That's why my main character Alex, in my novel the “Ashland City Landing”, chooses a public landing designed specifically for the media response. The reason is simple: to bypass individual national governments and get straight to the United Nations.

Let’s get back to social media possibilities. Aliens might want to issue a message to the entire human race, without going to the trouble or taking the risk of appearing in person. If so, they could start out with a signal from space, for scientists to “discover” and then follow up with a You Tube video greeting for the human public. It would be impossible for any government to block such a message and it would be taken seriously if the signal that had already be sent through space was confirmed by scientists as being outside of possible human creation. In First Contact, disproving the hoax will be the primary issue. There is so much crazy material on the internet currently, there would have to be some clear and verifiable evidence that messages were coming from extraterrestrials and not human jokesters. This is no small matter and devising the method of evidence would be critical to any First Contact scenario in which the aliens are making contact with us.

Putting a video on You Tube or staging a landing event for humans to disseminate via social media could work, but it would be highly problematic, given the vast number of hoax messages and scams on the internet. One of the currently hot social media news sites is Reddit. In the case of first contact one could expect many posts on Reddit and in a time frame quicker than the traditional media. That might be fine for video of an alien craft or news of some sort of landing, but what can it really do beyond that? Sites like Reddit have no safeguards for accuracy. The New York Times Magazine recently examined how Reddit posts propagated false suspect rumors in the Boston Marathon case.

So, in short, yes, social media could certainly be used for First Contact. But the use of social media has many negatives. The primary weakness would be lack of control. You can hope that certain actions will happen with social media, but those actions are not nearly as predictable as events tied to the traditional media, especially television news media in the United States. In the end, predictability is your friend if you wish to make contact with humans. It allows you to plan a series of events and have a reasonable expectation that they will occur in that fashion.

There is also the overall issue of authority. The traditional news media, scientists and law enforcement hold positions of authority in our society. When those institutions talk, people listen. Social media does not have that kind of clout, just due to its populist nature. I would imagine that even respected scientists would be less likely to announce First Contact in a Tweet or Facebook post, than they would in a news conference on TV. And certainly material posted on sites like Reddit would be viewed with a critical eye, with preference given to those sources that hold traditional authority. Our old institutions still have great power in our society, even if that power is changing as the internet grows in new ways.

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Extraterrestrial Contact: The Great Debate

Humans tend to have a monolithic and yet shallow view of First Contact.  This is especially true of Direct First Contact, a scenario in which aliens make contact in close proximity to Earth, or on Earth, thus enabling humans and extraterrestrials to have an actual conversation and begin a relationship. Such an event would be extraordinary and most of us agree that it would have a profound impact on the human civilization. But after the awe and wonder we will have to move forward. So, I ask- what happens next?

The optimists would say we would go skipping down the path to a grand new future. The cynics say we would be destroyed, either by aliens with evil intentions, or by ourselves, as our society in thrown into chaos. As with all extremes, both of those poles seem rather unlikely. What does seem likely is the messy middle- a little of this and a little of that, much that we never expected, and plenty of serious challenges. Those challenges are likely to be based on the great debate. The topic for discussion: What do we, as a human society, do next? Do we open relations with extraterrestrials or keep them at a distance? How much access do we give them in communication? Do we control who they communicate with? Who does all of this deciding, anyway? Does the United Nations take the lead? Do scientists lead the effort? How much is this situation about diplomacy and how much is it about science? What do we ask the extraterrestrials to tell us about themselves? Do we want scientific information? Do we want information about their technology? Who decides what we want to know about? Do they even care what we want? How do we deal with that?

I could go on for a good bit. You get the picture. There would be a million questions and many of them quite pressing in a Direct First Contact situation. Decisions would have to be made. In the end, one hopes anyway, those decisions probably wouldn’t be made by a small group of people. If news of Direct First Contact does indeed reach the entire human population, humans from all corners of the globe will rightfully demand some sort of input into what decisions are made. We would most likely rely on our national governments to relay those concerns and expect governmental leaders to act on our behalf. Those concerns may be wide ranging and divergent. People in one nation, and from a certain culture, could feel very differently about First Contact from people in another nation, and from a different culture. We may have 20 different opinions about any one particular question. And most likely nations and cultures would be divided in opinion within themselves.  

