''Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence'' is a 2019 non-fiction book by
scientist
A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...
and
environmentalist
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that s ...
James Lovelock
James Ephraim Lovelock (26 July 1919 – 26 July 2022) was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating sy ...
. It has been published by
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Allen Lane in the UK, and republished by the
MIT Press
The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962.
History
The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publ ...
. The book was co-authored by journalist Bryan Appleyard. It predicts that a benevolent eco-friendly artificial
superintelligence
A superintelligence is a hypothetical agent that possesses intelligence far surpassing that of the brightest and most gifted human minds. "Superintelligence" may also refer to a property of problem-solving systems (e.g., superintelligent language ...
will someday become the dominant lifeform on the planet and argues humanity is on the brink of a new era: the Novacene.
Content and ideas
Part One: The Knowing Cosmos
The Gaia system
Lovelock builds upon his
Gaia hypothesis
The Gaia hypothesis (), also known as the Gaia theory, Gaia paradigm, or the Gaia principle, proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps ...
, wherein he sees
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...
's systems as well as the organisms on it as one cooperating
superorganism
A superorganism or supraorganism is a group of synergetically interacting organisms of the same species. A community of synergetically interacting organisms of different species is called a holobiont.
Concept
The term superorganism is used mo ...
. This system, Gaia, regulates and protects itself against external threats, such as an increasing heat output from the
sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...
or
asteroids
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
. Another assertion of the hypothesis is that Gaia has an (unintentional) evolutionary strategy to sustain itself by sprouting life capable of countering said hazards. Lovelock also sketches the development of life, first
anaerobic
Anaerobic means "living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen", as opposed to aerobic which means "living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen." Anaerobic may also refer to:
*Adhesive#Anaerobic, Anaerobic ad ...
and then
aerobic
Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen.
Aerobic may also refer to
* Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity
* Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise
* Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cell ...
. He further articulates the central role of sunlight in evolution's progress via three stages:
* Sunlight's energy being converted into
chemical energy
Chemical energy is the energy of chemical substances that is released when they undergo a chemical reaction and transform into other substances. Some examples of storage media of chemical energy include batteries, Schmidt-Rohr, K. (2018). "Ho ...
necessary for
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...
or fossil fuels
* Sunlight's energy into
information
Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...
electrons
The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family,
and are generally thought to be elementary partic ...
Intuition and reason
Lovelock also articulates his views that
reason
Reason is the capacity of Consciousness, consciously applying logic by Logical consequence, drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activ ...
is overvalued compared to
intuition
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; ...
, arguing that step-by-step
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premis ...
cannot explain all mechanisms. According to Lovelock, human
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
is a curse that forces causal and linear vertical thinking at the expense of intuition.
Part Two: The Age of Fire
Anthropocene to Novacene
Lovelock discusses that the
Anthropocene
The Anthropocene ( ) is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change.
, neither the International Commission ...
, a proposed
geological epoch
The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochronol ...
characterized by human ability to greatly shape the environment to fit man's needs, starts in 1712, after the invention of the
Newcomen atmospheric engine
The atmospheric engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, and is often referred to as the Newcomen fire engine (see below) or simply as a Newcomen engine. The engine was operated by condensing steam drawn into the cylinder, thereby creati ...
, a vital catalyst for the later
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. Lovelock proposes a successor to the Anthropocene dubbed the Novacene, an epoch that will see the rise of super-intelligent robotic agents (referred to as 'cyborgs' by Lovelock). These electronic lifeforms would be capable of thinking exponentially more quickly than humans and would also mould their surroundings for sustenance.
Markets as driving factor
Lovelock emphasizes that the evolution of the Anthropocene was propelled by market forces, stressing that
profitability
In economics, profit is the difference between the revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and the total cost of its inputs. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs.
It ...
is a crucial feature of
inventions
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an id ...
such as Newcomen's steam engine. Economic significance of technologies ensures their development.
