[Carlhole]

Revenge of the nerds: Should we listen to futurists or are they leading us towards ‘nerdocalypse’?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he singularity is a metaphorical term used to express the transformative moment when technology has moved so rapidly that the human race can never be the same again. This could be a good thing, according to Kurzweil, if we avoid the dangers of genetics, nanotechnology and robotics, then succeed in harnessing artificial intelligence to conquer mortality and accept the next, transhuman phase of our evolution. Or it could all go badly wrong, resulting in what some have dubbed the "nerdocalypse". In Kurzweil's estimation we should know, either way, by 2045.

It's that sense of imminence and immediacy that has made the singularity such a passionately contested proposition, and attracted interest – and investment – from extremely wealthy and intelligent individuals, as well as Google and Nasa, which have each put money into the Singularity University (co-founded by Kurzweil) near San Jose.

An early hit at the summit is biophysicist and entrepreneur Gregory Stock, who enthuses the paying audience of future-followers with statements such as "science has slammed the evolutionary process into fast forward" and "evolution is itself evolving"...

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'H')assabis is a former child chess prodigy and videogames designer hoping to surf the revolution in cognitive neuroscience, and enable computers to not only understand a concept but to "learn, store, and flexibly use concepts". This he hopes to achieve by 2020, by pursuing an approach summed up by the equation: machine learning + neuroscience = artificial general intelligence. "I want to create an interdisciplinary lab that basically has computer scientists and neuroscientists working together."

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', ''')Hoping to' sums it up. Come back when something comes of it. Sorry, but I'm highly sceptical of such endeavours. Remeber that AI bombed. Maybe, just maybe, something will come of it. Just don't bank on it.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', ''')Hoping to' sums it up. Come back when something comes of it. Sorry, but I'm highly sceptical of such endeavours. Remeber that AI bombed. Maybe, just maybe, something will come of it. Just don't bank on it.

[Sixstrings]

Carl, why are you so obsessed with the singularity? I've agreed with you before that it's sort of interesting in a far-off future kind of way, but you seem to really be stuck on it.

And what would be so great about it, anyhow? Seems to me it will put a LOT of people out of work. Is a Blade Runner dystopia really what you want, a world where sentient software only further enables massive human suffering and poverty? How is that an improvement for the human condition? I think self-aware and intelligent software would undoubtedly be used to put millions more out of work and those jobs would never be replaced. Just more poverty and more tech-enabled profits for the rich.

And ultimately, I would think sentient software would be detrimental to our own species. Would anyone bother to become an engineer anymore, or any higher learning at all for that matter, if computers were able to do all the big thinking? Unable to compete with the computers, post-singularity humans would devolve into imbeciles within a few generations.

EDIT: And look at the first article you posted:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'a')ttracted interest – and investment – from extremely wealthy and intelligent individuals

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'C')arl, why are you so obsessed with the singularity? I've agreed with you before that it's sort of interesting in a far-off future kind of way, but you seem to really be stuck on it.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')volutionary forces are in the driver's seat, my friend.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')volutionary forces are in the driver's seat, my friend.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')volutionary forces are in the driver's seat, my friend.

[Pops]

Personally I have a hard time figuring out the motivations and future actions of average humans I know fairly well. It seems few of us have much of a chance at guessing the actions and motivations of a superhuman [whatever].

Of course if a person can convince themselves that only good things will result... immortality, the end of acne, endless wet dreams, etc, then I suppose it's as good a fantasy as Overnight Armageddon, 72 virgins, streets of gold or smoking factory-rolled cigarettes.

But my question is, if the singularity is the unforeseeable point that technology advance turns into a self-referential feedback loop with no possible escape (like the event horizon of a black hole) how do you know what the trajectory will be for humans or if humans will even be involved or if humans will be just another biological annoyance?

It dawns on me that it's no surprise most dystopian future stories involve corporations and non-biological superhumans.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'I') quoted you, not them.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'I') quoted you, not them.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'I')f you don't think it is hard to believe, make a prediction as to when we will see the peak in Science and what will be our last, best discovery?

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'E')volution for humans kind of stopped a long time ago. Making machines clever enough to achieve some sort of singularity has nothing to do with evolution, it's a mere analogy for evolution. Your thinking seems to be very sloppy.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', 'L')ots of people here think fossil fuels are going to become less abundant...

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'E')volution for humans kind of stopped a long time ago. Making machines clever enough to achieve some sort of singularity has nothing to do with evolution, it's a mere analogy for evolution. Your thinking seems to be very sloppy.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'T')o believe all that doom crap, you have to hold innovation and adaptation constant. But that's not realistic at all, since you see the MOST innovation and adaptation during crises.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '
')Synthetic Genomics was the first biotech company to construct an organism's DNA from scratch on a computer and implant it into a functioning and reproducing cell.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'T')hese things may affect evolutionary forces if the ability to simulate intelligence gets anywhere. So far there are NO results showing intelligence.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '
')Synthetic Genomics was the first biotech company to construct an organism's DNA from scratch on a computer and implant it into a functioning and reproducing cell.