Future of computers & the possible technolgical singularity.

[MrPopo]

I'm honestly not too worried. A future like in GitS seems interesting to me, and I'd be one of the ones to opt into enhancement. Honestly, I think the only thing worrisome is the potential for AI controlled robots to go on some kind of rampage. Though the image of an endless supply of robots is really flawed; robots require a good amount of metal and other resources to build.

I personally think the legal implications are a bit more interesting. They're touched upon a bit in Heinlein's "I Will Fear No Evil" where the main character has his brain transplanted into another body. The book then briefly explores the notion of identity as relating to such a procedure.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Well you have to remember the Grey Goo scenario with unstoppable self-replicating nanorobots which consume all of the available resources including the environment etc... is a possibility. Also nanite infused self-repairing killer robots that can instantly communicate amongst their entire populous and can assemble near infinite troops by using the very ground on which they stand as raw materials are a very real and frightening possibility.

What I'm really concerned about is the possible prejudice that could occur when dealing with cyborg-human relations or the possibility that if I undergo cyberization "Would my intellect expand so greatly as to the point that I would find games, Anime or anything else I currently enjoy to be an inferior work only suited for stupid natural humans?" and the like which is something I would not want to lose from my personality.

Also I like doing stupid physical things such as talking through my inefficient audible voice (Instead of the proposed idea that human to human communication will simply become soulless digital memes) a just walking around for the heck of it, people watching for laughs at gatherings, watching B-Movies and similar inferior but fun entertainment, eating real (non artificially nanite created) food and other little whimsical curiosities that are inherently human.

Plus you encounter the moral and ethical issues such as what does this do for the future meaning of life and death, do they become more devalued as a result of infinite or near infinite lifespans? Other questions such as the ones that the Puppet Master and Kusanagi propose to each other in the original GITS movie about the soul, and the uniqueness of it and one's personality in a world where both are now essentially unnecessary and hampering for living in an environment that has nothing but endless rapidly fast radical dynamic change. Plus as other future looking movies such as Blade Runner and Akira have proposed our over reliance on technology can create horrifying and disturbing monsters due to our inability to simply be glad for having what we already do instead of striving for more and more needless improvements to make our lives easier which actually do quite the opposite most of the time.

These are the things that really make me think and mull over all of these proposed theories that are presented, I'm the type of guy that's wishing for a Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star or Star Trekkish future where we can explore the universe and still be able to fell amazement from all wonders we encounter, not simply disassemble them with cold logic the second we find them.

But that's my view. I'm of a mind to the idea that humans need to be able to live, love, win, lose, learn, make mistakes, forget, remember and then ultimately die because that's in the end what I find to as a whole make us humans truly unique as a species.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

So, no one else has any opinion to give on this?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Seriously, nobody else has any opinions to share?

[BoringSupreez]

I have one: Evil robots are bad news.
Seriously, they are absolutely no good. I remember this one commercial were they were selling robot insurance, 'cuz the problem of bad robots was so widespread.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I have one: Evil robots are bad news.
Seriously, they are absolutely no good. I remember this one commercial were they were selling robot insurance, 'cuz the problem of bad robots was so widespread.

They steal old people's pills and use them for fuel......

[lordofduct]

My concern is merely in the choice of words.

Singularity does not describe what it is they are describing. The idea is merely that we become capable enough to simulate ourselves and in turn that simulation breaks away in its own developmental progression.

This isn't really a singularity though... Singularities are a point in which all postulates exist. For instance the Universe Singularity is the point where all matter in the universe began and at one point existed. Or the Singularity of a black hole is the point in the black hole where all matter that makes up the black hole exists (interleaving and overlapping... hence the belief of a tear in space-time).

But this technological "singularity" is more of a renaissance.... or technilogical rebirth.



Anyways, as for the implications of it actually occurring. Do I believe it? Should we believe it? Does spreading the propoganda of it accelerate the innevitability of it?

Well it's a possibility, the future holds an infinite number of possibilities. And this here has a very high statistical possibility. But that doesn't mean I think it will surely happen.

Should we believe it and does this believing accelerate its possibility of occuring? Eh, I don't think that really matters. Pipe dreams are just that... pipe dreams. Very fun to have, but that doesn't mean we should be preaching it like truth. That's how we got Jeudo-Christian religions... come on now.

