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Jesse Bruce
Can the History of Technology Predict the Future of it?
When looking at the history of science and technology can we identify any themes or common patterns throughout time? That is, when looking at the history of science and technology as a whole, can we use this information to make accurate predictions of the future of science and technology? Science fiction writers have been doing it for years, but it is no longer a topic reserved for fiction writers, but a topic beginning to be explored by philosophers and intellects. One prominent theory, or idea that is being discussed of late, is the idea of "the singularity".
“The Singularity is a future period, [in] which technological change will be so rapid and its impact so profound that every aspect of human life will be irreversibly transformed.” –Ray Kurzweil. The concept of singularity was borrowed from physics, where it is used to describe the fact that all known laws of physics break down at a black hole (a space-time singularity), and no information can escape its event horizon. The technological singularity represents an intelligence event horizon where various future technologies such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and robotics will synergize to create ultra-intelligent “post-human” beings and AI that far surpass the intelligence of normal humans. At this point a positive feedback loop will occur between post-humans and AI; designing successively and increasingly intelligent minds/AI, which will result in change becoming so rapid that it becomes impossible to predict anything beyond this point, from our current vantage point.
It is believed that at this point the distinction between man and machine will be gone, as we will be a sign...
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...ether AI+/AI++ are considered sentient beings.
The looming possibility of a singularity is an important topic that I think covers many areas of philosophy and ethics, or at least for enjoyment about speculating on the possible future and what it will mean. I think that a lot of these things will come to happen in one way or another, but I am not convinced that this will happen as soon as 2045. Much of AI predictions throughout history have been optimistic and have fallen short of their mark. It is an interesting topic none the less that I believe deserves to be in the conversation, as do other scientists and philosophers in various fields.
http://bigthink.com
Chalmers, D. (2010). The singularity: A philosophical analysis. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 17(9-10), 9-10.
Ray Kurzweil - The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
One of the key questions raised by Rupert Sheldrake in the Seven Experiments That Could Change the World, is are we more than the ghost in the machine? It is perfectly acceptable to Sheldrake that humans are more than their brain, and because of this, and in actual reality “the mind is indeed extended beyond the brain, as most people throughout most of human history have believed.” (Sheldrake, Seven Experiments 104)
To conclude, this article is important because it discusses the Singularity University features, aims, and how the studies run there. And it talks about how this generation who will graduate from this university will create our future later. However, even though Cadwalladr is proud of having a university like the Singularity University. Cadwalladr, and Peter Diamandis, and the other futurist should think of the reasons of why there is a problems in this world not by creating an artificial intelligence that will get rid of these problems.
The world is filled with dire predictions for the end of man-kind that have never come to fruition but the predictions keep being announced, and people keep believing them. One prediction that should be removed from the realm of possibility is that computers or robot will somehow play a significant role in the destruction of our world. The Bible records Jesus in the book of Matthew commenting on when the end of time will arrive, saying, "No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows." That being said, if people keep guessing, the law of probability states that eventually someone will get it right. Unfortunately, no one will be around to congratulate the winner.
Krill, Paul. "The Age of the Sentient Machine Is upon Us." InfoWorld. 14 Mar. 2013. Web.
... in 21th century, and it might already dominate humans’ life. Jastrow predicted computer will be part of human society in the future, and Levy’s real life examples matched Jastrow’s prediction. The computer intelligence that Jastrow mentioned was about imitated human brain and reasoning mechanism. However, according to Levy, computer intelligence nowadays is about developing AI’s own reasoning pattern and handling complicated task from data sets and algorithms, which is nothing like human. From Levy’s view on today’s version of AI technology, Jastrow’s prediction about AI evolution is not going to happen. As computer intelligence does not aim to recreate a human brain, the whole idea of computer substitutes human does not exist. Also, Levy said it is irrelevant to fear AI may control human, as people in today’s society cannot live without computer intelligence.
When talking about the future of technology, one can only imagine what it will be down the road. The future of technology evokes many questions about the preservation of human existence, human advancement and intelligence. Some writers even discuss their positions on the future of technology and human kind. Writers such as James J. Bell, who explains the theory of the ‘Singularity’. In summary, he states that the rate of technological advancement, compared to human intelligence, will one day reach the ‘singularity’ were it will surpass the human mind (pg. 52). We may never know if technology will ever have the power to surpass the human intellect or what the consequences will be if it does attain these capabilities. Will humans still maintain control over them, or will they control us? Theses eight articles illustrate the implicit and explicit control that technology holds over humans in the future.
