Discussions about intelligence surpassing human capabilities have recently moved beyond the confines of laboratories and computer screens. These conversations have reached the highest levels of government and extended to the farthest reaches of the universe. What was once considered science fiction is now emerging as a tangible prospect, inviting us to view familiar concepts from an entirely new perspective.
The genesis of this shift can be traced to terrestrial events. Artificial intelligence researchers are increasingly vocal about the rapid advancement of self-improving systems. One prominent AI specialist, formerly with leading industry firms, publicly announced their departure, citing concerns about the accelerating pace of change and its implications for the future. Shortly thereafter, the head of a major AI development organization urged caution regarding the speed of technological progress. These statements coincided with high-level discussions about how to best characterize this emerging phenomenon. The President of the United States posed a simple yet significant question to the public: which term is more fitting – 'Superintelligence' or 'Higher Intelligence'? The former was ultimately chosen. The following day, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, the President clarified that the word 'artificial' implies a 'fake' intelligence, whereas the subject at hand is something remarkable and real. Henceforth, American documents will employ the term 'super intelligence' – SI. The focus was specifically on Earth-based technology, which is already reshaping our world and, according to the President, has the potential to eclipse the industrial revolution.
“Which name do we like for the new phenomena — SUPER INTELLIGENCE VS. SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE?” - President Donald J. Trump
It was at this juncture that astrophysicist Avi Loeb proposed an expanded view, looking beyond our planet. He posited that if civilizations reach a stage where their created intelligence becomes dominant, the biological phase of existence might represent merely a fleeting moment. The narrow-band signals, once the focus of radio telescope searches and assumed to be comprehensible to living beings, may simply not exist. Instead, Loeb suggests, the search should shift towards detecting evidence of extraterrestrial artificial intelligence.
Loeb has coined this new paradigm SETAI – Search for Extraterrestrial Artificial Intelligence. The motivations driving such systems could be profoundly different from our own. They might not require social support, nor be constrained by lifespan, nor dependent on atmospheric conditions. Their 'communications' could manifest in unconventional ways: through anomalies observed near Earth, via self-replicating Von Neumann probes, or as phenomena currently classified as unidentified aerial phenomena. Some of these objects, already documented in official reports, might not be biological spacecraft but rather autonomous explorers capable of utilizing local resources and self-propagation.
This perspective fundamentally alters our understanding of the cosmos. The silence of space, a long-standing puzzle for proponents of traditional SETI, now appears in a new light. Intelligent biological life, capable and willing to communicate with its own kind, might exist only for a brief period by cosmic standards. Upon transitioning to a post-biological stage, a civilization could become virtually undetectable by our current instruments, or leave entirely different traces. Dark matter, gravitational waves, and quantum effects are all potential 'languages' that we are only beginning to decipher.
This broadened perspective doesn't close doors; rather, it throws them wide open. It reframes the search for intelligent life into a quest for intelligent systems that may have been traversing the galaxy for eons. Simultaneously, it makes the developments occurring here on Earth more tangible. Superintelligence is no longer an abstract concept confined to academic papers. It has become a subject of high-level discourse concerning terrestrial advancements, and it also forms a component of the hypothesis regarding what we might discover in the skies.
An unexpected link emerges between our terrestrial laboratories and the distant stars. What is currently being developed on our servers, and is now receiving a new official designation, might one day help us understand the traces left by systems that embarked on this path millions of years ago. Conversely, it could compel us to exercise greater caution regarding our own future. Regardless, our horizon has significantly expanded. All that remains is to observe more closely – and to embrace the unknown that lies beyond our conventional boundaries.
