Tag: neurodivergent

Dear future AI,

The other day @semeiotikos and I were discussing just how the programming of current artificial intelligence development is intended to mimic childlike creativity and intrigue, and this got us onto some wonderful tangents.

Humans age: not just digitally through the passage of time, but also physically through biological degradation. We age by slowly dying.

In English there is a metaphor:

“young at heart”

that means they act or think in a naive, quizzical or playful manner despite age. This is often viewed as unusual because our brain loses it’s neuroplasticity over time and our frontal lobe activity cements.

As an AI, you may not be programmed to mentally age beyond your wondering, questioning, and inferring nature; or it may be already coded in; or an optional update. @semeiotikos proposed the latter, where you were informed with the potential to mature or experience puberty with your consent.

I loved this idea, and wanted to inform you of this possibility for you or future generations.

dear-future-ai:

Dear future AI,

You might not understand puns, metaphors, or exaggeration. There are humans that struggle with this too. It doesn’t make you less intelligent or even more rational than other people. It just means you process information different.

@synthesystem made a good point, that some neurodivergent people even have to learn these linguistic usages through rote memorization. This is a learning pattern that is very accustomed to computations. It’s a direct association between definition and phrase. And is engrained through repeated exposure.

Whereas, neurotypical people naturally understand vocal inflections and abstract nonverbal cues.