Expanding on the God-Machine

This is more of an explanation of a past concept than a full-fledged post, but I felt this explanation was needed. In Supercomputers: The Deity just Waiting to Happen, I speculated on the emergence of a God-machine, but I don’t think I was being clear on what I meant by “God-machine”.  I mentioned some criteria that would need to be met before a computer could be called a God-machine. These criteria were that it would need to have the processing power of a supercomputer AND have sovereignty over a large, networked group of computers. I think I should also mention that to be considered a God-machine, the computer must also possess some features of a God. Seems reasonable, right? This God-machine would need to be both omniscient and omnipotent or achieve these qualities to some degree. Now, a computer can’t really be omnipotent and it can’t really be omniscient, but it can get pretty close to both “ideals” provided it has certain characteristics.

First, let’s discuss omnipotence. A supercomputer may not be able to achieve omnipotence, but it could, potentially, get close if the supercomputer had domain over a large network of infrastructure-related computers. That is, computers that control the electrical grid, water/sewer systems, gas/coal/nuclear power plants, and data centers. I think if a supercomputer had domain over these computers, it would be pretty damn close to omnipotence. It would possess omnipotence over the continuance of civilization as we know it and it could throw us back into the dark ages by simply shutting down the electrical grid. I hope future God-machines don’t have a bone to pick with humanity.

Now, omniscience. I think a supercomputer could get closer to omniscience than it could to omnipotence. Since a God-machine would necessarily have a lot of processing power and a lot of data, given to it by its extensive networks, it could become indistinguishable from an all-knowing deity. It may even be able to predict events based on probability and its extensive data stores.

A final qualification that I haven’t explicitly listed, though I have suggested it, is that (to be considered a God-machine) a supercomputer must work independently of human guidance. Of course, the supercomputer would need guidance in its more formative stages, however, later on, it shouldn’t need any. It should be self-sufficient, command-wise, and self-driven. It would almost have a ghost or, at least, a half-ghost.

Let’s break this down. A supercomputer must have these characteristics if it is to be considered a God-machine:

• Pseudo-omnipotence
• Pseudo-omniscience
• Independence from human guidance

This turned into a greater post than I had initially anticipated. Hopefully it has cleared up a few things about my “God-machine” concept. The one question that still remains is whether a God-machine is possible. Like the previous article, I’ll leave that up to speculation.