Bob Moog, Interviewed by Electronicmusic.com
January 29, 2002 by Paul Clark, Robert Moog
Electronicmusic.com talks with synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog about how he radically changed the way music is made, and the tools he used to do it.… read more
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A Computational Foundation for the Study of Cognition
June 4, 2002 by David Chalmers
Computation is central to the foundations of modern cognitive science, but its role is controversial. Questions about computation abound: What is it for a physical system to implement a computation? Is computation sufficient for thought? What is the role of computation in a theory of cognition? What is the relation between different sorts of computational theory, such as connectionism and symbolic computation? This article develops a systematic framework that addresses all of these questions. A careful analysis of computation and its relation to cognition suggests that the ambitions of artificial intelligence and the centrality of computation in cognitive science are justified.… read more
Essay for E-School News
October 2, 2003 by Ray Kurzweil
Speaking at the 18th Annual Conference on “Technology and Persons with Disabilities” at California State University Northridge in March 2003, Ray Kurzweil described how key developments in science and technology will affect society, alter education and other fields, and benefit everyone, especially those with disabilities. This article is based on that address.… read more
Thanks in part to molecular manufacturing, accelerated developments in AI and brain reverse-engineering could lead to the emergence of superintelligence in just 18 years. Are we ready for the implications — like possible annihilation of Homo sapiens? And will we seem to superintelligence what our ape-like ancestors seem to us: primitive?… read more
THE AGE of INTELLIGENT MACHINES | Thoughts About Artificial Intelligence
February 21, 2001
One of the visionaries in the field of AI shares his thoughts on AI, from the beginning of the last decade. From Ray Kurzweil’s revolutionary book The Age of Intelligent Machines, published in 1990.… read more
When Machines Outsmart Humans
April 30, 2001 by Nick Bostrom
Artificial intelligence is a possibility that should not be ignored in any serious thinking about the world in 2050. This article outlines the case for thinking that human-level machine intelligence might well be appear in that time frame. It then explains four immediate consequences of such a development, and argues that machine intelligence would have a revolutionary impact on a wide range of the social, political, economic, commercial, technological, scientific and environmental issues that humanity will face in the next century.… read more
Another Formula for Intelligence: The Neural Net Paradigm
August 6, 2001 by Ray Kurzweil
The neural net approach to artificial intelligence explained, written for “The Futurecast,” a monthly column in the Library Journal.… read more
Intelligence, Computer and Human: A Discussion with Howard Gardner
October 2, 2001 by Howard Gardner, Ray Kurzweil
Ray Kurzweil and Howard Gardner discuss education, technology, pattern recognition and collecting electronic parts on Canal Street.… read more
How different could life have been?
January 21, 2002 by Richard Dawkins
The 5th Annual Edge Question reflects the spirit of the Edge motto: “To arrive at the edge of the world’s knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves.” Richard Dawkins asks: how different could it all have been?… read more
Testimony of Ray Kurzweil on the Societal Implications of Nanotechnology
April 8, 2003 by Ray Kurzweil
Despite calls to relinquish research in nanotechnology, we will have no choice but to confront the challenge of guiding nanotechnology in a constructive direction. Advances in nanotechnology and related advanced technologies are inevitable. Any broad attempt to relinquish nanotechnology will only push it underground, which would interfere with the benefits while actually making the dangers worse.… read more
Design of a Primitive Nanofactory
December 4, 2003 by Chris Phoenix
Molecular manufacturing requires more than mechanochemistry. A single nanoscale fabricator cannot build macro-scale products. This paper describes the mechanisms, structures, and processes of a prototypical macro-scale, programmable nanofactory composed of many small fabricators. Power requirements, control of mechanochemistry, reliability in the face of radiation damage, convergent assembly processes and joint mechanisms, and product design are discussed in detail, establishing that the design should be capable of duplicating itself. Nanofactory parameters are derived from plausible fabricator parameters. The pre-design of a nanofactory and many products appears to be within today’s capabilities. Bootstrapping issues are discussed briefly, indicating that nanofactory development might occur quite soon after fabricator development. Given an assembler, a nanofactory appears feasible and worthwhile, and should be accounted for in assembler policy discussions.… read more
The Physical Constants as Biosignature: An anthropic retrodiction of the Selfish Biocosm Hypothesis
February 28, 2006 by James N. Gardner
Two recent discoveries have imparted a renewed sense of urgency to investigations of the anthropic qualities of our cosmos: the value of dark energy density is exceedingly small but not quite zero; and the number of different solutions permitted by M-theory is, in Susskind’s words, “astronomical, measured not in millions or billions but in googles or googleplexes.”… read more
Not Your Father’s Internet
February 21, 2001 by Bill Gates
Bill Gates envisions the next-generation Internet as a single, unified interface to information instantly available to you anywhere, any time.… read more