A few years ago I had this idea and I was wondering why in the years since I've never heard of anyone else taking this perspective. I'm 33 and grew up in this new techno age. I'm a jack of all trades and master of none, not formally educated on most things that interest me. I follow them and think about them all the time none the less. That being said, let me continue with my quandary.
Why in God's name are we still trying to program AI? Why don't we use this method:
Create hardware which can mimic physics. Write software which utilizes the hardware to perfectly model biological processes. Then plug a DNA genome into this combination and grow a virtual model. You start with simple genomes like a virus or something. Once you have a successful model of a virus you work on genomes of a higher order. Each successive step up the evolutionary ladder will bring you insights which help prepare you for the next. eventually you plug in a human genome. If done correctly you should be able to grow a VIRTUAL INTELLIGENCE. The consciousness programs itself naturally much like our own consciousnesses do.
Now i know our tech probably isn't close to even being able to model one simple chemical reaction fully, but I do know they now have graphics cards that use physics to allow the graphics produced to act as if in real world. I also know the have software which can model molecular structure and chemical reactions. I mean come on people the very definition of a computer is a glorified calculator and all our sciences have been reduced to mathematical models. I'm sure we could do a simple virus or bacteria and build a virtual environment for it to live in even if we had to build an acre facility to house the tech to do it. Just the insights you would get from this project alone could greatly advance our understanding of said organisms enough to revolutionize the medical industry.
Or am I just crazy for believing that? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.