# How to Think Computationally about AI, the Universe and Everything—Stephen Wolfram Writings - Host: [writings.stephenwolfram.com](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/writings.stephenwolfram.com/) - Saved: October 31, 2023 (2023-11-01T00:55:17Z) - Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/4ef9029dd658/ - JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/4ef9029dd658.json ## What Jamie wrote Wolfram is an impressive and deep thinker. He's one of the people that I think it would be amazing to just have a cup of coffee with, even if I don't think I would understand much of what he was saying. This TED AI talk frames up some very large concepts that he has been working on for decades. The expanse of it is amazing for 18 minutes. > And I ended that talk with a question: is computation ultimately what's underneath everything in our universe? > > I gave myself a decade to find out. And actually it could have needed a century. But in April 2020--just after the decade mark--we were [thrilled to be able to announce](https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2020/04/finally-we-may-have-a-path-to-the-fundamental-theory-of-physics-and-its-beautiful/) what seems to be the [ultimate "machine code" of the universe](https://www.wolframphysics.org/). > > And, yes, it’s computational. So computation isn't just a possible formalization; it’s the ultimate one for our universe. Wolfram later reflecting how how that affects are view of time… > Can one predict what will happen? No, there's what I call [computational irreducibility](https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/chap-12--the-principle-of-computational-equivalence#sect-12-6--computational-irreducibility): in effect the passage of time corresponds to an irreducible computation that we have to run to know how it will turn out. Then he blew my mind with this idea that we see the laws of the universe the way we do because they are the laws we would see, and that entities that had different characteristics would see different laws. > So then here's the big result. What [observers with those characteristics perceive](https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2021/03/what-is-consciousness-some-new-perspectives-from-our-physics-project/) in the ruliad necessarily follows certain laws. And those laws turn out to be precisely the three key theories of 20th-century physics: general relativity, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics and the [Second Law](https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/computational-foundations-for-the-second-law-of-thermodynamics/). > > It’s because we're observers like us that we perceive the laws of physics we do. And we are the LLMs? > You know, for much of human history we were kind of like LLMs, figuring things out by matching patterns in our minds. But then came more systematic formalization--and eventually computation. And with that we got a whole other level of power--to create truly new things, and in effect to go wherever we want in the ruliad. And lines like this are ones that give me great pause because he connects something to be incredibly true. > A society of AIs untethered by human input would effectively go off and explore the whole ruliad. But most of what they'd do would seem to us random and pointless. Much like now most of nature doesn't seem like it’s "achieving a purpose". Highly recommend taking 18 minutes to watch this, and then another 18 to watch it again. I often wonder how Wolfram will be viewed in a 100 years. Might he be an Einstein personality? ## Facts - Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/) ## Appears in - [WT268: Weekly Thing 268 / Schema, Achtung, Gamification](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/268/), Featured ## Same host - [Wolfram|Alpha as the Way to Bring Computational Knowledge Superpowers to ChatGPT—Stephen Wolfram Writings](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/95dfaefb3b90/) (writings.stephenwolfram.com, January 28, 2023) - [What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work?—Stephen Wolfram Writings](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/e3937fe71418/) (writings.stephenwolfram.com, February 17, 2023) - [ChatGPT Gets Its “Wolfram Superpowers”!—Stephen Wolfram Writings](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/9754b8b1f218/) (writings.stephenwolfram.com, March 28, 2023) - [Prompts for Work & Play: Launching the Wolfram Prompt Repository—Stephen Wolfram Writings](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/0d0c91b4a8fc/) (writings.stephenwolfram.com, June 13, 2023) ## Saved the same week - [watchOS 10: The MacStories Review - MacStories](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/8dbf109c3e9f/) (macstories.net, October 31, 2023) - [Apple Reveals New M3 iMac - MacStories](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/502e0f05ca76/) (macstories.net, October 31, 2023) - [U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere: the story behind the show | Wallpaper](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/71b25006d31d/) (wallpaper.com, October 31, 2023) - [C. Thi Nguyen: The Gamification of Public Discourse (Royal Institute of Philosophy) - YouTube](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/a6b6378c571a/) (youtube.com, October 31, 2023) - [Sleep - AVC](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/fd0b15f85881/) (avc.com, October 31, 2023) ## Elsewhere - Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/10/how-to-think-computationally-about-ai-the-universe-and-everything/