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Ask Ray | How to Create a Mind thought experiment

February 10, 2013

Albert Einstein

Ray,

I just finished reading How to Create a Mind. I found it both interesting and informative. At the end, I believe that there is an inherent difference between a human brain and an AI system, a difference that can’t be overcome by any amount of added speed and capacity. To illustrate this difference I have included a thought experiment:

Take the most powerful artificial brain in existence. Include all programs necessary to make… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

Comments (114)

Ask Ray | An interesting article about body and mind

May 14, 2013

gear brain

This is a really interesting article about body and mind which I recently read. I wanted to share it with my readers:

The New York Times | “I am not this body”

Here is a compelling excerpt: “I do not identify with my body. I have a body but I am a mind.

“My body and I have an intimate but awkward relationship, like foreign roommates who share… read more

Comments (28)

Ask Ray | Asimov’s ‘The Last Question’

November 27, 2012

Asimov The Last Question

Dear Ray,

About Asimov’s “The Last Question” — I was captivated by Asimov’s story as a child, and again some 50 years later in reading Ray’s version of the answer in The Singularity Is Near.

Looking forward to getting his new book!

Thank you,
Ron Eckhardt

Dear Ronald,

Thanks. Yes, the evolution of intelligence runs counter to the second law.… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

Comments (51)

Ask Ray | Driving blind

December 19, 2010

blind driver challenge

Hi Ray,

I will be attending a gathering of National Federation of the Blind leaders in Daytona, Florida, on the evening before the Blind Driver Challenge event early on Saturday, Jan. 29 before the start of the Rolex 24 Race.

This high-profile event will be the first public demonstration of a blind person driving a vehicle without any form of guidance provided by another person. Obviously… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Human Enhancement | Social/Ethical/Legal

Comments (0)

Ask Ray | Fermi Paradox and the Singularity

June 9, 2011

(A graphical representation of the Arecibo message, sent as radio waves into space in an attempt to actively communicate human existence to alien civilizations. credit: Wikipedia)

Hello Ray,

This may seem asinine but I had a thought regarding the Fermi Paradox and the Singularity. (Wikipedia: “The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for, or contact with, such civilizations.”)

As you well know there is nowhere near enough life in the galaxy (as we see it… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology | Singularity/Futures | Space

Comments (14)

Ask Ray | Future battle for resource storage as a substrate for sentience

April 7, 2011

universe

Ray,

A disturbing thought occurred to me recently: given that we are on the cusp of personal immortality and the entrance into the age of conscious information (for lack of a better term), it seems that there will eventually become a real resource shortage at the most fundamental level.

What I’m suggesting (and you’ve probably already considered) is that as individuals make the transition to electronic… read more

Topics: Physics/Cosmology | Singularity/Futures

Comments (3)

Ask Ray | How can I maintain my stream of personal identity?

April 24, 2013

brain wiring

Dr. Kurzweil,

My name is Stanley. I too was born and bred in Queens, New York. I am also an Alcor member since 1992. I was part of the New York stabilization team and was part many cryonic cases.

I I am currently experiencing an extreme case of death terror.

I am 45 years old and am desperate not to require cryopreservation, and live to be uploaded.… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Human Enhancement | Singularity/Futures | Social/Ethical/Legal

Comments (101)

Ask Ray | How do you find the motivation to live forever?

May 26, 2012

Transcendent Man poster earth

Dear Ray:

How do you find motivation to want to live forever? How do you find comfort in your father’s death, knowing you may never truly see him again — only an avatar of what he’d represent?

— John Hansen

John:

I have the motivation to live to tomorrow, metaphorically speaking. I think everyone has that motivation. As we get to times in the… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Singularity/Futures

Comments (18)

Ask Ray | How do you gauge if strong AI is a few years away?

April 30, 2013

silver robot with cosmos

Mr. Kurzweil,

I’m currently in the middle of How to Create a Mind. I’m struggling with this one a bit more than you’re other books, but it’s very enjoyable and elucidating.

You have for some time predicted human level machine intelligence arriving by 2029.

However, in Mind you estimate the speed of a computer necessary to simulate the brain at 100 trillion cps, and state that the… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Computers/Infotech/UI | Singularity/Futures

Comments (157)

Ask Ray | How do you respond to Noam Chomsky’s claim that ‘Watson is not good AI’?

February 19, 2011

brain chip

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get a comment from Mr. Kurzweil. I know he thinks Watson will win the Jeopardy! match — I agree. Professor Noam Chomsky has told me that Watson is not good AI, though, and I’m curious how Kurzweil would respond to Chomsky’s words, found here.

I read your article in PC Magazine, which is what persuaded me to… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

Comments (9)

Ask Ray | Potential for elitization of the Singularity

April 17, 2013

(credit: stock image)

Dear Professor Kurzweil,

I was hoping for your views on the potential elitization of Singularity that could lead to exacerbation of class/opportunity/economic division.

The ongoing quest for extending human life and artificially enhancing its quality testifies to our instincts for permanence and survival at all cost.

Technologically acquired supremacy breaks the well accepted paradigm that improved life span, physical and cognitive performance is possible only with practice, studious effort and a healthy… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech | Singularity/Futures | Social/Ethical/Legal

Comments (57)

Ask Ray | Science and God

March 21, 2011

sky

Hi Ray,

It was nice to see you again at the Transcendent Man film screening. I enjoyed the movie and the discussion. The way I see it, over time we have been discovering the intelligence that is manifested in nature. This intelligence is much greater than our own —  however, piece by piece, we have been stitching it together.

The point is that we have been making these discoveries… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Physics/Cosmology | Social/Ethical/Legal

Comments (8)

Ask Ray | The essential self and the continuity of pattern

March 21, 2011

science of consciousness

Ray,

Congratulations!  I saw you yesterday on PBS NewsHour. I had no idea that teaching a computer to win at Jeopardy was so much harder than teaching it to play chess. You explained it well. The computer has to appreciate jokes and irony, which is much harder than making logical deductions.

The Time magazine cover mentions immortality. I am convinced that through your work,… read more

Topics: Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Physics/Cosmology | Quantum

Comments (7)

Ask Ray | The future of human self-awareness: deeper mirrors

November 15, 2010 by Editor

The False Mirror, by René Magritte, 1928. Oil on canvas. © 2010 C. Herscovici, Brussels / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Hello Ray,

In the last few years I have been basically writing in Persian and hardly anything in English. One thing I’ve been recently discussing that I thought may be of interest to you is that it seems to me the next stage of human consciousness will be about being self-aware of ourselves in a different body.

Maybe recognizing ourselves in the mirror after plastic surgery is the first… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Cognitive Science/Neuroscience | Human Enhancement

Comments (4)

Ask Ray | Thoughts on the consequences of the elimination of aging

April 8, 2013

orange heads with DNA

Hello Ray,

I would like to begin by stating that I am a huge fan and supporter of yours. I read your book The Singularity Is Near last year, and I was enchanted by all of your ideas on the exponential development of human technology and science. I am 100% singularitarian.

I understand that you are a very busy man, but I would tremendously appreciate it if you… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech | Singularity/Futures | Social/Ethical/Legal

Comments (88)

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