Many people are divided over the theories on artificial intelligence, but no one can deny the fact that technology is becoming increasingly complex and advanced at an exponential rate. The Law of Accelerating Returns, presented by Ray Kurzweil, hypothesizes that technology will continue to grow at an exponential rate unto the point where humanity can no longer predict nor understand where it will go. Essentially, it will venture into territories on its own that we cannot rationally fathom.
Some people argue that the idea of the technological singularity will never occur because in order to create technology that is more intelligent than a human being, we would need to understand how such technology would work, thus knowing all it knows and being smarter than it; so, in essence, a person cannot create something smarter than himself or herself.
I partially agree with this statement, which is why I believe that if a technological singularity was to occur, it would coincide with a rapidly evolving human consciousness. Hubert Dreyfus contends that there is a fundamental difference between the way in which computers operate and the way in which the human mind operates. In order to create a truly formidable AI, I believe that computers would need to somehow evolve to process information in the same way the human brain does.
I've become increasingly interested in this topic since reading the first two books of Dan Simmons's Hyperion Cantos and Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep. I'm also currently halfway through Charles Stross's Singularity Sky, which deals with a speculative future in which a technological singularity gives birth to an entity that calls itself the Eschaton and proceeds to assert its dominance over humanity. All of these books deal with various forms of super-advanced AI that are able to effectively establish themselves as tyrannical entities in control over humanity, to an extent. Many of the books deal with what constitutes a technological singularity and how human beings could hope to understand such a phenomenon.
My purpose in this thread was to generate some discussion about the concept of AI, what people here think about the ever-increasing amount of AI and the rate at which it is advancing, and the relationship between man and machine, especially regarding consciousness. Can human beings create machines smarter than themselves? Would a technological singularity coincide with the advent of the next phase of human evolution, such as a higher level of consciousness; and if so, would it even be a technological singularity? How akin to what we perceive as "God" could a machine become? For example, in Stross's Singularity Sky the Eschaton can simply wipe people from the face of the earth in the blink of an eye, and transport them from planet to planet, can travel through time (thus preventing anyone from ever trying to prevent it from being created- or, as it labels it, "violating causality") and can hurtle space-born objects, thus obliterating entire star systems; quite God-like, in my opinion.
Also, lastly, would a technological singularity open a pathway for the next step in human evolution; or would the next step in human evolution (especially involving, again, consciousness) make a technological singularity obsolete, or even impossible? What I mean is, will human beings always advance faster than machines, or will an advancement in technology help humanity to achieve a higher level of consciousness (or perhaps even transcendence)?
I know this is a lot, so let's just take this a little bit at a time. For starters we can just begin by talking about artifical intelligence and what we think about it's nature or the possibility of it even becoming more powerful than humanity.
Some people argue that the idea of the technological singularity will never occur because in order to create technology that is more intelligent than a human being, we would need to understand how such technology would work, thus knowing all it knows and being smarter than it; so, in essence, a person cannot create something smarter than himself or herself.
I partially agree with this statement, which is why I believe that if a technological singularity was to occur, it would coincide with a rapidly evolving human consciousness. Hubert Dreyfus contends that there is a fundamental difference between the way in which computers operate and the way in which the human mind operates. In order to create a truly formidable AI, I believe that computers would need to somehow evolve to process information in the same way the human brain does.
I've become increasingly interested in this topic since reading the first two books of Dan Simmons's Hyperion Cantos and Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep. I'm also currently halfway through Charles Stross's Singularity Sky, which deals with a speculative future in which a technological singularity gives birth to an entity that calls itself the Eschaton and proceeds to assert its dominance over humanity. All of these books deal with various forms of super-advanced AI that are able to effectively establish themselves as tyrannical entities in control over humanity, to an extent. Many of the books deal with what constitutes a technological singularity and how human beings could hope to understand such a phenomenon.
My purpose in this thread was to generate some discussion about the concept of AI, what people here think about the ever-increasing amount of AI and the rate at which it is advancing, and the relationship between man and machine, especially regarding consciousness. Can human beings create machines smarter than themselves? Would a technological singularity coincide with the advent of the next phase of human evolution, such as a higher level of consciousness; and if so, would it even be a technological singularity? How akin to what we perceive as "God" could a machine become? For example, in Stross's Singularity Sky the Eschaton can simply wipe people from the face of the earth in the blink of an eye, and transport them from planet to planet, can travel through time (thus preventing anyone from ever trying to prevent it from being created- or, as it labels it, "violating causality") and can hurtle space-born objects, thus obliterating entire star systems; quite God-like, in my opinion.
Also, lastly, would a technological singularity open a pathway for the next step in human evolution; or would the next step in human evolution (especially involving, again, consciousness) make a technological singularity obsolete, or even impossible? What I mean is, will human beings always advance faster than machines, or will an advancement in technology help humanity to achieve a higher level of consciousness (or perhaps even transcendence)?
I know this is a lot, so let's just take this a little bit at a time. For starters we can just begin by talking about artifical intelligence and what we think about it's nature or the possibility of it even becoming more powerful than humanity.