A well supported outlook towards the future of technology would be “cautiously optimistic.” Nuclear fission is one example of this. While is did further our understanding of atomic theory and resulted in a solution to many energy woes, it also caused the tragedies of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Chernobyl. Looking towards the 21st century, artificial intelligence is shaping up to be another highly controversial piece of technology that we are only beginning to understand. As George Santayana once said, “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” We can only hope that the world has learned an important lesson from these tragedies: never underestimate the power of
As our research into science and technology ever increases its seems inevitable that in the near future Artificial Intelligent machines will exist and become part of our everyday life such as we see with modern computers today.
When most people think of artificial intelligence they might think of a scene from I, Robot or from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They might think of robots that highly resemble humans start a revolution against humanity and suddenly, because of man’s creation, man is no longer the pinnacle of earth’s hierarchy of creatures. For this reason, it might scare people when I say that we already utilize artificial intelligence in every day society. While it might not be robots fighting to win their freedom to live, or a defense system that decides humanity is the greatest threat to the world, artificial intelligence already plays a big role in how business is conducted today.
Bar-Cohen, Y. (2009). The coming robot revolution expectations and fears about emerging intelligent, humanlike machines. Springer.
Pop culture has explored this idea and gave fictional tales of what can happen if artificial intelligence “goes bad”. While it may not be a credible source, it still has room for interpretation. Allowing robotics what is arguably the most influential trait today, a mind, is a frightening thought. Researching the human mind is still a field of study today and is not fully understood. How can scientists and researchers behind artificial intelligence accurately come up with how the human mind interacts with itself and its surroundings? Yes, they can start with the ability to learn, such as a path of an infant absorbing knowledge through its adolescence, but what if the expansion of information becomes exponential? The artificial intelligence may gain full control and depth of their mind and comprehend the world differently as humans do. This brings the artificial intelligence to a cognitive and spiritual level beyond that of the human mind. If this were to happen humans cannot be able to understand the artificial intelligence. They have programmed it to learn itself, its mind, and how to operate. What level is that beyond a human mind, a god? At one point researchers that developed the artificial intelligence had a grasp and outlook for their technology’s lifespan. What they thought the artificial intelligence may derive from its programming, has transformed into something completely dissimilar. The artificial
According to some, this event will lead to the extermination of mankind as humans are deemed obsolete. Yet others are projecting a mergence between A.I. and humanity, a gradual conversion of man and machine. Will the projected apex of our technical evolution be a gradual or abrupt end of mankind? The Technological singularity is defined by three concepts: 1. the moment when artificial intelligence becomes super intelligent, capable of improving itself more rapidly than the greatest human mind, 2.)
The big bang theory is an attempt to explain how the world began. The big bang theory begins with what is called a “singularity.” This term is used to describe an area in space which defies all the known laws of physics. Singularities are thought to exist at the core of black holes. Black holes are areas of intense gravitational pressure. The pressure is thought to be so intense that matter is pressed together into an infinite amount of pressure. The dense hot mass of the singularity slowly expanded. This process is called inflation. As the singularity expanded the universe went from dense and hot to cool and expansive. Inflation is still continuing on today which means that the universe is continually expanding.
Shyam Sankar, named by CNN as one of the world’s top ten leading speakers, says the key to AI evolvement is the improvement of human-computer symbiosis. Sankar believes humans should be more heavily relied upon in AI and technological evolvement. Sankar’s theory is just one of the many that will encompass the future innovations of AI. The next phase and future of AI is that scientists now want to utilize both human and machine strengths to create a super intelligent thing. From what history has taught us, the unimaginable is possible with determination. Just over fifty years ago, AI was implemented through robots completing a series of demands. Then it progressed to the point that AI can be integrated into society, seen through interactive interfaces like Google Maps or the Siri App. Today, humans have taught machines to effectively take on human jobs, and tasks that have created a more efficient world. The future of AI is up to the creativity and innovation of current society’s scientists, leaders, thinkers, professors, students and
Artificial intelligence is an idea of if the human thought process can be mechanized. It was around the 1940’s – 50’s that a group of people came together to discuss the possibility of creating an artificial brain and its uses. These people were a variety of scientists from different fields such as mathematics, economics, engineering, and etc. This was the birth of the field of artificial intelligence. While artificial intelligence would prove to be technologically revolutionary by introducing new ideas such as quantum computers or robots, said new ideas could result in the downfall of mankind. The result could range to being the plummet of the economy, the end of the human race, or even the corruption of the next generation and onwards. All of these problems resulting in the possibility of the end of the earth. The more we need to learn more about technology and further advance it, the closer we are getting to the extinction of the human race. These are the reasons why the advancement of artificial intelligent should be halted or banned so no harm can be done even without the intentions.