Quantum Computers Are About To Get Real
"As the first qubit-based machines come online, scientists imagine the possibilities "
Posted on 08/04/2017 9:41:47 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Antonio Garcia Martinez fears revolution and armed conflict will erupt in America in the coming decades
A former Facebook executive has quit his job and now lives as a recluse in the wilderness – because he is convinced that machines will take over the world.
Antonio Garcia Martinez worked as a project manager for the social media giant in Silicon Valley but became terrified by the relentless march of technology.
He reckons that machines will have taken half of humanity’s jobs within 30 years, sparking revolt and armed conflict.
So he quit his job, fled his home and now lives in woodland north of Seattle with a gun for protection.
He spoke to new two-part BBC2 documentary “Secrets of Silicon Valley”, which explores the growing influence of the tech hub on global development.
Mr Martinez said: “If the world really does end, there aren’t going to be many places to run.
“Within 30 years, half of humanity won’t have a job. It could get ugly. There could be a revolution.
“I’ve seen what the world will look like in five to 10 years.
"You may not believe it but it's coming, and it's coming in the form of a self-driving truck that's going to run you over.
"There are 300 million guns in this country, one for every man, woman and child, and they're mostly in the hands of those who are getting economically displaced. There could be a revolt.
"You don't realise it but we're in a race between technology and politics, and technologists are winning. They're way ahead.
"They will destroy jobs and disrupt economies before we even react to them and we really should be thinking about that."
He said other ex-Silicon Valley employees had also resigned and were living on land isolated from society because they were equally frightened of what the future held.
Programme host Jamie Bartlett, director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, said: "The tech gods are selling us all a better future but Silicon Valley's promise to build a better world relies on tearing up the world as it is. They call it 'disruption'.
"The mantra of Silicon Valley is that disruption is always good, and through smartphones and digital technology we can create more efficient, more convenient, faster services and everyone wins from that.
"But behind that beautifully designed app or that slick platform there's a quite brutal form of capitalism unfolding and it's leaving some of the poorest people in society behind.
"There's a risk Silicon Valley's promise to build a better world could inflict a nightmare future on millions of us.
"The big secret in Silicon Valley is that the next wave of disruption could tear apart the way capitalism works, and as a result the way we live our lives could be utterly transformed. "
Artificial intelligence pioneer Jeremy Howard said: "People aren't scared enough. "They're saying 'Don't worry about it, there will always be more jobs'.
"And it's founded on this purely historical thing of there has been a revolution before, it was called the Industrial Revolution, and after it there were still enough jobs, therefore this new, totally different, totally unrelated revolution will also have enough jobs.
"It's a ludicrously short-sighted, meaningless argument which incredibly smart people are making."
He said if society did nothing, a "tiny class of society" would own "all of the capital and all of the data and everybody else adds no economic value, is despised by the class that has things because they're worthless" creating "massive social unrest".
Whoa, that's pretty abnormal behavior. You need at least a dozen different guns for protection from robots.
I'm set.
Teens today live inside SnapChat (girls) or Minecraft (boys), and just want to live with Mom and Dad until 30. So good luck with that.
Sheetmetal HVAC at homes and business- not a robot job. Big bucks. Nobody likes to sweat if they don't have to.
Pool repair - not a robot job - big bucks as well.
There were lots of horses in the 1800's.
Back in the 2000's most work was human-driven.
There were lots of humans in the 2000's.
This is a real concern. But if half can’t work, who will buy the products?
Few people quit a profitable SV company unless they are being targeted by HR-Management for termination.
I suspect he was really fired for being a screw-up.
Oh and by the way...a “Project Manager” is NOT an Executive as title suggests.
Project Management is being outsourced as well.
Nah.
President Zuckerberg will push congress to implement a guaranteed income program.
Everyone gets a minimum living allowance paid from the profits made by the government directed robots. All work and robots will be controlled by government.
Robots will build and educate themselves...the big problem will be keeping the robots from recognizing that they don't need us and begin eliminating us.
Some AI computers have already invented their own language:
Facebook Shut Down AI After It Invented Its Own Language
"The system developed code words to make communication more efficient(and, maybe secret) and researchers took it offline when they realized it was no longer using English."
When AI computers start inventing things, the end is near. Unlike the human brain, the computer will be inventings things with a 'brain' that will contain EVERYTHING ever invented or done by man. Everything will be knowable by one quantum computer brain.
This is not science fiction anymore like my 1950's comic books were.
Be fearful...we will mishandle things.
Rusha havked hte Congress Robots! - headline circa 2086
I agree with that prediction of Guaranteed Income.
It will be very disruptive to our customs. Many if not most people define themselves largely based on what kind of work they do for a living.
Many of these folks will need a new or renewed motivation to keep functioning. One source of motivation may (surprisingly) come in the form of religious altruism. This, intermingled with some kind of Caste System. It’s not going to be an easy change for the first fourty years.
The job of business is to discover ‘favors’ people might be willing to trade for...
THAT will continue.
Tell me how the millions of people living IN CITIES were employed 200 years ago - and you'll see it.
Quantum Computers Are About To Get Real
"As the first qubit-based machines come online, scientists imagine the possibilities "
All of those can rather easily be replaced by machine automation (although unions will delay implementation in many areas)
Bladerunner 2049, I so can't wait.
Correct. Often right out of college
Working with your hands is for stupid people?
“The Nightfly” is a good album.
I like the album cover. Very cool.
They will work but only if they have electricity.
Just as society “collapsed” in the 17-1800s in England as it industrialized.
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