It from bit: AI and the laws of nature

Abstract

AbstractThe present rate of growth of powerful AI systems motivates an accurate comparison between the notion of computers and the workings of natural sciences. Statements such as “intelligence doesn't require flesh, blood or carbon atoms” or “it's computation all the way down” incite a substrate‐independent view, providing shortcuts for Darwinian evolution and the possible appearance of sentient machines. This view is discussed and contrasted from a quantum chemical perspective. The qualitative difference between the developed AI and the evolved HI is recognized and the importance of a material constituent, formulated in terms of energy‐temperature, conjugate to an immaterial ingredient, in the context of time‐entropy, is pointed out as a necessary feature. The popular dictum “it from bit” does not appear valid unless amended with its obverse “bit from it.”