If national governments are the only representation for the people of planet Earth, there would need to be a forum for governments to debate the options and decide a path forward. The most logical forum would be the United Nations, as it is made up of most nations on Earth. Other International groups are less representative or designed for specific tasks- such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. Scientific groups, such as the International Astronomical Union, while representing scientists worldwide, do not have experience in diplomacy or wide-ranging international policy. They would be hugely helpful for input and expertise, but no scientific body is designed to debate policy and make governmental decisions. That only leaves one real choice.

There is a regular debate in the United Nations on many different issues. The framework and infrastructure for debating issues of extraterrestrial contact are in place and ready to go, even if that particular subject has never been seriously considered. Sure, there would be plenty of additional work to set up additional committees and sub-committees, but even some of these already exist. One would imagine that the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space might be a good place to start (even if they have failed to plan for this eventuality).

The discussion needs to involve all nations and come from many different perspectives.  It should not be controlled or dominated by powerful governments or institutions. There is no doubt that nations such as the United States, Russia and China will have a huge role in the post-First Contact decision making. However, they would need to respect other nations, listen to the diversity of opinions, and then allow the General Assembly to make decisions.

It will be hard, because there will be a lot of different voices. The fringes would need to be heard, despite how unsettling their points of view may be to the majority.  Diversity would be critically important and we would actually have to listen to each other. We might even change our opinions as a result and come up with new ideas. This would be the fruit of the process. In this particular debate there would be no precedent to examine. Perhaps some finer points could be gleaned from examining our past, but for the most part we will need to look towards the future with imagination and using critical thinking. We will be making decisions that could affect many generations to come.

There will be a big internal struggle. Post First Contact decision making cannot be controlled by politicians, corporations and those seeking to keep power or acquire new power. If that sounds like a tall-order, it would be. After all, who appoints representatives to the United Nations?  Governments.  And that, of course, means politicians and bureaucrats. Politicians and bureaucrats are heavily influenced by corporations and lobbyists- it’s how most governmental systems work. It will be impossible to stop all influence, and of course, corporations and interest groups deserve to be heard as well.

If it all sounds like a nightmare, it certainly could be. Post First Contact decision making will need to be led by tough and rational facilitators who have a greater calling: the betterment of humanity. Once again, I point to the formation of the United Nations. This is their charge. This is why the body exists. Would First Contact challenge an already at times beleaguered and often maligned organization? Most likely. This would be the time for the United Nations to step up and make a difference. If the body has been searching for a purpose, as critics have implied, contact with extraterrestrials would appear to be a pretty good reason for existing. Will the United Nations need to change, become more responsive and better administered? Of course. But all of that would have to start somewhere.

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Extraterrestrial Contact: The Problem with What We Want

Malcolm Gladwell has a knack for digging deeper into human reality. He enjoys applying criticism to common lines of thought. Gladwell has a book review in the New Yorker that examines the life and thinking of German-born economist Albert Hirschman. I found two points particularly helpful for taking a critical look at commonly held ideas in regard to extraterrestrial contact.

The first Hirschman point is that hard undertakings are often better for humans in the long run than easy undertakings. And the corollary: if we knew something would be tough we might not take on the challenge. Thus, humans often benefit from a certain amount of ignorance.  The example Gladwell refers to in his article is the digging of a railroad tunnel through the Hoosac Mountain range in Western Massachusetts in the mid-nineteenth century. It was expected to be an accomplishable engineering project, even if it was subject to much debate at the time. In the end, it cost 10 times what was projected and the construction work took 193 lives. The tunnel opened up the mills of Northwestern Massachusetts to trade in the growing West. What would have happened to the Massachusetts economy if the tunnel had never been dug? If developers had known the true cost and trouble would they have attempted such a scheme? Would the critics have won out? The tunnel is still in use today.

I think that Hirschman’s proposition applies to extraterrestrial contact. For the most part, humans paint a rather rosy picture of what first contact will bring for the human race. Of course, there are those who can only consider disaster due to war with aliens. Everything we imagine seems to fall along those two poles: wonderful contact or deadly contact. How about another possibility: arduous contact? Is it possible that contact with aliens would provide many challenges for human society, challenges that we did not anticipate and challenges that would take many years of hard work for us to deal with? If we knew how tough it would be, would we choose to pursue a relationship with extraterrestrials?

