AI expert reveals why he's 'almost certain' we're living in a simulation

Buckle up folks, as one AI expert has just revealed we may very well be living inside a simulation.

With artificial intelligence continuing to develop at breakneck speed, seeing the rise of ChatGPT, uncanny valley AI videos and concerns about the future of the job market, talk has now turned to what our hypothetical future could look like.

Technology boffins are currently debating when AI could feasibly become sentient and which job sectors will be lost to computer-based brains in the near future.

But what if I told you none of this mattered as we're all 'living inside a simulation' in the first place?

According to computer scientist Dr Roman Yampolskiy, this is the exact scenario which could be unfolding right at this moment.

According to simulation truthers, this is what the 'real' world looks like (Getty Stock Image)

Yampolskiy recently gave an interview on Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast, in which he revealed his predictions about which jobs will survive the AI revolution and a chilling prediction for what's to come in the next 20 years.

However, none of this may even matter anyway, as we could all just be a cog in someone else's simulation.

Simulation theory explained

If you've ever watched 1999 science-fiction classic The Matrix then you'll surely have some sort of understanding behind arguments that we're all living in a simulation.

Put simply, simulation theory believers argue that our universe, and everything inside of it, is nothing more than a computer simulation created by a technologically advanced civilisation.

The theory was popularised by philosopher Nick Bostrom, who argued the following:

• The fraction of human-level civilisations that reach a posthuman stage is very close to zero
• The fraction of posthuman civilisations that are interested in running ancestor-simulations is very close to zero
• The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one.

Or like this, as seen in The Matrix (Warner Bros)

If the third scenario were to be true, then it's statistically more likely that we're living in the simulation rather than the base reality.

Yampolskiy revealed that he is a believer in the simulation theory for this exact reason, saying: "That’s why I think we are in one [a simulation], that’s exactly the reason.

"AI is getting to the level of creating human-like agents and virtual reality is getting to the level of being indistinguishable from ours."

He continued: "If you believe we can create human level AI and you believe we can create reality as good as this.

"The moment this is affordable, I’m going to run billions of simulations of this exact one."

Yampolskiy then goes on to argue that religion is another indicator that we're living in a simulation, pointing out that most faiths include a 'super intelligent' being responsible for creating the world.

"[I'm] very close to certainty," Yampolskiy added, when asked whether or not he 100 percent believes this to be a simulation.

Unfortunately for us, there's no way to tell if this is real life or if our lives are nothing more than creations in someone else's personal Sims game.

Just something to think about as you go about your day.