The Singularity is Near

[blackwidow]

I love science fiction.
I just watched the movie HER. It’s about a not so distant future where a guy falls in love with his computer operating system. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/

I thought the movie was done really well. It has a few plot holes and you need to have some suspension of disbelief but overall it is an interesting idea. The reason I liked it is because the premise was so very mundane and ordinary.
Not sci-fi Robocop-Bladerunner type stuff…(don’t get me wrong I love Robo-cop and Bladerunner).
Anyway, it reminded me of a recent article in Time magazine about a robot telemarketer who actually denies being a robot.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/12/10/mee ... s-a-robot/

If you know anything about the Tran-humanist movement or futurist Ray Kurzweil you know he/they advocate for a future where AI technology surpasses human capability. He calls it the Singularity and he predicts it will happen by 2045.

In February of 2012 the first Global Future 2045 Congress was held in Moscow. There, over 50 world leading scientists from multiple disciplines met to develop a strategy for the future development of humankind. One of the main goals of the Congress was to construct a global network of scientists to further research on the development of cybernetic technology, with the ultimate goal of transferring a human's individual consciousness to an artificial carrier. There is a very interesting promotional video on this website. http://2045.com/

Does anyone ever think about these potential futures and the speed in which technology is changing the face of civilized society?

Is it good or bad?

Singularity.jpg (5 KiB) Viewed 6761 times

[Blind Squirrel]

Does anyone ever think about these potential futures and the speed in which technology is changing the face of civilized society?
Is it good or bad?

I never gave it much thought.

Ted Kaczynski Squirrel

[blackwidow]

Ted K. Squirrel
I do.
I guess that's why I made the post.

Any Relation to ??...

RocketJSquirrel.jpg (16.17 KiB) Viewed 6753 times

[Blind Squirrel]

I was just screwing around. Ted K. was the first thing I thought of.

No relation to Rocket J. but this is a true story:

My wife wanted to name our son Rocky. I said no way I'm having a kid who constantly gets in fights at school. So we compromised and named him Austin Rocket. When he was born the Doctor asks what his name is and we tell him. He responds "as in Roger "Rocket" Clemens"? I said nah, as in Rocket J. Squirrel. That was 24 years ago.

Ismael Squirrel

[PDad]

Ismael Squirrel

Do you want us to call you Ismael or Ishmael? That reminds me of a whale of a story...

[Battle]

Does anyone ever think about these potential futures and the speed in which technology is changing the face of civilized society?

Is it good or bad?

Singularity.jpg

Well here is my take...For entrepreneurs, it's probably a good thing. For blue collar workers, not so good.

[PDad]

Does anyone ever think about these potential futures and the speed in which technology is changing the face of civilized society? Is it good or bad?

Not only is technology changing fast - it is accelerating and changing faster with each new technology enabling the next. I wonder how many times our kids are going to have to retool their skill sets over their careers.

[Battle]

Like Jay Leno has brought up in his opening on the tonight show, it brings to mind just how lazy of a society are we going to become? It seems that bicycles have been replaced by cell phones for the youth.

[ontheblack]

Its much closer than people think, assuming many think about it at all.

Google is at the forefront of machine learning so its no surprise that Kurzweil now works with their AI team

http://www.wired.com/business/2013/04/k ... google-ai/

Google's Quantum AI Lab

[jonriv]

Had a Philosophy course in college that focused on AI. Had a take home paper if a Computer with AI could have a "soul" or "conscience".

led to some real interesting class discussions