JACK MCCAULEY
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EXPERT, PROFESSOR AT UC BERKELEY, ENGINEER OF GUITAR HERO
Jack McCauley is an Innovator in Residence at Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation at UC Berkeley, a Professor at UC Berkeley, a co-Founder of Oculus, and an American engineer, hardware designer, inventor, video game developer, and philanthropist.
Jack is best known for designing the guitars and drums for the Guitar Hero video game series, and as a co-founder and former chief engineer at Oculus VR. At Oculus, Jack designed and built the Oculus DK1 and DK2 virtual reality headsets. Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion. McCauley holds U.S. patents for inventions in software, audio effects, virtual reality, motion control, computer peripherals, and video game hardware and controllers.
Jack was awarded a full scholarship to attend University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a BSc., EECS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1986. Jack has authored numerous research papers in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and mathematical modeling of AI-based systems, and is currently pursuing new projects at his private R&D facility and hardware incubator in Pleasanton, California.
Virtual Versus True Reality
JACK MCCAULEY
Some have hypothesized that our earthly existence is part of an ultra-sophisticated computer gaming program, and God is just a major gamer spending time manipulating our world for God’s own entertainment. Is God playing the game out of curiosity or is there something God wants us to learn?
If it’s all game, then we are nothing more than 0s and 1s; the result of an incredibly advanced AI algorithm that is continually being updated. And it’s not like we’re all trying to “break out” of this game of eating, sleeping, spending, collecting, building, traveling, etc. On the contrary, it seems like everyone today just wants to augment their realities further with more temporary, reality-adjusting experiences and material goods. Sex, drugs, jewelry, cars, houses, and on and on. “Give me, give me, give me, more, more, more!” We’re nothing more than “non-player characters” trying to see the most, acquire the most, and of course post the most on social media.
In a world where our imaginations have allowed us to create so many different versions of reality, where we can immerse ourselves for hours (if not lifetimes) in places and stories that we ourselves have created, it’s easy to lose sight of the question — what, in our daily lived experience, is real?
We think that what we perceive is real, but is it? The “how” of “how it all works,” is hidden. What if we were to break out of the game; what would we find? What if we were to choose to seek out what God has for us beyond the game — the created world in front of us that so readily absorbs all our attention? Open up any pair of Virtual Reality Oculus Headsets, and you will see a space that is jampacked with wires, circuits, etc. What would happen if you randomly cut any wire? One thing is for sure, something (if not everything) would quit working properly. Everything in that headset is necessary; nothing is superfluous. I believe our world isn’t any different. Everything in nature is wonderfully engineered for life.
When we don’t make the effort to find out what’s real, we prioritize the world of the flesh over the world of the soul. It’s no wonder that we continuously make poor choices, ignore our responsibilities, harm each other and ourselves, and squander our time here on Earth. I’ve never doubted that what created this world was a loving, all-knowing intelligence that surpasses anything we can understand. The evidence is everywhere. As a child filled with wonder and curiosity, I was amazed at how well-designed everything was — from the way an insect’s tiny wings and legs coordinated to allow it to travel effortlessly across a field to the way the rotation of the seasons kept all of life in balance. Complexity at every level. This is not a game. The illusions that we layer on top of the world God created can’t replace reality — not for long, anyway.