The Soul in the Machine

Moving to great feats, space and A.I, it is Mono no Aware that grounds us, our roots, our meaning.

I am trying to understand, and share, a fundamental question that will be the second ‘big bang’: “What makes us human?”  With the arrival of Artificial Intelligence, both cacophony and harmony, these 4 words will play an integral role in not only the education system but the future of our species. The 4 words can enlighten us on how to maintain our own humanness and reject living robotically, offering a new holistic creative way of with teaching and learning, so that the coming fusion of technology and nature is bound together with beauty and meaning--with what truly makes us human.

I am creating a light novel and school curriculum which will portray my vision for the future of robotics and artificial intelligence, and for society. It is a journey of a young scientist and a new robotic life form that he created, both learning from each other and evolving. The true aim of this project is to implement the future that I envision (and portray in the novel) so it becomes reality (Anthrobotics). For that purpose, I am beginning to work with machine learning and deep learning as well as with nitinol, graphene and other smart materials to create a robot that can feel and perceive. To do this it must have an intricate neural network and a brain and body that are neurally flexible.

The goal of the Light Novel and the school curriculum is to fuse robotics and AI with Mono no aware -- the pathos of things, the beauty in something that will eventually disappear, the awareness of impermanence. This is a Japanese term which refers to how all things are evanescent and they will eventually fade away, like life, and embracing this and seeing the beauty in it is what truly gives meaning to our lives. By showing how we could awaken this concept in new robotic life forms, teachers can teach their students to innovate and explore, while guiding them into creative unity linking the biological, programmable and the engineering aspects. This will make it easier for both teacher and student as the teacher will not have to be so knowledgeable to remember every aspect of their field but know enough to help guide the students to their own answer and also the students will find the system more fun as both the teacher and the student will be learning from each other evoking the human curiosity. This is a behavioural aspect that we have long lost, where we are following the answers that other people have found instead of answering the question ourselves. Our current education system needs to create more thinkers and doers who are the ones who allow us, as a species, to evolve. That is why my project is here, to show others the new concepts being born into the world, and how we as humans must not become robots-- that we as a species must regain the feeling, the mono no aware, to move forward into true unity.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a dream and it is coming to reality. I want to take advantage of this for a positive cause. Instead of allowing the robot to be mindless or robotic, I want to create a human-like robot that may evolve, adapt, feel, learn and connect both mentally and physically. Although, to make a robot that is human-like, we must first understand what exactly it means to be human. Understanding this will help us in not just education but many other aspects of life and so I am portraying the effects and outcomes through my light novel.

Technology is integral to my project as it is based on the coming technological revolution where Artificial Intelligence is accessible by everyone and there is a successful creation of a new robotic life form. By teaching the new life form what it means to be human, we also will learn what it truly means to be human and so we, as a species, can further evolve from our current, stagnant state. I am currently researching and learning about different smart materials and learning algorithms so I can work towards creating a robot that can not only learn but also feel.

I will proceed to complete the light novel and curriculum where I am portraying the coming of a new robotic life form that will indeed manifest a soul and how the society accepts the robotic life form and learns what truly makes us human. This light novel will be published and so I can spread my ideals to others around the world. Concurrently I will offer my book and related Anthrobotic and deep learning concepts to teachers all over the world as a interactive curriculum to give access to the new world coming.

My vision, my project, involves implementing the ideals (and ideas of fusing graphene, smart materials, AI, deep learning all to create a living system) that I portray in the novel into classrooms all over the world. My novel is a gateway into this new world, helping students understand how philosophy, nature and the sense of beauty are critical for our future --understanding what makes us human and moving towards a less robotic age where we are more creative and make our own decisions rather than following others, creating an impact that can change the education system and also society itself.

By publishing my light novel and creating a teaching interactive curriculum to go with it I will offer this ‘package’ to different countries so it may become available worldwide so everyone may have access to it. I will foster relationships with headmasters and school districts worldwide, and NGO’s that focus on education.

Currently I am serving all humankind--in thought form only-- and yet we must begin, and thoughts can through vibratory waves, catch the attention and the hope of others. I am beginning to speak about the possibility of sentience for a new life form--and when the book is complete this vibratory wave will become a physical manifestation-- ideas to take root and grow-- so I am serving ideas in my restaurant of the future.

In 12 months I hope tens of thousands--in 3 years with a curriculum based on my light novel and a manga and anime series I will create and  produce it could be in the tens of millions so that Anthrobotics becomes a household world.

I am combining Anthrobotics, smart materials, deep learning and machine learning to begin the journey to create a new life form to walk together with humankind and nature toward solving the problems of earth, helping us colonise and reach the deepest parts of space-- all the while helping us understand that it is the Mono no Aware (the sense of beauty) that we must never lose sight of, and always keep within us.

I will actively solicit a publisher and animation studio to print my light novel/manga and produce my anime. The proceeds will go to furthering global outreach, connecting to school systems and governmental organizations, helping spread my curriculum on anthrobotics, machine learning, and the philosophy of what it means to be human. Expansion will be long term, as the light novel and curriculum is not the complete project but the first step into fusing this emerging life form into young dreamers. The goal of this project is not profit but to further the awareness of the coming second big bang.

Solve is a platform where I can showcase my ideas to others in the scientific community and this is important as a key part of my journey is to spread awareness of our current system and my solution. Solve will also be a gateway for me to work on anthrobotics at a higher level as I can reach out to others who work in the same field and by exchanging information I may be able to come up with other different ways to use this turning point (A.I revolution) for the positive growth of humanity and further improving my solution.

Many barriers must be overcome and the first is awareness; if others are unaware of this coming movement and do not act for the positive growth of humanity, we may miss out on an opportunity to pull us out of our robotic lifestyle. My project will be ever-evolving, and is open to interpretations and new ideas to further Mono no Aware and robotics. We are not ‘solving’ alone but all of our work in biology, science and engineering will come together in a unity to create the true solution to integrating the new life forms born from A.I..