What do you think about technological singularity

[syntax]

So I was watching one of my favorite movies, The Matrix, and couldn't help but start thinking about this. TC (technological singularity) is just a idea of a huge technological explosion that happens much faster than normal humans can understand.

The biggest implication of TC is of course the recursively self improving AI. Artificial intelligence that is just as good at programming as its creator(s). The AI would be able to self improve and get better at improving it self. Which leads to a exponential increase in intelligence. Ideas like this are everywhere in pop culture (Skynet, matrix , I robot ,etc..) We humans don't have any type of introspective access to our cognitive algorithms. Machines can already do that in today's age.


But is it just an idea or can we humans make this a reality. I feel like the only major problem holding us back from creating a solid AI is our lack of understanding the human brain. We still don't know much about the brain. I know there's things like the blue brain project that reverse engineers the human brain, but we are far from understanding the brain fully.

Lastly I think another huge issue with AI, besides the demise of the human race, is its efficient working power. First chapter of Karl Marx Das Kapital he introduced the idea that all economic worth is derived from the human labour needed to produce goods. AIs would put a lot of us out of work. It's nice that we get to live and witness the rise of AI,robots and advanced computation without having to deal with any of the inevitable implications it imposes.

 

[SuldaanMethylamine]

Know nothing about this subject, but this is very interesting. Great post

 

[syntax]

Know nothing about this subject, but this is very interesting. Great post

It really is interesting. I think besides achieving efficient long distance space travel, TC is one of the biggest hurdles that the technological world has to overcome. When we do tho it will revolutionize everything about our world. It will be a new dawn for humanity. Even though the media stresses it enough, it could also lead to the demise of humanity.

 

[SomaliSpotter]

To have a fully autonomous, self-programming AI, I think they should be partially biological/human. Though my knowledge of science in general & AI in particular is very limited, but still the idea that a 100 % machine could have its own independent thoughts and programs itself seems kinda Sci-Fi to me. Whatever functions they might have are programmed by humans and are limited. Even if creating such a self-programming, self-relying AI were possible, wouldn't turning that idea into reality be suicidal?

Here we are talking about machines that are many times more powerful than us, and apart from wear-and-tear, are immortal and to give them the power of being independent from human interaction and reliance could prove disastrous for us, humans. And if one says that they won't be fully independent then we are back to square one and that makes them programmed, controlled, limited machines that rely on humans, isn't it? Dunno! Kinda fascinating idea but even if it's possible to make such a thing happen it would be counterproductive, imo.

 

[SomaliSpotter]

@snytax, I was browsing one of my favorite YouTube channels, TED, and came across this video that I thought you might like:

 

[uncleruckus]

 

[Unionist]

I'm still waiting to be a cyborg.

 

[syntax]

@snytax, I was browsing one of my favorite YouTube channels, TED, and came across this video that I thought you might like:

Sorry for the late reply sxb been really busy.

Damn this is really cool. I'm already thinking of the real life applications. Maybe use this in the military to map out unknown enemy positions without having to risk bodies. Or maybe use this as a security feature. Have a bunch of them fly around and secure a premise. I wish they were more technical. What does he mean "scan". Are they using infrared, echolocation or something?

Forget Mars or the Moon, humans still have not explored 99% of the ocean floor. Things can get really interesting down there too, some very weird organisms that display biological behaviour different to their on-land counterparts. So yeah i know hydrographers utilized similar technology (sonar mapping) to map out the ocean floor. We think that this type of stuff is groundbreaking and cool but bats been doing it forever. Bats and dolphins use sonar echolocation to map out their surroundings. I think what makes this robot cool is it can provide a much detailed map. I just wish they were more specific on what type of technology they used to map out the robots surroundings.

 

[SomaliSpotter]

Sorry for the late reply sxb been really busy.

Damn this is really cool. I'm already thinking of the real life applications. Maybe use this in the military to map out unknown enemy positions without having to risk bodies. Or maybe use this as a security feature. Have a bunch of them fly around and secure a premise. I wish they were more technical. What does he mean "scan". Are they using infrared, echolocation or something?

Forget Mars or the Moon, humans still have not explored 99% of the ocean floor. Things can get really interesting down there too, some very weird organisms that display biological behaviour different to their on-land counterparts. So yeah i know hydrographers utilized similar technology (sonar mapping) to map out the ocean floor. We think that this type of stuff is groundbreaking and cool but bats been doing it forever. Bats and dolphins use sonar echolocation to map out their surroundings. I think what makes this robot cool is it can provide a much detailed map. I just wish they were more specific on what type of technology they used to map out the robots surroundings.

I can understand, bro. I remember you talking about working and studying full-time at the same time so I wish you all the best, sxb. Doing one of them full-time is hard enough these days marka dadaal waad gaari doontaa.

