[Moonman62]

But AI, I don't buy it. Just because you link up an astonishing amount of processing power does not mean it's going to eventually become self-aware.

Kurzweil is a big time self promoter and carnival barker, so I'd be suspicious of any of his claims. As far as AI goes, we'll probably end up making them organic like the brain already is rather than something like integrated circuits.

[NoStaplesPlease]

Eventually Moore's law cannot keep holding up, as long as we keep using silicon chips.

And so I do think we will start using bio circuits. Once computers are flesh, will they then have a soul? I still think no, but that's another line of discussion altogether.

[JamesP81]

Kurzweil is a big time self promoter and carnival barker, so I'd be suspicious of any of his claims. As far as AI goes, we'll probably end up making them organic like the brain already is rather than something like integrated circuits.

I agree, and it opens one hell of a can of worms if we do it, too. If you make a program or some hardware that's self-aware, you can always say that it's not alive; it's made of circuits and silicon, all dead material. And you'd have a good case. But if you make something artificially intelligent with a living brain, you change the whole paradigm. At that point, calling it a computer may not be accurate anymore. It may be that it has become a person, with a metal body. You can bet the legal fur would start flying then.