So yeah, I dabbled in this years ago out of interest. But the belief of it occurring in the next 30 or 50 years... I don't think so.

A computer that surpasses the computational capacity of the human mind WILL most certainly be invented. But just because this occurs does not mean that this same devise will be self aware and can push on to progress itself.

As a lady will tell you... Size doesn't matter as much as the skill to use it.

[lordofduct]

Oh and as for evil and all that crap. From an exostential point of view, that's completely subjective. Consider at what technological and evolutionary point we areselves will be at at the time as well. The idea of an "evil" robot is merely the idea of two completely differing intelligent beings living side by side. The strange paradoxical anomoly that pops into this equation is the fact that robots wouldn't have the sense of mortality we do, and how could we ever expect these robots to comprehend immortality.

And this comprehension is my point in all of it. Even if this supposed singularity was reached. Their comprehension would be completely different from our own. Furthermore our own comprehension would be altered completely (hence their huge awwww about it). Any contemporary ideals pertaining to the matter are completely ridiculous. It's on par to people saying the moon is made of cheese.

So evil? What would pertain to evil... my favourite anachdote I've ever read was in Crichton's "Sphere" about an alien species... in which the same analogy to a super-intelligent being can be made.

Would you consider an alien who breathes in oxygen and exhails carbon-monoxide violent? You walk up to it and die immediately just because of the way its body interacts with the world. But is that being violent, inherently evil, wrong? No... it's different. It's the same moral difference we have in society today. One group easily considers another group completely different and wrong just because to us it fails. Communism for instance... communism is EVIL... or is it? I mean really, how is it?

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Oh and as for evil and all that crap. From an exostential point of view, that's completely subjective. Consider at what technological and evolutionary point we areselves will be at at the time as well. The idea of an "evil" robot is merely the idea of two completely differing intelligent beings living side by side. The strange paradoxical anomoly that pops into this equation is the fact that robots wouldn't have the sense of mortality we do, and how could we ever expect these robots to comprehend immortality.

And this comprehension is my point in all of it. Even if this supposed singularity was reached. Their comprehension would be completely different from our own. Furthermore our own comprehension would be altered completely (hence their huge awwww about it). Any contemporary ideals pertaining to the matter are completely ridiculous. It's on par to people saying the moon is made of cheese.

So evil? What would pertain to evil... my favourite anachdote I've ever read was in Crichton's "Sphere" about an alien species... in which the same analogy to a super-intelligent being can be made.

Would you consider an alien who breathes in oxygen and exhails carbon-monoxide violent? You walk up to it and die immediately just because of the way its body interacts with the world. But is that being violent, inherently evil, wrong? No... it's different. It's the same moral difference we have in society today. One group easily considers another group completely different and wrong just because to us it fails. Communism for instance... communism is EVIL... or is it? I mean really, how is it?

True, what worries me the most is the possible moral and existential questions that arise surrounding cyborgs, electronic immortality, artificial intelligence, prejudice against uncyberized humans, keeping uncyberized humans up to pace with cyborgs, the value of human life vs robot life, endless changes and technological advancements at a relentless explosive pace instead of a gradual exponential rate and the value of individuality and uniqueness in a world where these things would only hamper someone in such a dynamic environment etc, etc....

And it's true that our complete cognitive sense and personalities as a whole would be fundamentally changed which is what truly scares me. I don't want to become some different super-intelligent being that no longer enjoys his hobbies or activities that I enjoy right now, to me it's like being inserted into another person's body ala John Malkovitch which is a starling concept. Although like you said, the habits and personalities of any society will be different 36 years from now when this is proposed to be taking place just like our society has evolved since 36 years ago in the 70's, but I'm hoping that the fundamental human condition and the ancient underlying structure of society that has resonated among us ever since the beginning don't fall apart as a result if this occurs.

In the end me (Or to some extent me and any possible future family I may have) being left behind as a result of me enjoying just being myself as I already am that's what really scares me because it's the great divide among the new and the old that will cause the biggest possible calamity.

[MrPopo]

Mod, you're way too young to be worrying about the future. Trust me, aside from slowly having less time to devote to your favorite activities you'll be the same as you are as a late teen. Look at your parents. They were the same as teenagers. They just seem lame because what used to be cool is no longer so.