I am not that technologically gifted and I think they make these TED conferences the way they do (not too technical and "sciency") for laymen folks like myself. Apparently their main aim is to inspire people and make them interested in science, arts etc, while not making them bored with all the technicality of the subjects they cover.

Anyway, they sometimes post the technical side of their talks on the official TED website but for this talk there's just the subtitles & transcript of the talk and nothing extra unfortunately.

PS: If you search through their site you'll see other robotic videos in there as well.

 

[Kaafiye]

So I was watching one of my favorite movies, The Matrix, and couldn't help but start thinking about this. TC (technological singularity) is just a idea of a huge technological explosion that happens much faster than normal humans can understand.

The biggest implication of TC is of course the recursively self improving AI. Artificial intelligence that is just as good at programming as its creator(s). The AI would be able to self improve and get better at improving it self. Which leads to a exponential increase in intelligence. Ideas like this are everywhere in pop culture (Skynet, matrix , I robot ,etc..) We humans don't have any type of introspective access to our cognitive algorithms. Machines can already do that in today's age.


But is it just an idea or can we humans make this a reality. I feel like the only major problem holding us back from creating a solid AI is our lack of understanding the human brain. We still don't know much about the brain. I know there's things like the blue brain project that reverse engineers the human brain, but we are far from understanding the brain fully.

Lastly I think another huge issue with AI, besides the demise of the human race, is its efficient working power. First chapter of Karl Marx Das Kapital he introduced the idea that all economic worth is derived from the human labour needed to produce goods. AIs would put a lot of us out of work. It's nice that we get to live and witness the rise of AI,robots and advanced computation without having to deal with any of the inevitable implications it imposes.

They're already working on making this happen, although the technology is still in it's infancy.

BTW, I don't think it's a wise idea to be quoting Karl Marx, a man who is known to have faulty economic logic. All economic worth is NOT derived from human labor---because if it was, then countries with a high population and low capital (ie. Bangladesh) would have a higher standard of living than countries with a low population but a lot of capital (ie. Finland, Denmark, Australia, etc.). The opposite is true. Capital is what creates economic growth---and it's what increases our standard of living.

And yes, AI would put a lot of us out of work temporarily. But the corresponding cost-reductions would free up human labor to work on other, more productive tasks. Our need for work would decrease and we'd be able to earn more purchasing power while at the same time working less hours. Think of it as hiring a slave.

We'd be better off. Not worse

 

[Ordained_Hypocrite]

More interested in the designing and programming that would go into it. It would have to be full proof, pushing the boundaries and cognizant of all the possible eventualities.

 

[syntax]

They're already working on making this happen, although the technology is still in it's infancy.

BTW, I don't think it's a wise idea to be quoting Karl Marx, a man who is known to have faulty economic logic. All economic worth is NOT derived from human labor---because if it was, then countries with a high population and low capital (ie. Bangladesh) would have a higher standard of living than countries with a low population but a lot of capital (ie. Finland, Denmark, Australia, etc.). The opposite is true. Capital is what creates economic growth---and it's what increases our standard of living.

And yes, AI would put a lot of us out of work temporarily. But the corresponding cost-reductions would free up human labor to work on other, more productive tasks. Our need for work would decrease and we'd be able to earn more purchasing power while at the same time working less hours. Think of it as hiring a slave.

We'd be better off. Not worse

I was browsing and came across this article from yesterday http://www.theguardian.com/business...-intelligence-homo-sapiens-split-handful-gods

It's going to be a hard pill for the low to middle class to swallow but it seems like the future doesn't look bright for them. Once the technology becomes readily available on a large industrial scale, corporations are going to slowly phase out human labour with advanced robotics and machinery. This would be the ideal move for any corporation that wants to maximize profits and cut costs. Machines would be able to do their jobs more efficiently and would cost less. Which would result in a better production output for companies at a lower cost...leading to even more profits. You better believe once this option becomes a reality they are going to take it and run away with it. Think about all the easy jobs there are in society that can be replaced by robots or software (construction, retail, manufacturing, transport). Sure new jobs are going to pop up but not at a rate that can sustain the ones being replaced.

This is just going to widen the already wide gap between the wealthy and everyone else. In order for capitalism to work - it means that people need to be able to buy products - and that means they need an income. So either we change our views regarding our purpose in life/society and our economic models - as capitalism is no longer viable OR capitalism driven greed self destruct.

Exactly what other jobs do you think these people are going to do? Industries like manufacturing, transport, construction employ a huge amount of people because a majority of the work can be done by most people because of its low skill/qualification required. If this shit takes off and we get replaced by robots/AI/software we are just going to be stuck with mostly high skilled jobs. This is going to be reality in our lifetimes (massive loss of jobs). It's not like past claims...there are autonomous jobs popping up all over. Capitalism, by default, drives the elimination of jobs because eliminating jobs puts more money in the wallets of the elite few leading the company. I'm a young guy but I'm 100% certain my children or grandchildren will be in the middle of the inevitable storm.

