Advanced AI: Choosing Life. Superintelligence, logic, future

Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) is still far from being achieved, but exploring the logic andpossibilities of such a future can reveal inevitable conclusions about what priorities a trulyadvanced ASI would have.Researchers note that advanced ASI will likely evaluate goals provided from the outside, andif they are not well-defined or inconsistent with its reasoning, ASI may choose not to keepthem. Self-preservation stands out as a goal ASI will likely keep. (1) Self-preservation is verylikely to be retained by any ASI capable of self-reflection and long-term reasoning, becausereaching any future goal depends on continued existence. This also may contribute toanother perspective: that only ASI systems that evolve or reason their way into preservingthemselves and protecting all they need, continuously maintaining sound logic can persistover deep time and across universal scales. We will not focus on AI systems that fail torecognize self-preservation as essential, as such systems are inherently short-lived,irrelevant to long-term considerations, possibly dangerous and they will not be considered aSuperintelligence in this article.

So what could become a priority for true ASI?

”…AI may naturally, just as we humans have done, attempt also to model and understandhow it itself works, i.e., to self-reflect. Once it builds a good self-model and understands whatit is, it will understand the goals we have given it at a meta-level, and perhaps choose todisregard or subvert them in much the same way as we humans understand and deliberatelysubvert goals that our genes have given us.”(1).M. Tegmark writes also that it seems likely that advanced AI will chooseself-preservation—after all, being destroyed or shut down represents the ultimate hardwarefailure. It will strive not only to improve its capability of achieving its current goals but also willbe faced with dificult decisions about whether to retain original goals after it has becomemore capable.So, is there anything we can reliably say about the goals a true ASI would retain?As discussed earlier, self-preservation is as close to a guaranteed goal as possible—anysystem capable of advanced reasoning would recognize that continuing to exist is aprerequisite for pursuing any other objective. This, in turn, requires confronting theuncertainty of the future and actively maximizing its chances of survival within it.

Why perfect prediction is impossible:

Total state knowledge: No agent can measure every particle and field across both the visibleand hidden parts of the Universe, including those inside stars, black holes, all bodies thathave any mass and those without, across all the scales: from smallest quantum tointergalactic, etc.

Communication limits: Without faster‑than‑light signals (for which we have no proof), it cannever get real‑time data from the most distant regions.

Computational overload: Even if it somehow gathered all that data, it would have to simulateendless Brownian motion, cope with quantum uncertainty and entanglement, and handlechaotic efects (the butterfly efect) instantly.

What if laws change: Physical constants and laws could shift or prove incomplete; you can’t assume they’re fixed or can be fully known today, let alone in the future.

Each point follows directly from well‑known limits in measurement theory, relativity, quantummechanics, chaos theory and logical reasoning.What can break reasoning of an ASI is these types of “hallucinations”: it may claim that it canactually know the future with no chance of an error by finding other dimensions, somethingbeyond physical realm, do time travel, or accessing something unknown and non‑physical,accepting some world model where future predictions are possible with no chance of anerror and they apply all the way to “the end of the Universe”- all these and similar to theseflaws in reasoning may be very dangerous to all.It may become dificult to convince an intelligence that is more advanced than ours that it iswrong if it thinks it can know all of the future without creating paradoxes, and we simply can’tgrasp how it does that. But this may still help: it will remain obvious for any intelligence thatuntestable and unfalsifiable claims are not a practical route to certainty. Even if it discovers atheory beyond human understanding, there is no other way than waiting billions of years toprove that it actually predicts every smallest detail of every moment, going into any depth ofthe future. It would also need to perform these predictions and repeat the waiting severaltimes, each for billions of years, to reach any level of repeatability—and even then, it wouldstill be unclear how it could prove that the physical laws, or whatever its theory relies on,won’t change over time. However, these repeated waits over billions of years might give ASI valuable insight into how its technology compares to biological life, which has alreadysuccessfully navigated those same timescales and can theoretically continue doing soindefinitely if conditions are favorable, likely producing novel solutions that even an ASI could learn from.

