Curtis Silver, better known as Wired’s “GeekDad,” looks at our current level of technological progress, where we’re set to go in the near future, and can’t help but ask when humanity is going to face Judgment Day (well, almost). While that computer was built for a particular function and with the best intentions in mind, [...]
Posts under ‘Singularity’
Humanpl.us Linkstravaganza – 12/22/09
Lots of good stuff appearing over the last couple of days: Singularity Hub has a roundup of the “best robots of 2009” which includes a ton of video. You’ll see robots that build, robots that run, and even a robot that looks like a real, live human woman that got lost wandering the uncanny valley. [...]
New GOOD miniseries is “human’s guide” to the singularity
Over at GOOD.is, Michael Anissimov and Roko Mijic will be posting every Monday, until January 23, about the singularity. The first post, appropriately titled “Singularity 101: What is the singularity?” is a good place to start, giving readers background on what the “technological singularity” may mean for humanity, and what fantastical technologies may become reality [...]
Ray Kurzweil keynote from Singularity U
I’ve been writing a little bit about the Singularity University Executive Program that started last week, and we’ve seen some excellent reports coming in from Ted Greenwald at Wired. Here’s video of Ray Kurzweil’s keynote that opened the program. Always inspiring and interesting to hear from one of the leading thinkers and evangelists for transhuman [...]
“Gray goo” and hostile AI low on potential threat scale
If you’re like me, you are looking forward to the predicted singularity and the inevitable major advances in technology that will occur this century. However, there’s always the thought that things could go horribly wrong – self-replicating nanomachines could create “gray goo,” AI could turn against its creators, and so on. According to Mike Treder [...]
Inside Singularity University
For those of us who would love to attend Singularity University but are unable, Ted Greenwald at Wired is reporting on presentations taking place at the Singularity University Executive program, and it sounds like there has been some fascinating discussion. On the first day, attendees were treated to a presentation on the singularity by none [...]
Psychology Today skeptic takes on the singularity
Massimo Pigliucci of Psychology Today’s Rationally Speaking blog is “In Pursuit of Positive Skepticism” – and after sitting in on a presentation by philosopher David Chalmers regarding the singularity, he came away especially skeptical of the concept. In his blog post, “David Chalmers and the Singularity that will probably not come,” Pigliucci not only takes [...]
Will Facebook lead the way to the Singularity?
In an article at ReadWriteWeb, Marshall Kilpatrick notes singularitarian Peter Thiel’s investments in Facebook, and wonders if the world’s most popular social network could be the precursor to a “smarter than human intelligence.” Facebook’s machine intelligence is very real; its system is learning quickly about how humans interact and how different people respond to different [...]
Questions and answers on the singularity
Over at Accelerating Future, Michael Anissimov has provided detailed, insightful answers to 10 questions Popular Science recently posed regarding the singularity. He addresses the nature of a superintelligent AI, how such an entity could pose a danger to humans, how it might benefit humans, and more. This is an excellent primer on AI and the [...]