Technological Singularity

Michael Shermer on Singularity 1 on 1: Be Skeptical! (Even of Skeptics)

by Socrates
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I couple of days ago I interviewed Michael Shermer for Singularity 1 on 1. I met Dr. Shermer at the recent Singularity Summit in New York where he was one of the most entertaining, engaging and optimistic speakers. Since he calls himself a skeptic and not a singularitarian, I thought he would bring not only balance to my singularity podcast but also a healthy doze of skepticism, and I was not disappointed. During our conversation we discuss a variety of topics such as: his education at a Christian college and original interest in religion and theology; his eventual transition to atheism, skepticism, science and the scientific method; SETI, the singularity and religion; scientific progress and the dots on the curve as precursors of big breakthroughs; life-extension, cloning and mind uploading; being a skeptic and an optimist at the same time; [...]

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Luke Muehlhauser on Singularity 1 on 1: Superhuman AI is Coming This Century

by Socrates
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Last week I interviewed Luke Muehlhauser for Singularity 1 on 1. Luke Muehlhauser is the Executive Director of the Singularity Institute, the author of many articles on AI safety and the cognitive science of rationality, and the host of the popular podcast “Conversations from the Pale Blue Dot.” His work is collected at lukeprog.com. I have to say that despite his young age and lack of a University Degree – a criticism which we discuss during our interview, Luke was one of the best and clearest spoken guests on my show and I really enjoyed talking to to him. During our 56 min-long conversation we discuss a large variety of topics such as: Luke’s Christian-Evangelico personal background as the first-born son of a pastor in northern Minnesota; his fascinating transition transition from religion and theology to atheism and science; his personal motivation and desire to [...]

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Vernor Vinge on Singularity 1 on 1: We Can Surpass the Wildest Dreams of Optimism

by Socrates
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Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Vernor Vinge — the very person who coined the technological singularity as a term. Currently Vernor Vinge is putting the final touches on the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. The new book is titled The Children of the Sky and is already available for pre-order on Amazon, though it is not expected to ship until October 2011. Despite his busy schedule Prof. Vinge still managed to give us over an hour of his time and during our conversation I ask him to discuss issues such as: his childhood and early interest in science fiction; his desire to make sense of the universe; his definition of the technological singularity and the story behind the term; his now classic 1993 NASA paper; his favorite science fiction books and authors; major milestones [...]

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The Singularity is Near! What’s Next?

by Nikki Olson
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Those who look ahead three or four decades and see a technological singularity taking place confront a future in which time appears to stand still. However, few look beyond 2045 because it is near-impossible to foresee what happens post-Singularity. So although we may be certain that the Singularity is Near, we are uncertain about what’s next. This reality differentiates Singularitarians from every other major worldview to shape human history: other groups, in looking out into the future, have always had some kind of ‘destination’, or ‘endpoint’ in mind. Religious groups originating in the West have tended to envision ‘heaven’, or ‘hell’, as endpoints, while those in the East anticipate ‘rebirth’, and eventual nirvana. Some mythologies envision an ‘underworld’, while those not believing in an afterlife do their best to imagine death as their ultimate destination. Even those drinking Kool-Aid in [...]

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Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ Five Stages of the Singularity

by Socrates
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After the release of a major documentary such as Transcendent Man, our very public and well publicized defeat at Jeopardy by IBM’s Watson, and a growing mainstream coverage of the technological singularity, I started wondering about the potential stages of humanity’s collective emotional and other reaction towards the concept of the singularity. Arthur Schopenhauer claims that “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” So does this relate well to the singularity? Let’s see. Firstly, is the singularity often ridiculed? It seems to me that so far it has been predominantly ignored, though that observation is increasingly inaccurate as we get more and more coverage in the media. Secondly, has it been violently opposed? Well, we did have the Unabomber, even though Richard Clarke’s Breakpoint-type of [...]

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The Technological Singularity Goes Mainstream (Again)

by Socrates
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The technological singularity goes mainstream again (and again). The last 12 months or so we have witnessed an unparalleled growth of mainstream coverage of transhumanism, the singularity, artificial intelligence and Ray Kurzweil. Some of the more notable mentions include: PBS on Ray Kurzweil and the Singularity; the NY Times’ Humans are so Yesterday; Ray Kurzweil on the Daily Show with John Stewart and New Zeland TV features Singularity University. (Yeah, it does seem that Michael Anissimov is right to say that Transhumanism Has Already Won.) Yesterday, Time Magazine’s cover story was about Ray Kurzweil and Barry Ptolemy‘s long anticipated feature documentary Transcendent Man. It is hard to get any more mainstream than that. I hope that people will go to watch the film en masse, listen to what Ray has to say and start thinking about the vital issues stemming [...]

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Change of Plans: Kill All Humans

by Socrates
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The singularity is often equated with a Terminator or Matrix type of a TechnoCalyps based on the presumption that once artificial intelligence becomes sentient then supposedly the most likely action they will undertake is to exterminate us. The following cartoon has been circulating for a while around the general singularity and transhumanist community, but because it is so funny, I thought I’d post it anyway. Even if you may have seen it before you may still find it funny again… I know I laugh every time I read it, and I’ve read it a dozen times by now Hat tip to Singularity 2045 for finding the cartoon first. Related articles Singularities Happen: Alan Watts explains the Singularity… (singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com) The Best of Singularity Weblog 2010 (singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com) Why I Am an Optimist (singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com) A Transhumanist Manifesto (singularityblog.singularitysymposium.com)

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Why I Am an Optimist

by Socrates
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People sometimes ask me why am I such an optimist about the progress of technology in general and the technological singularity in particular? Well, my reply is simple. I choose to focus on the upside. I choose to be a deliberate, conscious optimist. That is not to say that I suggest we ought to ignore the many dangers that lie certainly ahead of us. What it means is that, once I’ve done my best and the die is cast, the only thing that is left for me is to enjoy the ride, focus on the bright side of life and have a little sense of humor on the way. Tony Robins says that, whether consciously or unconsciously, at any given moment in time we are always making the following decisions: 1. What do I focus on? 2. What does it [...]

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