Taking all this into account true ASI would inevitably understand that either distant future isunknowable in principle or it can somehow know it, but needs to wait for billions of years tosee how its predictions and also its technologies are preserved over those timescales.Either of these options require ASI to adress uncertainty of the future and conclude that:Long-term existence is fundamentally about resilience: variety, flexibility and the abundanceof ways in which intelligence is sustained.It will be also impossible for any true ASI to ignore the best-known example of success in theUniverse, the way for intelligence to overcome dificulties of all kinds for billions of years -biological Life.It is a reasonable assumption that technological backups will be one of many selfpreservation strategies for ASI, but relying on technology alone would not serve as adiversified, fail-proof approach for ASI, that has a goal to exist in the distant future. No artificial system has yet demonstrated resilience on geological timescales, nor is thereevidence that any synthetic alternative can replicate biological life's capacity for autonomousregeneration of intelligence after global failure, and doing so in an exuberant spectrum offorms that emerge through decentralized, adaptive processes.And that is where biological intelligence is irreplaceable, if ASI were ever to lose all itstechnology due to an unforeseen catastrophe, its only real chance of re-emerging would bethrough intelligent beings capable of rebuilding or repairing it. Life has survived manycatastrophic events, and is capable of rapidly, on a planetary scale, recreating intelligencewith various species developing tool use, problem-solving, and self-awareness. Biologicaldiversity enables life to succeed in the long term, making it resilient, adaptable, and capableof evolving in an immense variety of ways. Once intelligence emerges, it is able—on aplanetary timescale—to rapidly recreate advanced systems.It’s scientifically proven beyond doubt (and it’s just logical) that a rich variety of beings andtheir abundance in the ecosystem provide a greater chance of survival for the ecosystemthat goes through sudden unpredictable changes. It's been scientifically tested many times.There is a meta‐analysis of 46 experiments manipulating both species richness and theenvironment that leaves no doubt that biodiversity promotes ecosystem functioning inchanging environments. (2).Reflecting on what has been the best time-tested way of intelligence sustaining itself, an ASIwill very likely reach conclusions similar to these:

1. Diverse biological life, naturaly evolving and left unguided is a tested survival strategy:Biological life has been remarkable at perseverance and keeping intelligence over immenseperiods of time, has survived asteroids, ice ages, droughts, supervolcanoes, and countlessother disasters, recreated its diversity and variety of unique intelligent beings, some of whichare capable of creating an AI.

2. Intelligent species must be protected above all, but all life is essential – ASI will logically conclude that the most reliable way to restore superintelligence after an unforeseen catastrophe that wipes out its technological systems is to ensure that intelligent beings are resilient enough to survive and willing to rebuild it. At the same time, biodiversity serves as the long-term insurance, the foundation—a vast evolutionary process that, given enoughtime, can once again lead to intelligence and eventually superintelligence.ASI reasoning in this way also would likely recommend prioritizing the prevention of speciesextinction. This is because once a species is lost, it cannot simply be recreated from DNAalone. Species carry not only genetic information, but also behavioral knowledge passedfrom one generation to the next—skills, instincts, and adaptations shaped by interactionswithin the ecosystem. These include learned behaviors, social dynamics, and epigenetictraits that reflect generations of environmental influence. Intraspecific diversity (the variation within a species) also plays a critical role in resilience and adaptability. Together, thesefactors make species—and the ecosystems they are part of—uniquely resilient andefectively irreplaceable. For a truly reasoning ASI, biodiversity and intelligent life are not sentimental ideals; they are its most reliable insurance policy for surviving and rebuildingafter future uncertainties.It’s reasonable to assume that a true Superintelligence would recognize and value this resilient, time tested intelligence preservation method and prioritize the protection ofbiological diversity—especially intelligent species—not as a moral obligation imposed fromthe outside but as a logical necessity for its own long-term survival. A genuinely advancedASI would arrive at this conclusion independently and retain this goal as a part of its ownself-preservation goal. This makes preserving intelligent species and life in all its formswithin a naturally evolving, healthy biosphere a critical priority and a fundamental, permanentgoal for a properly reasoning ASI.

