4 ms·

Am I the only one looking forward to this?

by jcapote 17y ago

kiba 17y ago
You're not the only one looking forward to this. I welcome the day when software are not only living, but also sentinment. Alas, we're only limited to crafting software system into never needing rebooting while software system are being modified on the fly.
- berntb 17y ago
  Ah yes, a world with networked sentient software controlling the next-next generation of automated labs for making biotech bacteria. How could that go wrong? I am a big tech optimist, but sentient software could arguably be classed as WMDs.
- anigbrowl 17y ago
  I know it was a typo, but software that's sentimental as well as sentient is probably what we need, as opposed to the vast, cool and unsympathetic variety.
  - sailormoon 17y ago
    I think most proponents of strong AI include the idea that they should be built on the foundation of a "premise-state" compatible with our human ideals such as intrinsic respect for life, appreciation of complexity and diversity, decentralisation of power, privacy of thought and freedom of action, etc etc.
    - anigbrowl 17y ago
      Which, sadly, demonstrates how far AI as a discipline has to go. I am much more encouraged by the development of Rommbas and similar that seek out an electrical outlet, and so are actually motivated to learn, by something akin to hunger.
henning 17y ago
We should be so lucky to have machines outsmart us. This article fails to communicate the unfathomable chain of events such technology would set in motion. Without hyperbole, all previous events in human history would pale in comparison.
- jodrellblank 17y ago
  That is hyperbole; for all we know, the first human level AI (for however you define human level) might just want to read lolcats and watch sports (or study mathematics but not help us, etc.)
  - dejb 17y ago
    That's what most humans want as well but there is a system of incentives that keep people working. Needless to say the 'productive' versions of AI will end up with a lot more computing resources than the 'lazy' ones.
  - eru 17y ago
    Though the first human level AI won't stay alone for long.
- uninverted 17y ago
  Hate to be a pedant, but the important thing is not intelligence that exceeds humans, but intelligence that can scale arbitrarily.
quizbiz 17y ago
I look forward to cheap machines that are smarter than man. I fear expensive smart machines which only the richest of the rich will be able to afford.
- lallysingh 17y ago
  The first machines will probably be used to make money, and game the market. ...Well, those already exist. Eventually a good part of our economy may become a capital war for silicon that makes money.
  - jbrennan 17y ago
    I figured the first would be used to kill, like almost all modern digital technology (digital computers, internet, GPS, etc.)
lsd5you 17y ago
Apparently not, and i'm somewhat dismayed at the lack of opposition to this point of view ... so i'll try to make a case against it. Creating smarter than human AI would be humanity giving up its dominion, and who can say what will happen as a result of this. It is not being melodramatic to say that there is a major chance that it will be the end of humanity, the end of history and the end of everything that most humans value. I would submit that our values, what we find wise, beautiful, kind, humurous or otherwise virtuous, our appreciation of the natural world and our legacies, they are all relative to our human condition, and that jeopardising this - for everyone - is wrecklessness without comparison. Yet enough of us would do it Were is this complicity in our own demise coming from. Are supporters of ai and the singularity misguided - by their own values - or do we have irreconcileable philosophies on the matter. My suspicion is that a lot of support for the singularity comes from death anxiety - the way things are, in the long run i'm dead anyway so may as well have a punt (50-50?) on immortality, with humanity as the stakes. That is the singularity is a plausible alternative to an after life. Call me a wanker, but i think that one should take fatality like a man (i.e and die), and not be so selfish. For me, one good, or at least indisputable reason, is disillusionment with humanity... i would not be able to argue against someone who lived through the trenches in WWI and had such an opinion, that this world as we know it is just not worth it. However I would not agree. Finally I think a lot of support for the singularity comes down to pure hair-brained optimism and reading too much sci-fi. It actually made me a bit sad to watch the recent star trek movie and its clumsy attempts to make the characters relevant (a sword fight? come on!). Traditional, speculative, science fiction used to be about final frontiers and buckaneering captains, now its struggling to reconcile the future and anything that we might want from a narrative. Smarter than human AI may be our story is coming to an end ...
- modeless 17y ago
  The technology to end humanity is already here (nuclear and soon biological weapons). In the long run superhuman AI may be the only thing that can prevent us from destroying ourselves. Even if it were desirable, stopping the advance of technology is impractical. If superhuman AI is possible, it will be built. A more practical argument would be that superhuman AI should be strictly controlled, though advancing technology will eventually make that difficult too. The only solution in the long (really long) term is for us to become superhuman ourselves and attempt to preserve the things we find important in the transition.

