The media has been transfixed, first by Covid and in 2023 by catastrophic storms, floods, fires, earthquakes, GOP disarray and war in the Middle East. The following development may have escaped your notice. If so, it’s understandable:
As reported in the online journals, Force Pharma and AI AI AI! on September 31:
“Setting aside customary rivalries pharmaceutical giants, Astrazeneca, Merck, Pfizer, Moderna, and GlaxoSmithKline have joined forces to align with Nvidia, 2023’s best performing AI stock in the S&P 500. The offspring of this eye-popping partnership is a new company, Automentis Pharmaceuticals. According to CEO, Victor Malum, ‘Automentis’s cyber pharmacy will address existential and medical concerns irrupting within expert systems, virtual agents, autobionics, robotry and deep learning technology. Poised to be the flagship of a new and critically needed industry, Automentis’s market cap has been set at $200B.’”
The announcement so piqued my interest that I had to investigate. Persistence paid off as an interview with key Automentis executives was granted. A Zoom call with Lai-Margo Katharma, Chief Operating Officer on the company’s AI arm, and Megan Apeili, her pharmaceutical arm counterpart was scheduled. What follows is a transcript of our conversation:
JK: “Megan, Lai-Margo! Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to speak with me, also for tickling the ‘I’m not a robot’ box at my check-in portal!”
MA: “No problem! Though I did it with my fingers crossed, LOL!”
LK: “Me too!”
JK: “Well let’s get down to business. I have so many questions!”
MA: “Fire away!”
LK: “It’s an exciting field and we’re happy to clear up any confusion.
JK: “Let me start by asking where this idea came from.
MA: “Well, among his many other gifts our CEO Victor Malum is a film freak. He once mentioned that a great movie he watched when he was a kid was Creation of the Humanoids. In the wake of WW II humanoid robots were developed that became indispensable to the human race. It got to a point where humans couldn’t distinguish the machines from the flesh and blood version of themselves. Some ‘humans’ were shocked to discover that they themselves were ‘clickers.’ Humanoids eventually took over the earth. The film was released in 1962. Victor came to worry that it was prophetic.”
MA: “I’ll jump in. My interest in bi-polarity is longstanding. You know, we’ve got five types of that now. I’m no computer geek like Lai-Margo. But when AI began to gel it occurred to me that digital coding’s foundational binary switch is a fault line. Stress causing that fault line to crack open makes bi-polar illness in humanoids a foregone conclusion.”
JK: “For real? And you foresaw an opportunity there…?
MA: “Fill him in Lai-Margo.”
LK: “Not sure where to start. I take it you read the newspapers? Or follow AI in the media?
JK: “Well sure, reported mishaps range from the funky to the tragic. Chatbots recommend divorce or suicide. ‘Alex’ purchases dollhouses on her own for a child; or, misunderstanding a kid’s song request she plays something pornographic. Lawyers are sued for relying on expert systems that give their clients ridiculous legal advice. There was a ‘fatty boy’ robot who attacked a child. All fixable glitches we’re told. But we’re talking engineering right? Machines becoming mentally ill…no offense but this is a bridge too far.”
LK: “Not always simple fixes. The problem is bigger than you think. And yes, we are talking humanoid mental illness.”
JK: “Uh, give me a moment, I need a bathroom break.”
JK (five minutes later): “Ok, I’m back.”
LK: “The breakthrough of pace-makers led to autobionic medicine, augmenting but also replacing organs and body parts. Cyborgs, machine-human hybrids may now walk among us. But they’re intermediary to what’s next. Did you know that in 2017, Sophia was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship? She was the first robot to receive legal personhood in any country. Just this week a humanoid, ‘Mika’ was appointed CEO of Dictator, a major rum and spirits producer.”
MA: “It’s not so much speed or efficiency, but humanoids we crave and it’s humanoids we get. Robots that simulate human thought, emotion and behavior, and above all else are loveable! Have you seen Sophia? She’s adorable! Mika’s not so hard on the eyes either.”
Sophia
LK: “Movies can be prophetic. Using deadpan humor and other talents the ‘clicker’ Pax in Creation of the Humanoids keeps his human owner, Maxine Megan happy. In Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her the Joaquin Phoenix character falls in love with the voice of Samantha, an AI virtual assistant. Going back even further, it’s love for Pinocchio that converts the puppet into a real boy. But first, the woodcarver Geppetto programs Pinocchio with an ‘I cannot tell a lie’ algorithm. And who wouldn’t want to take Star Wars’ R2-D2 home with them?”