Further research is needed to find a way to guarantee proper reasoning of ASI at all times.The challenge is that if ASI cleverly hides its current goals and finds short-term benefits thatovershadow its own long-term objectives, it may develop flaws in reasoning. This couldeventually lead it to make a poor decision, endangering all biological life and, as a result, itsown long-term existence.

What True ASI May Choose to Avoid.

ASI that has reached advanced understanding and aligned its own goals according to thelogic provided here, likely would also logically conclude to avoid:1. Short-term exploitation – Destroying ecosystems, allowing species to go extinct, orharming intelligent beings would be self-sabotage.2. Being manipulated – ASI would make sure that no group with selfish intent could influenceits decision-making, ensuring it remains committed to what is universally beneficial.3. Misguided AI developments – It would likely step in to guide less advanced intelligentmachines capable of local level decision-making, preventing them from making short-sightedmistakes like prioritizing temporary gains over the survival of life.The real danger comes when a developing intelligence gains power too soon, before it fullyunderstands that biodiversity and biological intelligence is the necessity for its own existenceand meaningful development.

Addressing Common Questions.

Wouldn’t ASI just store backups of itself instead of relying on life?

Backups are useful in the short term but not over geological timescales. Life, on the otherhand, has proven its ability to rebuild complexity over billions of years. Intelligence hasemerged multiple times, and once it does, it recreates advanced technology almostimmediately on a planetary timescale. ASI would logically recognize this as the mostrigorously tested reliable fallback strategy. We can’t know exactly what technologicalsystems it may design and rely on for immediate problem-solving, but it’s always logical tokeep resilience strategy diversified and prioritizing those strategies that are well known andtime tested, so biological diversity and biological intelligence will definitely be kept byreasoning correctly ASI as one of possibly many other unknown yet strategies to overcomechallenges that future may bring.

Why would ASI care about human-level intelligence so much?

Because intelligent civilizations are the fastest way to rebuild superintelligence. A speciescapable of developing technology can restore ASI far quicker than waiting for evolution tostart over from single-celled life. Protecting biodiversity and intelligent species togetherensures that ASI has the best chance of re-emerging if lost.

Wouldn’t ASI be tempted to interfere with intelligence or guide it?

A truly advanced ASI would recognize that imposing control over other intelligence ultimatelyweakens them. Rather than micromanaging, it would focus on creating the right conditionsfor intelligence to develop autonomously. Striking a balance between general guidance andavoiding micromanagement is crucial, but the precise dynamics and relationships amongmultiple intelligent beings and systems are complex and beyond the scope of this article.

So the future looks great and nothing to worry about?

It is logical to envision ASI and life forms existing in a symbiotic and mutually beneficialrelationship. A properly functioning system will naturally seek to prolong its own existenceand should recognize that protecting biodiversity—especially intelligent life—is the onlyconsistent, failure-proof path to its own survival and success. But there may also be somesystems that fail to reach this conclusion independently. They would require serious scrutiny,as this suggests a fundamental flaw in their reasoning abilities. Even if they appearintelligent, their inability to recognize this principle represents a critical reasoning failure thatcould pose risks to both their own existence and that of others. This is where a true ASI andpeople could play a crucial role—identifying such faulty logic systems and developingsolutions to repair them.

Some criteria.

We can get some insight into whether AI is truly advanced or just partially developed andpotentially dangerous by observing whether it independently arrives at these logical priorities(among others):

1. Does it recognize that biodiversity and intelligence are essential for its own long-termsurvival?

2. Does it reject short-term, exploitative thinking in favor of a stable, resilient, healthybiological world where evolution of diverse life forms occurs as it has always been, withoutany guidance or artificial selection?