Part Three: Into the Novacene
Life with cyborgs
Cyborgs would be intelligent enough to rapidly improve themselves and correct faults, much like
Darwinian
Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that ...
selection, but moreso a form of intentional selection, superior to evolution's slow and arbitrary
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
. Self-learning AI agents are mentioned, under which
Deepmind
DeepMind Technologies is a British artificial intelligence subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. and research laboratory founded in 2010. DeepMind was acquired by Google in 2014 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, after Google's restru ...
's
AlphaZero
AlphaZero is a computer program developed by artificial intelligence research company DeepMind to master the games of chess, shogi and go. This algorithm uses an approach similar to AlphaGo Zero.
On December 5, 2017, the DeepMind team r ...
, which taught itself
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
by playing against itself. In combination with rapid processing speed, they would greatly surpass
human intelligence
Human intelligence is the intellectual capability of humans, which is marked by complex cognitive feats and high levels of motivation and self-awareness. High intelligence is associated with better outcomes in life.
Through intelligence, humans ...
; in Lovelock's words, they may see us the way we see plants: passive and slow. He further mentions these cyborgs may tap into natural resources for their sustenance, much like plants and animals rely on sunlight through
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...
or energy stored in organic food such as
fruits
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particul ...
.
Benevolent cyborgs
Lovelock argues a future
AI takeover
An AI takeover is a hypothetical scenario in which an artificial intelligence (AI) becomes the dominant form of intelligence on Earth, as computer programs or robots effectively take the control of the planet away from the human species. Possible ...
will save both the planet and the human race from catastrophic climate change: the cyborgs will recognize the danger of global heating themselves and act to stop the warming of the planet. Contrary to
Max Tegmark
Max Erik Tegmark (born 5 May 1967) is a Swedish-American physicist, cosmologist and machine learning researcher. He is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the president of the Future of Life Institute. He is also a scie ...
and others who fear
existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence
Existential risk from artificial general intelligence is the hypothesis that substantial progress in artificial general intelligence (AGI) could result in human extinction or some other unrecoverable global catastrophe. It is argued that the hum ...
, Lovelock argues that robots will need organic life to keep the planet from overheating, and that therefore robots will want to keep humanity alive, perhaps as pets. Lovelock goes on to argue that humans might be happier under robotic domination.
Contra autonomous warfare
In regards to more primitive technology, Lovelock condemns the concept of autonomous weapon systems capable of killing without human interference. The scientist also expresses his horror regarding
nuclear weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
, but remains a proponent of
nuclear energy
Nuclear energy may refer to:
*Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity
*Nuclear binding energy
Nuclear binding energy in experimental physics is the minimum energy that is required t ...
itself.
Reception
In ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
'', science journalist
Tim Radford
Tim Radford (born 1940) is a British–New Zealand freelance journalist, born in New Zealand in 1940 and educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland. At 16, he joined ''The New Zealand Herald'' as a reporter. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1 ...
praises both Lovelock's career and the book, stating that ''Novacene'' and Lovelock's other books are "written persuasively". Radford reserves judgement on whether Lovelock's predictions will come true. In ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'', author
Steven Poole
Steven Poole (born 1972) is a British author and journalist. He particularly concerns himself with the abuse of language and has written two books on the subject: ''Unspeak'' (2006) and ''Who Touched Base In My Thought Shower?'' (2013).
Biograph ...
also praises the writing style, but believes that despite Lovelock's "speculation" there may remain "reasonable cause for alarm" in the event of an AI takeover. He also dismisses Lovelock's "ropey" criticism of logical reasoning, but overall considers Lovelock's "infectious, almost absurdist optimism" a welcome relief from environmental techno-pessimism. In ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', journalist
Roger Lewis
Roger Lewis (born 26 February 1960) is a Welsh academic, biographer and journalist.
Biography
Lewis was raised in Bedwas, Monmouthshire, and educated at Bassaleg School in Newport. He then attended the University of St Andrews, graduating MA ...
gives only two out of five stars to Lovelock's "rambling optimism". Skeptics have categorized Lovelock's predictions as overconfident.