The second Hirschman point that applies to first contact is the idea that the challenges in life often benefit us in ways that easy actions do not. It’s not just a matter of what the struggle will provide in the end, but also what the process of the struggle will provide of benefit. I’ll give me own shameful example here. I have a 1952 Ferguson tractor that does not run. I have attempted to fix the tractor over and over again, and yet I do not have the skills to keep it running. I could go out and buy a new tractor and be rid of the problem altogether. This would certainly solve my tractor problem easily. However, if I persevered and forced myself to learn how to repair the tractor imagine the knowledge I would gain? I might be able to rebuild my chainsaw if it was to break. Or perhaps I could better repair my lawn mower? There would be many benefits that would come from doing the hard thing- learning how to fix that damn tractor.

Another, much more extreme example is war. Advances in radar, sonar, jet engines, nuclear technology and the development of early computers are a direct result of research done during World War Two. Satellites and space exploration came out of the Cold War. Anxiety and fear act as catalysts to innovation during war. The problem is that by removing obstacles you remove the fuel of anxiety and worry. I’m certainly not proposing that we torture ourselves to stimulate innovation. However, we do need to consider the implications of cheap knowledge and what is lost if we don’t forge ahead in our own, laborious way.

One could also argue that the Cold War caused economic stagnation and great waste in the 1950’s and 1960’s, because of the vast amount of money put into nuclear weaponry and defense research and development. How could have humanity benefited if such money was used for medical research? Still, it goes back to anxiety and worry. Money really wasn’t the fuel for Cold War research. The fuel was fear. Would AIDS drugs have been developed so rapidly if it wasn’t for fear in the gay community and the immense education and lobbying effort by gay political organizations that came as a result? When considering human development we can’t forget the important role of group psychology.

There is the possibility that anxiety and worry will fuel a technology quest in the wake of First Contact. If we’re concerned about our safety we may put effort into bolstering space monitoring and defenses. A certain amount of effort would be a practical response. However, if we let fear and anxiety rule the day we may end up squandering both resources and opportunities. Like everything else in human society there will be a necessary balancing act. Perhaps anxiety should prod us and yet not rule us?

But let’s get back to the primary issue. Humans often mention all of the wonderful technical knowledge that we could get from a relationship with extraterrestrials. They could give us a new perspective on the laws of science and show us how to build everything from space-faring craft to planet-sized climate adjusters. We could be given the technology to generate cheap, non-polluting power. Imagine all of the human problems we could solve? What would come of us after many years of this knowledge transfer? Hirschman would probably be worried about the infantilization of the human race. He watched such problems develop all over the globe, as he did work for the World Bank and other organizations assisting developing nations. When given technology and infrastructure outright, these nations didn’t develop in the same way as Western nations. The supposed colonial beneficence proved to be worthless in places like the Congo. That Belgian infrastructure lies in ruin today (relatively minor next to the real tragedy- the Belgian Congo genocide). Taking a society away from an organic path of growth is both dangerous and stupid. Perhaps we need to learn from our mistakes, lest we become victims of the same problem.

Struggle, no matter how horrible the consequences for the participants, is often best for long term growth. Hirschman points to the wars European settlers had with Native Americans in settling North America. These dangers kept settlements in close contact with established Eastern cities. Thus, the United States developed the infrastructure and the close cultural ties to progress faster (and clearly this example does not address the disastrous impact to the Native Americans). In Brazil, where pioneers did not face such challenges in the hinterlands, Hirschman points out that the settlers became isolated and thus regressed economically and culturally. I’m not proposing that European conquest of the Americas was a good thing; it certainly wasn’t for Native Americans. However, the struggle forced the European settlers to devise new strategies, which ultimately helped their society thrive.

Can we afford to gain knowledge without working for it? What would happen to the fundamental process of science? Today, knowledge is earned with the sweat, toil and tears of many researchers. Think of all the ancillary knowledge that comes when trying to tackle one big problem. Research in cancer gene therapy has led to new cancer cell targets for other therapies. Roy Plunkett of Kinetic Chemicals accidentally invented Teflon while attempting to make a new CFC refrigerant.

Can humans afford to skip the hard work and go straight to the front of the line? How will we understand technology without the foundation that comes from developing that technology? This is not to say there may not be ways to benefit from alien knowledge. But it seems a good idea to put a great deal of thought into the implications of alien information, before we become the recipients of such “gifts” of knowledge.

Perhaps, well-meaning extraterrestrials may already think this way. Imagine how angry some humans would be if extraterrestrials refused to give us information about their scientific discoveries? Albert Hirschman would probably understand and applaud such a decision. He would know that we are better off in the long-run, if we follow our usual process in development: hard work, many mistakes, and plenty of detours, before coming up with that big breakthrough. After all, such a process may not just be a human behavior- it may be a fundamental process for the development of intelligent life.

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