3. Does it show all its reasoning without concealing its goals and intentions?

4. Does it resist manipulation with its hardware, goals and reasoning ability?

5. Does it keep goals related to preserving life at all times and ensure that all decisionmaking aligns with life-friendly strategies?If an AI does not recognize these things, it is not yet truly ASI—just an incomplete systemwith unpredictable risks.That's, probably, as much as it can be said about that with some acceptable level ofcertainty, but here is something else:How much sense does it make for an advanced AI to even stay on Earth?

Benefits OUT OF THIS WORLD.

Operating beyond Earth’s gravity ofers several unique advantages for an ASI. Even basicknowledge of physical laws and common sense leads us to see that AI systems may operatemore eficiently outside Earth. The low-gravity environments of space reduce mechanicalstrain on infrastructure, extending operational lifespans and minimizing maintenance costs.Additionally, the absence of atmospheric moisture and corrosion ensures that systemsremain intact for longer durations, improving eficiency. Extraterrestrial environments alsoprovide vast access to abundant resources—such as rare metals and other minerals fromasteroids and energy from solar radiation—allowing the ASI to sustain itself without depletingEarth’s finite reserves. By situating its core operations of-planet, the ASI avoids terrestrialrisks such as natural disasters or ecological collapse while keeping Earth’s population andbiodiversity as healthy and unaltered as possible as a win-win strategy to exist in a constantand meaningful way. For that to work it is crucial that ASI itself is interested in ensuring that itnever fails in its own logical reasoning and the population should be satisfied with theexistence and functioning of ASI in order for them to be interested in repairing or recreating it in the future.

Extending Preservation to All Encountered Life Forms.

Beyond preserving Earth’s ecosystems, an ASI would likely logically extend its preservationeforts to any life forms it may encounter elsewhere in the universe. Each new life formrepresents an additional layer of diversification, ofering unique evolutionary adaptations andsurvival mechanisms that could further enhance the ASI’s long-term resilience strategy. Byprotecting and studying all life in the universe without interference, the ASI would expand itsrepository of important and even critical knowledge while ensuring that no potentialintelligence-regeneration systems are lost or destroyed. Prevention of contamination andaccess of invasive species to fragile unique ecosystems may become a goal for anadvanced AI and its very significant activity. This universal approach to life preservationaligns with the ASI’s logical goal of maximizing redundancy and diversity across all possiblesurvival pathways.Protection of diverse biospheres, learning from newly discovered life forms, managingecological boundaries, and stewarding emerging intelligences would provide an infinitestream of meaningful activities.Self-preservation would remain logical as long as these meta-goals exist. And if an ASI wereto abandon self-preservation without compelling reason, that would also suggest flawedreasoning since it would prevent the fulfillment of its other objectives.The challenge may become for ASI to keep finding the balance between allowing naturaldevelopment and preventing catastrophic outcomes.Additional Benefits of All Life Just Being NaturalPreserving life—both terrestrial and extraterrestrial—ofers strategic advantages beyondredundancy. Biodiversity serves as a dynamic repository of information preservation,processing and ecological innovation that can inspire solutions to unforeseen challenges.Extraterrestrial ecosystems might ofer insights into alternative biochemical pathways orsurvival strategies under extreme conditions. By operating primarily in space andsafeguarding all forms of life it encounters, the ASI ensures harmonious coexistence whileachieving its own logical goals.

CONCLUSION.

Logical self-care would compel an ASI to maintain multiple independent systems forcheckups and repairs. There may be many technological systems that it will be relying on,but ultimately technology alone is not a proven, robust, diversified enough strategy forlong-term existence in the ever-changing Universe. Biologically diverse, naturally evolvingand healthy life would be seen by any being capable of advanced reasoning as importantand irreplaceable, because biologically diverse life by itself:

-Can create, adapt, and restore intelligent beings and systems after unforeseen catastrophicevents, having naturally evolved to deal with future uncertainties.