 

[Kaafiye]

I was browsing and came across this article from yesterday http://www.theguardian.com/business...-intelligence-homo-sapiens-split-handful-gods

It's going to be a hard pill for the low to middle class to swallow but it seems like the future doesn't look bright for them. Once the technology becomes readily available on a large industrial scale, corporations are going to slowly phase out human labour with advanced robotics and machinery. This would be the ideal move for any corporation that wants to maximize profits and cut costs. Machines would be able to do their jobs more efficiently and would cost less. Which would result in a better production output for companies at a lower cost...leading to even more profits. You better believe once this option becomes a reality they are going to take it and run away with it. Think about all the easy jobs there are in society that can be replaced by robots or software (construction, retail, manufacturing, transport). Sure new jobs are going to pop up but not at a rate that can sustain the ones being replaced.

This is just going to widen the already wide gap between the wealthy and everyone else. In order for capitalism to work - it means that people need to be able to buy products - and that means they need an income. So either we change our views regarding our purpose in life/society and our economic models - as capitalism is no longer viable OR capitalism driven greed self destruct.

Exactly what other jobs do you think these people are going to do? Industries like manufacturing, transport, construction employ a huge amount of people because a majority of the work can be done by most people because of its low skill/qualification required. If this shit takes off and we get replaced by robots/AI/software we are just going to be stuck with mostly high skilled jobs. This is going to be reality in our lifetimes (massive loss of jobs). It's not like past claims...there are autonomous jobs popping up all over. Capitalism, by default, drives the elimination of jobs because eliminating jobs puts more money in the wallets of the elite few leading the company. I'm a young guy but I'm 100% certain my children or grandchildren will be in the middle of the inevitable storm.

People don't really want money. They actually want purchasing power.

There's a huge difference between the two and people keep getting them confused. If machines are capable of increasing output relative to the population, this will lead to lowered prices and increased purchasing power----which is what most people are really after. If a company figures out a way to mass-produce tomatoes (for example), thereby increasing the output and cutting the price of tomatoes in half, then this will increase the purchasing power of everyone who consumes tomatoes. The same goes for people who consume all sorts of products. Computers cost thousands of dollars back in the 1980's, and now you can buy a pretty powerful HP laptop today for a few hundred dollars. This is progress. This is a result of mass-production and free market capitalism.

Another example: When Henry Ford managed to figure out a way to mass-produce automobiles, this led to a sharp reduction in the price of cars----so that almost anyone could afford to purchase one. What was once a luxury only for the rich, now became a ubiquitous feature of middle-class life.

Again, what you really want is purchasing power. Lowered prices lead to increased purchasing power, which in turn creates new jobs in other fields especially when the consumers have more money. If you're working a standard $50,000 a year job and the prices of everything drops in half, then you're much better off as a result. You make the same amount of money, but your purchasing power just doubled and you now have a much higher standard of living. Technological change doesn't occur overnight, and the people who lose their jobs almost always find new jobs in other fields. Jobs are created and destroyed all the time; when something new is invented....it ALWAYS leads to job losses. But that's okay because the increased productivity creates new jobs in other fields.

Back in the 1800's, most people used to work 80+ hours a week just so they can get their basic needs met. Because the economy back in the 1800's was so unproductive (because of a lack of capital), it would take more labor-hours just to complete simple tasks that a 21st century person could complete with the aid of machines and mass-production techniques. As a result, work-hours dropped. Now, people could get their most basic needs met by working much less than the standard 40 hours/week. I predict that by the year 2100, people will only have to work perhaps 15 hours/week to attain their basic needs, freeing up human activity to focus on other things

 

[Reddington]

Data from Star Trek the Next Generation taught me early on everything I needed to know about AI.

 

[Neo-Nidar]

WoOhooooo Another fellow Science geek, yes if there are stuff I'm looking forward to its:

-Space Development and Colonization (Estate on Mars or Luna, I would love to have one!)
-Quantum Computing (Calculate anything for you)
-Development of A.I and Robotics (Maids made out of Steel and Wires that serve you)
-Biological Engineering (Immorality Yaay!)

Two of them are already here:

 

[Unionist]

Space, the final frontier.

 

[Neo-Nidar]

Space, the final frontier.

Imagine Somalis colonising their own Extra-terrestrial colony, maybe in Luna, Mars, Europa or maybe outside the Solar System far-far away in an Earth like exo-planet!

And then someday will become Tier 2, and build their own Dyson Spheres