September 2010

Kevin Warwick on Singularity Podcast: You Have To Take Risks To Be Part Of The Future

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Kevin Warwick on Singularity Podcast: You Have To Take Risks To Be Part Of The Future

In today’s edition of Singularity Podcast I had the privilege of doing an hour long interview with the first cyborg — Prof. Kevin Warwick. I enjoyed talking to Prof. Warwick immensely and got him to share his views on a wide variety of topics such as human and artificial intelligence, robotics, the technological singularity, God, the beginning of the universe and so on. Also, during the interview Kevin Warwick threw a friendly challenge towards Ray Kurzweil by asking: “Why is it that Ray hasn’t experimented with implant technology yet?” Enjoy! Who is Kevin Warwick? Kevin Warwick is Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, England, where he carries out research in artificial intelligence, control, robotics and cyborgs. As well as publishing over 500 research papers, Kevin’s experiments into implant technology led to him being featured as the cover story [...]

Read the full article →

Aubrey de Grey’s Singularity Podcast: Longevity Escape Velocity May Be Closer Than We Think

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Aubrey de Grey’s Singularity Podcast: Longevity Escape Velocity May Be Closer Than We Think

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Aubrey de Grey. He is a world famous and controversial author and theoretician in the field of gerontology and is currently serving as a chief science officer at the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) foundation. During his interview for singularity podcast, Dr. de Grey shared his views on a wide spectrum of topics such as his concept of longevity escape velocity as well as aging, religion, artificial intelligence, the technological singularity, Ray Kurzweil, human uploading and others. You can listen to or download the full interview above. To find out more about Dr. Aubrey de Grey click here. To see Christopher Syke’s full documentary about the controversial gerontologist watch Do You Want to Live Forever? To find out more about the SENS foundation click the banner below. So, do you [...]

Read the full article →

A Better Future, Better You: What Is The Best Singularity Tagline?

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for A Better Future, Better You: What Is The Best Singularity Tagline?

Greetings Friends, It seems that I am finally getting some traction on the blog re-design and we may have a brand new and improved look and feel for Singularity Weblog within a couple of weeks. A big part of it all have been your thoughts, comments and other input from The Singularity Survey Contest so I want to thank you for your help. As promised before, the winner of the contest — Mito66@*******.**, will receive a hardcover copy of Ray Kurzweil‘s seminal book The Singularity is Near. Mito’s winning idea was his suggestion for the following Singularity Weblog tagline: A Better Future, Better You! I have been looking for a better slogan to replace my original, but rather obscure Will Technology Replace Biology? and think that we may have found a good one. Mito’s tagline is brilliantly short, clear, positive [...]

Read the full article →

Hamlet’s Transhumanist Dilemma: Will Technology Replace Biology?

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Hamlet’s Transhumanist Dilemma: Will Technology Replace Biology?

To be, or not to be: that was the question back when Machines did not challenge the reign of men. Will technology replace biology: that is the question now When computers get exponentially smarter: why shouldn’t we bow? Thus the dilemma facing the human race Is about hardware and coding: What type to embrace? Whether ’tis nobler to run DNA On an ancient biological hardware – Evolution’s play! Or ‘tis better to get up-to-date And run binary code on the supercomputers of late. But who is to say? Is it nobler to suffer in the flesh The slings and arrows of biology as destiny? Or to hack ‘tis cursed body; and by technology To live. Forever! No more sickness, no more aging, no more death Our mortal flesh is heir to. The choice is yours and mine to make But [...]

Read the full article →

Deus Ex’ Stunning Trailer for Human Revolution

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Deus Ex’ Stunning Trailer for Human Revolution

Last Friday I posted a 2009 TED presentation by Juan Enriquez called Homo Evolutis is the Ultimate Reboot. The videos below are 2 trailers for the new Deus Ex: Human Revolution video game. While none of the clips was a part of Juan’s presentation I thought that they could have been a stunning visual representation of at least one scenario of what The Ultimate Reboot may turn out to look like. You may say that this is nothing more but a fictitious trailer for a violent sci fi video game but, more-or-less, this is what others have said about their contemporary science fiction (such as Jules Verne). In time, what was crazy science fiction once has often become reality later. So, what do you think? What are the odds of those clips becoming reality? Will technology replace biology? Video Update: [...]

Read the full article →

Mind Reading, Thought Control and Neuro Marketing: Is “the Lord of the World” still science fiction?

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for Mind Reading, Thought Control and Neuro Marketing: Is “the Lord of the World” still science fiction?

Is there any “science fiction” left? Or is it all just “science” in its different stages of development? It seems to me that most of the 20th century science fiction is already either a hard reality or in the process of development. (Just think about the advances in air and space travel, computers, the internet, genetic engineering etc) For example, when I was in my early teens I fell in love with what was then science fiction. Growing up in a communist country, behind the thick drapes of the Iron Curtain, one of the first sci fi authors that I read was naturally Alexander Belyayev. In Bulgaria Belyayev was well known for his novel Amphibian Man (1928) but also for Professor Dowell’s Head (1925), the Island of Crushed Ships and the Lord of the World (1942). In his the Lord [...]

Read the full article →

The Perils of Voice Recognition Technology

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for The Perils of Voice Recognition Technology

This is a hilarious 3min Scottish video about the perils of voice recognition technology. After watching it I just couldn’t stop laughing so I had to re-post it. While it is dangerously funny it does raise some good questions about the cultural biases of voice recognition in particular and technology in general. Technology is rarely neutral. It is a mirror that reflects its maker and our Human, Oh So Human species. As such it is loaded with most of our best and worst stereotypical presumptions, personal inclinations and cultural biases. The only question is: After the technological singularity, will the Artificial Intelligence voice recognition technology finally speak Scottish? Related articles by Zemanta Hamlet at the Technological Event Horizon: the Transhumanist Dilemma (singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com) Charlie Kam: the Very Model of a Singularitarian (singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com)

Read the full article →

If Socrates Were A Blogger

by Socrates
Thumbnail image for If Socrates Were A Blogger

Socrates felt that even though he was born Athenian he was a citizen of the world. During his public trial he remarked that “A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time” (Plato. Apology. 32a) But what if Socrates were a blogger? Would he fare any better today than 2,500 ago? *** We do not like to be wrong. We rarely assume that we may be wrong. Human nature doesn’t let us feel wrong… When there is a chance that we may be wrong we get angry; we feel frustrated and threatened; our sub-conscious self-defensive mechanisms prevent us from taking the fault in us and thus our self-preservation instincts prevent us from seeing the truth. Even when we know or suspect that we are [...]

Read the full article →
Page 1 of 3
1
2
3