MUMBAI - According to some theories, information is the fifth dimension. The way people process that information in their ‘minds’ is a remarkable ability. Think about it: The world as it stands today has been created by people’s capacity to generate information in a space within themselves called the ‘mind’ or ‘imagination.’ This is where people first conceive of an idea before actually acting on it.

From planning the day to building spaceships, everything is first ‘thought’ here. This ‘space’ - unique to almost every human - humanity still knows surprisingly little about, though it is also the place where these black words on a white screen are helping readers conceive this author’s message. This transference through the semiotics of shared language is a miracle necessitated by humans’ inability to directly connect these personal mind spaces.

The key to AGI

One should not be surprised if this is also the key to building artificial general intelligence (AGI) - i.e., machines many degrees smarter than their predecessors. AGI is seen as an inevitability - a matter of when, not if - but all is not that simple. The world might have already hit a roadblock in its development of artificial intelligence (AI) without even realizing it. The way past this hurdle likely involves figuring out how this unique human ability - one that sets people apart from every other species - works.

This ‘mind’ or ‘space’ is also the key to the digital-analog interface, where the brain is partially replicated using AI. As time goes on, humanity will mimic more of it and maybe even create a digital brain that is a replica of the biological version, but how will people create a ‘mind’ to go with that brain?

When I wrote ‘think about it’ at the beginning of this article, what did I mean? Where did I send you, the reader, to think about it, and where did