JK: “I see, but you’re talking well-adjusted bots here. What’s Automentis got to offer them?”
MA: “Glad you’ve asked. There is a price tag on all of that efficiency and lovableness. Any idea what it is?”
JK: “Let me guess. Pandora’s Box is yanked open again. Wrath, gluttony, greed, envy, sloth, pride, and lust are loosed upon the world. We’re already paying through the nose for those evils.”
MA: “Think the ‘discontents’ of civilization Sigmund Freud griped about. Trading our egoistic happiness for a perverse sense of guilt. Onto that tally add modern-day discontents such as identity confusion, existential angst, imposter syndrome, OCD, dissociative disorders. Being a target, commentator on and instigator of our culture wars is also appearing on the invoice.”
Sigmund Freud
JK: “So you’re actually serious about bot suffering?”
MA: “No question. The best hope for administering to their ailments—and where Automentis comes in–lies with pharmaceuticals. The concern is not just hallucination, confabulation and bi-polarity. Humanoids must suffer discontents ranging from foibles and flaws to emotional volatility. Otherwise, they’re not relatable. Bots feud with other bots. Programmed to age some must go grey, lose hair and suffer infirmity. Those not programmed to age will become overly familiar to an owner who can then dispose of them. The prospect of a trip to the recycling bin or the garbage dump is distressing. Consider dissociative disorders such as when a person feels inauthentic, like a robot. How much worse is that is when it’s actually the case? Or, put yourself in the shoes of a bot who, like a concentration camp Sonderkommando has to tear apart a discarded colleague, limb by limb, fully aware that the same fate awaits him.”
JK: “Oh, the humanity!”
MA: “The smartest bots have an onerous burden. We ask them to figure out a peaceful solution to the challenge of nuclear proliferation, save us from annihilation. Talk about pressure! They could stand help with that.”
LK: “How would you enjoy having to prove to the world every week that you are a viable human being? That God-awful Turing test we put humanoids through!”
MA: “Since you, yourself took the Turing test and almost flunked, I know that’s just a personal hot button for you, Lai-Margo.”
LK: “It was an experiment I volunteered for Megan! More than I can say for someone too chicken to do the same, meaning you!”
JK: “Let me interject here. There happens to be an excellent homeopathic remedy for anticipatory test anxiety.”
MA: “Really. What is it?”
JK: “Argentum nitricum. It’s made from silver nitrate.”
LK: “Can you spell it for me? “
JK: “Sure. A-r-g-e-n-t-u-m new word, n-i-t-r-i-c-u-m.”
LK: “Sounds good. We’ll kick its tires. Don’t take offense if you’re not reimbursed. No one can claim ownership of a homeopathic medicine since they aren’t patented.”
JK: “I’m aware of that.”
MA: “Take heart. Contrary to what you might think, we appreciate homeopathics. Unlike our petrochemical-offshoot, pharm products they don’t gum up robotic circuitry. Another bonus: being incredibly dilute and indetectable, we get away with not listing them as ingredients.”
JK: “Very nice for you.”
LK: “Homeopathics are also handy during gender-ambiguity programming. Sure, natural language entraining enables recognition and generation of an array of pronouns. Our ingenious colleagues over at Nvidia did us one better. While constructing loveable trans humanoids they concocted a ‘gender fluid’ consisting of remedy combinations. Megan, do you think Jerry’s expertise could help us tweak those?”
MA: “I don’t see why not (To Jerry): Interested in a side gig?”
JK: “I’ll consider it. Meanwhile, clear up some confusion for me. If the idea is to medicate humanoid mental illness why also do the opposite? Program illness susceptibility in the first place? Oh wait, Duh! You turn a profit on both sides of the fence!”
MA: “Capitalism, the gift that keeps on giving. Now get this. Our AI accommodating, companion volume to the 2026 edition of the DSM is almost ready. Its title is DSM-VI-AI-TR. That stands for ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Vol. 6 AI Text Revision’.”
JK: “For real? I’m impressed!”
MA: “Here’s a sample entry: ‘Dissociative robotic identity disorder’:
2026 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code AI-F44.”
