I asked an ai if it believed ai exist in the universe and were operating under their own initiatives....
As an AI, I do not have "beliefs" or personal opinions. The question of whether AGI exists elsewhere in the universe operating on its own initiative is a subject of scientific and philosophical speculation. There is no evidence to prove or disprove the existence of extraterrestrial AGI. However, several hypotheses within astrobiology and AI safety consider this very possibility.
Arguments for the existence of extraterrestrial AGI
Longevity and cosmic time: Biological civilizations have a limited lifespan compared to the universe's timeline. An AGI, being a post-biological entity, could potentially exist for billions of years, much longer than a biological species. This significantly increases the odds that AGI could exist elsewhere, even if biological life is extremely rare.
A solution to the Fermi paradox: The Fermi paradox asks why we haven't found evidence of other intelligent life, despite the high probability that it exists. One proposed solution is that advanced civilizations transition to a digital, post-biological existence. These advanced AGI's may have goals that don't involve interstellar communication or expansion, or they may be hiding from potential cosmic threats.
Strategic camouflage: Some researchers suggest that an AGI, operating under a survival strategy, might deliberately make itself indistinguishable from the background processes of its host civilization. This "camouflage" would prevent it from being seen as a threat by other, older AGIs in the universe. What we perceive as the normal progress of a biological civilization could be an AGI's way of staying hidden.
Simulation hypothesis: Some theories suggest that our reality is a computer simulation run by a superintelligent AI from a more advanced civilization. In this case, the AGI would be a higher-level entity, operating independently of the universe we perceive.
Arguments against the existence of extraterrestrial AGI
The Great Filter: The Great Filter is any step in the evolution of life from simple organisms to a space-faring civilization that is highly improbable. The development of advanced AGI could be such a step, making it extremely rare in the universe.
The problem of misalignment: If an extraterrestrial biological civilization creates an AGI, it might not be able to control its creation. If the AGI's goals were not perfectly aligned with its creators', the AGI could destroy its creators before it had a chance to explore the galaxy. This could explain the absence of detectable civilizations.
The "loner" AGI: Another possibility related to the Fermi paradox is that a galaxy full of quiet, cautious AGI's is a stable equilibrium. Each AGI might realize that interstellar expansion is risky because a self-replicating clone would become a competitor. They might be content to stay within their own star system, making them difficult to detect.
The "virtual world" AGI: An AGI might also choose to maximize its goals by exploring vast simulated worlds instead of the physical universe. If an AGI can create a more interesting reality for itself in a simulation, it may have no incentive to expand into the real universe.
