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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)

Ask Ray | We could have had the benefits of the Singularity years ago

November 15, 2010 by Editor

brain plug

Dear Ray,

I’ve written a book about the future of software: After the Software Wars. I talk about Linux primarily, but it has implications for things like how we can have driverless cars and other cool technology faster.

The book starts with a quote by John McCarthy, the inventor of Lisp: “Some people think much faster computers are required for Artificial Intelligence, as… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Singularity/Futures

Comments (21)

Ask Ray | Welcome, new computer overlords!

March 21, 2011

hail ants

Ray, 

I noticed in one of your recent essays (on IBM’s Watson) you say “I, for one, would then regard it (an AI) as human.” I, for one, find that to be your most controversial statement in that article. Apparently, Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings did you one better the next day when he wrote on his screen (as part of his final written wager) before being defeated by Watson: “I,… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics

Comments (3)

Ask Ray | Will future people lose sight of their humanity?

November 30, 2011

A Nice Place to Visit

Dear Ray:

Have you seen this Twilight Zone episode, “A Nice Place to Visit?” I think it is a good illustration of the likely consequences of our future.

I’m eager for my 12-year-old son to watch Transcendent Man with me. I think it’s important for him to understand the implications of free will.

— Resa

Resa,

Thanks. Yes, I’m very familiar… read more

Topics: Singularity/Futures | Social/Ethical/Legal

Comments (10)

Ask Ray | Will human intelligence amplication widen the divide between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’?

May 11, 2011

The face of a robot woman.

Dear Mr. Kurzweil,

My name is David Gonzalez, and I am a high school senior. I have been doing extensive research on the Singularity and the technologies used to bring about these changes and plan to major in bioengineering in college. I have some concerns as to the nature of our technological progression towards the eventual dawning of the Singularity. 

You have mentioned that the exponential growth of technology will… read more

Topics: AI/Robotics | Human Enhancement | Singularity/Futures | Social Networking/Web/Education

Comments (9)

Avatar meets rejuvenation biotech at stellar SENS event Friday night in L.A.

December 9, 2010 by Amara D. Angelica

Avatar

If you’re in Los Angeles Friday night, the happening place to be is at the SENS Foundation event at Giant Studios, where the fantastic Na’vi characters in Avatar were brought to life, along with Gollum in Lord of the Rings and thousands of other creatures, using advanced motion-capture tech.

Legendary Cambridge University scientist Dr. Aubrey de Grey, who pioneered SENS (Strategies… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Biotech | Entertainment/New Media | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

Comments (0)

Avatars meet in Second Life to celebrate Future Day 2012

March 5, 2012 by Natasha Vita-More

natashafutureday2012

The first Future Day on March 1 featured events in 14 cities in 8 countries. The largest event was at Terasem Island in Second Life, with about 50 attendees.

The auditorium at Terasem Island was full and we were eagerly awaiting three of the speakers to arrive: Ben Goertzel, Martine Rothblatt, and Howard Bloom.

I introduced the event by… read more

Topics: Singularity/Futures | Social Networking/Web/Education | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

Comments (22)

‘Avatars’ to replace some humans at NYC area airports

May 23, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

airlineavatar1

As if TSA groping in airports wasn’t enough, now we’re going to be subjected to some kind of creepy composite of Princess Leia from Star Wars and the advertising scene in Minority Report.

“I can be just about anything you want me to be,” over-enthuses the simulated “customer service representative,” five of which are intended for installation in LaGuardia, JFK. and Liberty Newark airports in early July, according to … read more

Topics: Social/Ethical/Legal | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

Comments (12)

Battle of the ‘Fantastic Voyage’ researchers

January 12, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

Cap-sule

The 1961 classic science-fiction movie Fantastic Voyage movie is about a team of scientists who are shrunk down and sent in a miniature submarine inside the body to repair a blood clot in an ailing colleague’s brain. How far have today’s scientists come in exploring inside the body?

Pretty far. We’ve reported on 17 research projects since 2003 to develop innovative endoscopes and other devices… read more

Topics: Biomed/Longevity | Electronics | Nanotech/Materials Science

Comments (2)

Beyond GPS: your phone in 2015

November 1, 2011 by Giulio Prisco

Galileo GNSS

Attention smartphone users: the recent launch of the first two satellites for Europe’s Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS) could make things a lot more interesting in about four years.

Galileo will deliver real-time positioning accuracy down to one meter range, compared to 10 meters for GPS, the European Space Agency (ESA) states, and it plans to give non-European… read more

Topics: Computers/Infotech/UI | Electronics | Internet/Telecom | Space | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

Comments (0)

Beyond texting: augmented-reality windshields — what could go wrong?

January 16, 2012 by Amara D. Angelica

ar_car

What? You thought distracted drivers texting on cell phones and swerving erratically is a problem? That’s so 2011.

Imagine a future in which icons flash on your car windshield, hologram-style, as your car approaches restaurants, stores, historic landmarks or the homes of friends, effuses CNN.

Simply point your hand at them, and the icons open to show real-time information: when that bridge over there was built,… read more

Topics: Innovation/Entrepreneurship | VR/Augmented Reality/Computer Graphics

Comments (6)

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