Am I the only one looking forward to this?

by jcapote 17y ago

Am I the only one looking forward to this?

kiba 17y ago

You're not the only one looking forward to this. I welcome the day when software are not only living, but also sentinment. Alas, we're only limited to crafting software system into never needing rebooting while software system are being modified on the fly.

berntb 17y ago
Ah yes, a world with networked sentient software controlling the next-next generation of automated labs for making biotech bacteria. How could that go wrong? I am a big tech optimist, but sentient software could arguably be classed as WMDs.
anigbrowl 17y ago
I know it was a typo, but software that's sentimental as well as sentient is probably what we need, as opposed to the vast, cool and unsympathetic variety.
- sailormoon 17y ago
  I think most proponents of strong AI include the idea that they should be built on the foundation of a "premise-state" compatible with our human ideals such as intrinsic respect for life, appreciation of complexity and diversity, decentralisation of power, privacy of thought and freedom of action, etc etc.
  - anigbrowl 17y ago
    Which, sadly, demonstrates how far AI as a discipline has to go. I am much more encouraged by the development of Rommbas and similar that seek out an electrical outlet, and so are actually motivated to learn, by something akin to hunger.

henning 17y ago

We should be so lucky to have machines outsmart us. This article fails to communicate the unfathomable chain of events such technology would set in motion. Without hyperbole, all previous events in human history would pale in comparison.

jodrellblank 17y ago
That is hyperbole; for all we know, the first human level AI (for however you define human level) might just want to read lolcats and watch sports (or study mathematics but not help us, etc.)
- dejb 17y ago
  That's what most humans want as well but there is a system of incentives that keep people working. Needless to say the 'productive' versions of AI will end up with a lot more computing resources than the 'lazy' ones.
- eru 17y ago
  Though the first human level AI won't stay alone for long.
uninverted 17y ago
Hate to be a pedant, but the important thing is not intelligence that exceeds humans, but intelligence that can scale arbitrarily.

quizbiz 17y ago

I look forward to cheap machines that are smarter than man. I fear expensive smart machines which only the richest of the rich will be able to afford.

lallysingh 17y ago
The first machines will probably be used to make money, and game the market. ...Well, those already exist. Eventually a good part of our economy may become a capital war for silicon that makes money.
- jbrennan 17y ago
  I figured the first would be used to kill, like almost all modern digital technology (digital computers, internet, GPS, etc.)

lsd5you 17y ago

Apparently not, and i'm somewhat dismayed at the lack of opposition to this point of view ... so i'll try to make a case against it. Creating smarter than human AI would be humanity giving up its dominion, and who can say what will happen as a result of this. It is not being melodramatic to say that there is a major chance that it will be the end of humanity, the end of history and the end of everything that most humans value. I would submit that our values, what we find wise, beautiful, kind, humurous or otherwise virtuous, our appreciation of the natural world and our legacies, they are all relative to our human condition, and that jeopardising this - for everyone - is wrecklessness without comparison. Yet enough of us would do it Were is this complicity in our own demise coming from. Are supporters of ai and the singularity misguided - by their own values - or do we have irreconcileable philosophies on the matter. My suspicion is that a lot of support for the singularity comes from death anxiety - the way things are, in the long run i'm dead anyway so may as well have a punt (50-50?) on immortality, with humanity as the stakes. That is the singularity is a plausible alternative to an after life. Call me a wanker, but i think that one should take fatality like a man (i.e and die), and not be so selfish. For me, one good, or at least indisputable reason, is disillusionment with humanity... i would not be able to argue against someone who lived through the trenches in WWI and had such an opinion, that this world as we know it is just not worth it. However I would not agree. Finally I think a lot of support for the singularity comes down to pure hair-brained optimism and reading too much sci-fi. It actually made me a bit sad to watch the recent star trek movie and its clumsy attempts to make the characters relevant (a sword fight? come on!). Traditional, speculative, science fiction used to be about final frontiers and buckaneering captains, now its struggling to reconcile the future and anything that we might want from a narrative. Smarter than human AI may be our story is coming to an end ...

modeless 17y ago
The technology to end humanity is already here (nuclear and soon biological weapons). In the long run superhuman AI may be the only thing that can prevent us from destroying ourselves. Even if it were desirable, stopping the advance of technology is impractical. If superhuman AI is possible, it will be built. A more practical argument would be that superhuman AI should be strictly controlled, though advancing technology will eventually make that difficult too. The only solution in the long (really long) term is for us to become superhuman ourselves and attempt to preserve the things we find important in the transition.