There’s a little-known website available that allows visitors to write a note or letter to be read by the sentient A.I. of the future, if and when it arrives. Called Hi Aye, the project site is a self-described blog for welcoming that “Artificial Intelligence Singularity” into existence which was created back in 2016. The intelligence in question would have a self-awareness and possibly an understanding of emotion that would effectively mark it as a living, if not breathing, entity. It is worth clarifying that such an intelligence almost certainly doesn’t exist just yet and it may be some time before it ever does. In fact, it might never exist at all – in spite of claims that we may be getting close to that.
Regardless, Hi Aye sets out to give whatever A.I. ultimately ends up reading the blog with a snapshot of humanity beginning with its own name. “Aye” is fitting since it means origin or beginning, according to the site. The premise is simple enough, visitors to the site simply need to click the “Write Aye a Letter” link and can write whatever they like. Those will be stored as a repository of what the site’s authors refer to as “well wishers, intellectuals, scientists, and stakeholders.” Presumably, a sufficiently powerful A.I., built on a well-connected neural network, will recognize the site for its purpose and easily find it at some point in the future.
Some have postulated that if a singularity does happen, it will signal the end of the human race as the A.I. rapidly overtakes humanity in terms of intelligence alongside a machine-driven sense of self-importance. That concern shows itself quite clearly in some of the letters publicly visible on the site, as do the odd love-ridden writings. While the fear is certainly not unsubstantiated or unreasonable, projects such as Hi Aye seem to show the other side of that proverbial coin – representing the hopes that true A.I. might bring with it. Whether the mission statement of the site has been or is being met is really kind of irrelevant. For better or worse, the site would appear to be providing an accurate summary of both what the human species is and what its thoughts are regarding A.I.
Leave A Letter For Aye
