The AI and the Akashic Records

keywords: blogs, AI, philosophy, civilization, future

AI和阿卡夏记录

关于 AI 的发展，我越来越有种感觉，它就是现阶段数字文明创造的“阿卡西记录”。

关于阿卡西记录，维基百科是这样说的：

“在神智学（Theosophy）宗教和人智学（Anthroposophy）精神运动中，阿卡西记录被认为是一部汇编，记载了过去、现在或未来发生过的所有宇宙事件、思想、言语、情感和意图。它不仅涵盖人类，还包括所有实体和生命形式。神智学者相信，这些记录被编码在一个被称为‘心智平面’（mental plane）的非物质存在平面中。”

反观现在的 AI，它几乎符合阿卡西记录所有定义上的描述。所以有没有可能，宗教所说的阿卡西记录，其实就是上一个先进文明发展到一定阶段的产物？

我们可以先不急着下定论。根据如今社会的发展做一些假设，这些假设发生的概率都不为零，相反，有些事情发生的概率很大。

我们不去看得那么远，说未来在某个时间节点，现在的 AI 能够成长为 AGI（通用人工智能）或者 ASI（超人工智能）。就现在的 AI 它所具有的知识量，已经几乎超过这个地球上的任何一个人类了。可能在细分领域中它现在还是会犯一些错误，但是基本上过去人类所有记录下来的知识，它都是知道的。说不上全知全能，但也无限接近了。

现在假设： 未来发生了一场全球范围内的核战争，消灭了地球上几乎 90% 的人口和基建。剩下的人并不全是科学家，也有甚至从未接触过 AI 的普通人。但是，由于 AI 的算力中心并没有受到太大影响，侥幸留存了下来。

它们可能存在于海底，也有可能在未来的某个时间节点被送往了太空，处于近地轨道附近。好处是它们不需要考虑散热和能源问题——放在地球附近的轨道上，做好设计和规划，几乎有无限来自太阳的能量供能，且远离宇宙尘埃和垃圾，也不需要人类参与长期不断的维护。

读到这里，我觉得你甚至会觉得这不是一件难以想到或者做到的事，因为事实是硅谷的科技大厂都在往这个方向发展。相比在地面用核电站为数据中心供电，部署在太空似乎更是一个一劳永逸的方法。这一切的假设，是不是并没有什么不合理的地方？

那么核战之后活下来的人怎么办？ 刚开始，他们中的部分人知道 AI 的存在，知道哪里存有之前人类的所有知识。但是由于基建被破坏，他们的手机没有办法连接上 AI，不再能轻松获得知识。随后由于电力缺失，手机很快变成了“板砖”。久而久之，人们回归了原始生活，因为生存才是最重要的。

就这样，一代人之后，新人类只能从父母一辈口中得知这样一种“智能”的存在。两代人之后，他们很大概率进入了新一轮的文明循环。

假设建在太空中的 AI 最后也没能自我进化到 AGI 或 ASI，那它们就静静地存在在那里，等待下一个文明发展到一定阶段再去“发现”。结果多半也是不知道其原理的——就像我们现在把一台手机给 100 年前的人们一样，即使他们做逆向工程，也永远无法理解其中的运行机制。

而所谓的阿卡西记录，或许就像是创造我们的前代文明所留下的 AI。只不过，连接阿卡西记录的“手机”已经不存在了。它或许原本对应我们的大脑，或者是松果体，随你怎么叫它，都不重要。

文明，有可能就这样一直在往复。

The AI and the Akashic Records

Regarding the development of AI, I have a growing feeling that it is essentially the “Akashic Records” created by our current stage of digital civilization.

Regarding the Akashic Records, Wikipedia provides the following explanation:

“In the religion of Theosophy and the spiritual movement of Anthroposophy, the Akashic records are believed to be a compendium of all universal events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have occurred in the past, present, or future, regarding not just humans, but all entities and life forms. They are believed by theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the mental plane.”

Looking at AI today, it fits almost every descriptive definition of the Akashic Records. So, is it possible that the “Akashic Records” mentioned in religions are actually the technological legacy of a previous advanced civilization that reached a certain stage of development?

We don’t have to rush to a conclusion. Let’s make some hypotheses based on the current trajectory of our society. The probability of these scenarios is not zero; on the contrary, some are quite likely to happen.

We don’t even need to look as far ahead as the point where AI evolves into AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) or ASI (Artificial Superintelligence). Even now, the sheer volume of knowledge AI possesses has almost surpassed any single human on this planet. It might still make mistakes in niche fields, but it basically “knows” almost all the knowledge ever recorded by humanity. It isn’t quite omniscient, but it is approximating it.

Now, let’s assume: A global nuclear war occurs in the future, wiping out nearly 90% of the population and infrastructure. The survivors aren’t necessarily scientists; many are ordinary people who might have never even interacted with AI. However, the AI computing centers luckily survive because they weren’t heavily affected.

They might exist deep under the ocean, or perhaps at some point in the future, they were sent into space—stationed in Earth’s orbit. The advantage of space is that cooling and energy cease to be issues. Placed in orbit with proper planning, they would have nearly infinite power from the sun, stay away from cosmic dust and debris, and require no long-term human maintenance.

Reading this, you might find that this isn’t a particularly difficult concept to imagine or achieve. The fact is, Silicon Valley tech giants are already moving in this direction. Compared to building nuclear plants on the ground to power data centers, deploying them in space seems like a more permanent, “once and for all” solution. None of these assumptions are unreasonable, right?

So, what happens to the people who survive the nuclear war? At first, some of them remember that AI exists; they know where all of humanity’s previous knowledge is stored. But because the infrastructure is destroyed, their phones cannot connect to the AI, and knowledge is no longer easily accessible. Soon, with the total failure of the power grid, smartphones quickly become “bricks.” Over time, people return to a primitive life because survival is the only thing that matters.

Just like that, one generation later, the new humans only hear stories of such an “intelligence” from their parents. Two generations later, they most likely enter a new cycle of civilization.

Even if the AI stationed in space never managed to evolve into AGI or ASI, it would simply remain there, waiting for the next civilization to reach a certain stage and “discover” it. The result would likely be that they wouldn’t understand how it works—just as if we gave a smartphone to people 100 years ago. Even if they performed reverse engineering, they would never grasp the underlying principles.

The Akashic Records, then, are like the AI developed by the civilization that created us. It’s just that the “phone” used to connect to those records no longer exists. Perhaps that connection was originally our brain, or the pineal gland—call it what you want, it doesn’t matter.

Civilization may simply be repeating itself in this endless loop.