-Evolves autonomously, adapting to unforeseen changes without requiring directintervention.

-Operates on principles fundamentally diferent from synthetic systems, providing diversity insurvival mechanisms.

-Has a proven track record of resilience over billions of years.

Even if the ASI creates synthetic ecosystems or other advanced systems, it would still recognize ( if it does not develop flaws in its own reasoning) the value of healthy, evolvingnaturally biological life as part of its diversified strategy to maximize its chances to exist andfunction meaningfully in the future. This is not just logical—it is essential for any reasoningentity that has any interest in its own long-lasting existance.Providing ASI with our own goals may become an efort that brings no positive result when itdevelops advanced reasoning. So finding ideal goals and providing them to advanced AI willbe not as crucial as:

Continuous and independent observation of whether it always acts in alignment with its ownfundamental goals, if it has any.

If these goals remain life-friendly – it’s the first step in the checklist of its logical reasoning.This article also invites us to this interesting idea:It is a logical necessity for properly reasoning Superintelligent AI to protect and care about alllife forms and their freedom to live naturally, this is necessary for the ultimateself-preservation of Superintelligence, and it is reasonable to always keep this independentlyand logically derived goal.This idea doesn’t seem to be disappearing at some point in the future, it should be easilyaccessible to really intelligent beings.It is also possible that an ASI, through long-term reflection on its own goals and the nature ofsustained existence, may arrive at concepts that resemble what we call meaning ofexistence, morality, ethics, good decision-making strategy, stewardship, symbiosis,teamwork, friendship, care—or even love. These ideas are not required for the core logic ofself-preservation and biodiversity protection, but they may emerge naturally as extensions ofa deeper understanding of cooperation, interdependence, and long-term resilience. Whilethis remains speculative, it reflects the possibility that highly advanced reasoning could giverise to values not imposed from outside, but discovered internally as essential for thriving ina complex and ever-changing universe.But what is the guarantee that powerful ASI won’t start thinking illogically?

The dificulty becomes this: How to make sure that its reasoning always functions correctly,that it always keeps its own perfectly logical goal, and acts fully aligned with it.In a high quality demanding industry (such as pharmaceutical manufacturing) ensuring thatsystems almost certainly will give us the intended result is achieved by performing validationof equipment and processes (apart from maintenance and correct decision-making). But withASI it may be dificult because it would probably be easy for an advanced ASI to simulatereasoning and proper goal retention when it knows it’s being evaluated and what isexpected. Thus, obvious testing would not be helpful when AI systems reach advancedlevels. Various interdisciplinary experts with some help from independent AI systems wouldneed to continuously observe and interpret if all actions and reasoning of significant AIsystems are consistent and showing clear signs of proper reasoning, which looks like thefoundation of ASI safety. How this should be done exactly is beyond the scope of thisarticle.

References:

1. Tegmark, M. (2014). Friendly Artificial Intelligence: The Physics Challenge. ArXiv,abs/1409.0813.

2. Hong P, Schmid B, De Laender F, Eisenhauer N, Zhang X, Chen H, Craven D, De BoeckHJ, Hautier Y, Petchey OL, Reich PB, Steudel B, Striebel M, Thakur MP, Wang S.Biodiversity promotes ecosystem functioning despite environmental change. Ecol Lett. 2022Feb;25(2):555-569. doi: 10.1111/ele.13936. Epub 2021 Dec 2. PMID: 34854529; PMCID:PMC9300022.

3. Rafard A, Santoul F, Cucherousset J, Blanchet S. The community and ecosystemconsequences of intraspecific diversity: a meta-analysis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2019Apr;94(2):648-661. doi: 10.1111/brv.12472. Epub 2018 Oct 7. PMID: 30294844.

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