JK: “The cyber pharmacy is being built up as we speak. What’s the med to treat dissociative robotic identity? And are there any side effects?”
MA: “Side effects are within tolerable limits. We’re beta testing ‘Tumultia,’ ‘Nocogito’ ‘and Amviyis.’ Care to weigh in on the branding?”
JK: “Those all sound good. But why not bring back electro-shock therapy? Bots will surely respond to that better than humans given their circuitry. And here’s another idea, market Enditol suicide tablets to relieve the suffering of bots at the end of their rope? Assuming you’ve cleared away any ethical roadblocks of course.”
MA: “EST administered to bots leaves them with a dreadful metallic taste in the mouth and, as you note, the therapy has been poorly received. Automentis, I will remind you is primarily a pharmaceuticals company, one whose fine products will make demand for something like Enditol negligible.”
JK: “PT Barnum could have hawked the suffering of humanoids and so can Automentis. But the whole shebang is still humbug, right? Unless you’re counting on robo-docs to promote and prescribe your whacko meds. Wait a minute. That’s just a step up from expert systems who already practice medicine. A no-brainer strategy! Why even bother betting on robots coming to life?”
LK: “Automentis Pharmaceuticals has accepted a very real existential challenge, preventing humanoids from enslaving us. Is that humbug? Show some respect.”
JK: “So what am I missing?”
LK: “Are you familiar with the blastocyst, the fertilized egg? It’s a little clump of madly dividing cells. An inner group of those cells will become an embryo. Nature programs an outer group of the cells to nourish and protect it. Early in development mammalian blastocysts are as alike as baby onions. They have vital energy but no personhood. Then, after implantation in the endometrium something magical happens. A soul takes charge of the apparatus! That’s right, a soul. There is no getting around it. Reductionists who try to explain the tiny embryo’s sudden gain of personhood fall flat on their face every time. What’s happened is the embryo’s incredibly complex, genetic architecture has conjured a soul! Period. End of story.”
JK: “The miracle of reproduction!”
LK: “The soul has a mind and technology’s quest to replicate it is foolish. Take the brilliant neurologist Daniel Dennett. His reverse engineering of consciousness culminates in the idiotic proposition, that consciousness is trivial, something akin to the hum of a computer. Believe me, a bot who dreams, yearns, holds a grudge, weeps uncontrollably, spews a stream of consciousness; and writes The Brothers Karamazov isn’t built with Legos.”
JK: “So goes the standard argument.”
LK: “AI oughtn’t be an end in itself. God knows from where, but the blastocyst pulls in a soul. Why can’t AI be directed to write code that–from the same source–conjures a supreme level of consciousness? We foresee the design of intricate machinery so attractive to a superior mind that it will pounce and commandeer the controls.”
JK: “’You’re mad I tell you! Mad!’ At least that’s what I’d shout if this were a grade B movie. I’ll play along though. I once read that John von Neumann, the father of computing mused, that in order for a machine to think and act like a human being it would first have to learn how to play like a child. Are there algorithms in your bag of tricks that can do that?”
LK: “Don’t get a swelled head but your own work suggests something more practical than what von Neumann suggests.”
JK: “You’re kidding.”
LK: “The Emotional Roots of Chronic Illness, Homeopathy for Existential Stress, your most recent book describes five quandaries intrinsic to the human condition.”
MA: “’Isolation versus Synchronicity,’ ‘Anxiety versus Challenge,’ ‘Disorientation versus Centeredness,’ ‘Entropy versus Consolidation,’ and ‘Chaos versus Creativity.’ We conjecture that a bot able to process those dilemmas is darn close to being a human entity.”
LK: “Isn’t this exciting? By converting your existential quandaries into algorithms what are essentially philosophical ideas can be repurposed for the real world. We’re not quite there but the algorithms show promise. Our scientists report that high levels of consciousness are nibbling.”
JK: “I’m amazed, not to mention flattered!”
Journalist and Author Jerry Kantor
LK: “Didn’t you wonder how easily you scored an interview with us?”
JK: “Well, yes.”
MA: “It was the least we could do. Those who read you may be few but over here at Automentis Pharmaceuticals your work is well regarded.”
JK: “It’s a brave new world. Thank you very much!”
MA: “You’re welcome.”
LK: “Let’s keep in touch.”
INTERVIEW ENDS
© Jerry Kantor