Howdy. As one poster pointed out before, up to this point in time we seem to have created machines whose primary function is to assist us humans. Why is it that as technology progresses it should naturally oppose us? It seems that everyone is willing to accept the notion that we will one day cross the bridge from wetware to hardware/software (i.e. The Matrix, William Gibson's cyberspace). Why is it that we will not be able to create computers that we as organisms will incorporate for our own benefit? Not only could a computer take over the brain's responsibilties for motor skills in a Parkison's sufferer, or serve as a more permanent form of memory for someone with Alhiemer's, but it could also make us all smarter. The hardest aspects of creating AI that we have so far encountered can simply be overcome in a synthesis of human conciousness and a seemingly already easily obtained raw computing power. (Imagine being able to spit out the data that server dishing up the O.E.D can.) If the woman from The Matrix can have the knowledge of how to fly a helicoptor uploaded into her brain, why is it that one could not have some future Einstien's brain/knowledge/thinking ability or what ever it is that made him or her special uploaded into their head? (Of course some of us bone heads might require a suplemental memory upgrade when attempting this.) Through "upgrades" we could not only increase the number of facts resident in memeory, but we could also increase our cognitive abilities. If we are able create an AI that evolves into a "superior" way of thinking, I believe we will be at a point of technological advancement where we will be able to harness it for own ends. That is if we have not already been destroyed by a swarm of nanobots harvesting the iron from our hemoglobin. Just a long winded thought, and of course it raises all sorts of loftier questions, such as what at what point does one cross the line from human to machine, in addition to all the social implications usually associated with human genetic engineering. Also, none of this discounts the possibility of a parallel (maybe even Borg-like) intelligence existing evolving that we may one day compete with. I just cannot count us out of the picture quite yet. As a mere human in a cold universe, we have come pretty far, and I think we are still a long way off from the future not needing us. Last scary thought- what if we are the ultimate intelligence in the universe?
Slashdot Mirror
Howdy. As one poster pointed out before, up to this point in time we seem to have created machines whose primary function is to assist us humans. Why is it that as technology progresses it should naturally oppose us? It seems that everyone is willing to accept the notion that we will one day cross the bridge from wetware to hardware/software (i.e. The Matrix, William Gibson's cyberspace). Why is it that we will not be able to create computers that we as organisms will incorporate for our own benefit? Not only could a computer take over the brain's responsibilties for motor skills in a Parkison's sufferer, or serve as a more permanent form of memory for someone with Alhiemer's, but it could also make us all smarter. The hardest aspects of creating AI that we have so far encountered can simply be overcome in a synthesis of human conciousness and a seemingly already easily obtained raw computing power. (Imagine being able to spit out the data that server dishing up the O.E.D can.) If the woman from The Matrix can have the knowledge of how to fly a helicoptor uploaded into her brain, why is it that one could not have some future Einstien's brain/knowledge/thinking ability or what ever it is that made him or her special uploaded into their head? (Of course some of us bone heads might require a suplemental memory upgrade when attempting this.) Through "upgrades" we could not only increase the number of facts resident in memeory, but we could also increase our cognitive abilities. If we are able create an AI that evolves into a "superior" way of thinking, I believe we will be at a point of technological advancement where we will be able to harness it for own ends. That is if we have not already been destroyed by a swarm of nanobots harvesting the iron from our hemoglobin. Just a long winded thought, and of course it raises all sorts of loftier questions, such as what at what point does one cross the line from human to machine, in addition to all the social implications usually associated with human genetic engineering. Also, none of this discounts the possibility of a parallel (maybe even Borg-like) intelligence existing evolving that we may one day compete with. I just cannot count us out of the picture quite yet. As a mere human in a cold universe, we have come pretty far, and I think we are still a long way off from the future not needing us. Last scary thought- what if we are the ultimate intelligence in the universe?