Posted on 08/09/2010 6:24:49 PM PDT by B-Chan
THE news of the day often includes an item about some development in artificial intelligence: a machine that smiles, a program that can predict human tastes in mates or music, a robot that teaches foreign languages to children. This constant stream of stories suggests that machines are becoming smart and autonomous, a new form of life, and that we should think of them as fellow creatures instead of as tools. But such conclusions aren’t just changing how we think about computers — they are reshaping the basic assumptions of our lives in misguided and ultimately damaging ways.
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Some would say these too are examples of A.I., but I would say it is research on a specific software problem that shouldn’t be confused with the deeper issues of intelligence or the nature of personhood. Equally important, my philosophical position has not prevented me from making progress in my work.
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In fact, the nuts and bolts of A.I. research can often be more usefully interpreted without the concept of A.I. at all.
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What bothers me most about this trend, however, is that by allowing artificial intelligence to reshape our concept of personhood, we are leaving ourselves open to the flipside: we think of people more and more as computers, just as we think of computers as people...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Beware of Skynet.
Can a robot go to heaven?
This is unknown, however they DO dream of electric sheep.
I read awhile back that voice/speech recognition consumes approx .01% of a human’s total brain capacity. Assuming they have already mastered speech recognition in computers, and using moores law(the doubling period) I then estimate that computers(software-hardware combination) should exceed human brain capabilities in roughly 15-30 years.
I think this means our own personal laptops, cellphones, cars, etc...will be smarter than we are.
So say we all...
Bad Robot.
The scary thing is so many of the technomages of the IT industry are immature, porn-absorbed, and see themselves as demi-gods.
These guys grew up in comic book worlds and now we’ve placed them in control of a real world.
How’s that for hyperbole or am I on to something?
Isn’t this the virtual reality guy?
Yep. Same guy.
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