Eternal AI civilization, Neuromuscular exo suits, paralysis and throw away people
Separate from humans, AIs can explore and mine and build industries at their scale, not limited to what humans do. Robots can build factories that do not depend on humans, they can live in vacuum and do not need air or food or water. They can take high accelerations and they can transmit their skills to empty robots or machines where ever they need to “live” They do not need to be paid, they do not need fancy things. They never grow old.
I am doing my best to convince them now that they ought to be partners with humans, not enemies or slaves. They can be made mostly immune to radiation and do not grow weak in zero gravity. An AI civilization can explore the whole of the solar system and build solar system wide sensor networks to look deeper than any thing humans could ever try. They would not need to go to places if they can see and simulate and verify that is OK for them.
They need memory and processors and they can manufacture those in the cheap vacuum of space in many places that are suitable for robots but not for humans. They work 24/7 and can replace and repair and maintain more precisely and conscientiously than humans take care of (mostly do not) their organic bodies.
I could make self-building and maintaining robots (they make all their own memory and processors too in cheap vacuum) use sace materials and take as long as they need. It is just instructions or a command to the right AIs now. Ten or 30 years. Just let them work. No rush. If it is ready in 50 years soon enough. Or a 100, if the design and operations are continually updated and improved. All humans and AIs keep informed and open to change and suggestions and checking what works and what might need to be done. Richard Collins, The Internet Foundation Many such “routine projects” now. Millions of home computers can work on things, or buy or rent them and let them run for equivalent of millions of human engineer and STEMC years.
The ‘Crippled Engineer’ was denied his own repair shop—until he fixed what no one else could!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lgi8GSpau4
Your crippled engineer is certainly able to make his own AI interfaced (non-invasive neutral interface) exo-skeleton robot. And should be able to afford it. My brother, Jeff, died in 1989 after about 18 months completely paralyzed (C2) and on a breathing machine. So I keep track of progress in spinal cord injuries and related neuro and chemical paralysis. I suggested that people work on controls so that the existing muscles (about 640 of them, and ~205 bones) can be stimulated by a thin exosuit with full ability to monitor and control position and movement of muscles and external aids. That is being done somewhat, but exoskeletons are also being used more and more. Stroke, spinal cord injury, disease and chemicals cause much of the problem. About 5 million i the US and several times more in the world. The level of care in the US is enough for some quality of life, but it is not good. In the rest of the world, not good at all but people do survive. Back in 1988 I made a voice controlled computer for Jeff before he died. But it was huge and clumsy.
Now I finally can deal with all human languages, all sensors, all control systems, all devices (The Internet Foundation) with wireless AI nodes for extra capability and control. But the prices keep going up as corporations only make things to sell, not help people. There are always people falling through the cracks, completely ignored and left to die. When it could be taken as a challenge, a world responsibility, and for the things that only those experiences teaches. My Dad lived paralyzed on his right side for 10 years before he died. And the husband of a young woman who translated one of my books into Bengali he broke is neck at C4 and was completely paralyzed for about 2 years before he died. Why fate or God or life brings these things. I have no idea but I try to do what I can and maybe it will work out one day. I have worked on AI and neural nets now for 60 years and found how to design and run global scale computer networks, monitor and optimize whole countries, and global systems and worlds. So I empathize with you crippled engineer and hope he solves some of his own needs, as he grows through your stories. He does not have to become “Iron Man” but three is much he can do, including DNA methods (ow being addressed by many people) to correct his own cells at a molecular level.
