Tag: Artificial intelligence

Eavesdropping on E.T. and the possibility of interstellar travel

Gabriel Popkin as an article at Inside Science about a study that looks at the possibility of intercepting communications between other alien civilizations.  The idea is that communicating across interstellar distances is best done with lasers. So far, the optical search for extraterrestrial intelligence has focused mainly on the hope of receiving—and recognizing—an intentional, laser-encoded … Continue reading Eavesdropping on E.T. and the possibility of interstellar travel →

Elon Musk: Killer robots will be here within 5 Years

Not sure what to make of this one: ELON MUSK: Killer Robots Will Be Here Within 5 Years - Business Insider. Elon Musk has been ranting about killer robots again. Musk posted a comment on the futurology site Edge.org, warning readers that developments in AI could bring about robots that may autonomously decide that it is … Continue reading Elon Musk: Killer robots will be here within 5 Years →

Human level AI is always 20 years in the future

Steven Pinker highlighted this study which tracks the predictions of when human level AI (artificial intelligence) will be achieved.  According to the paper, the predictions cluster around predicting that it will be achieved in 15-25 years, and they have been doing so for the last 60 or so years.  The paper also notes that expert predictions have fared … Continue reading Human level AI is always 20 years in the future →

Reaching the stars will require serious out-of-the-box thinking

Sten Odenwald, an astronomer with the National Institute of Aerospace, has an article up at HuffPost that many will find disheartening: The Dismal Future of Interstellar Travel | Dr. Sten Odenwald. I have been an avid science fiction reader all my life, but as an astronomer for over half my life, the essential paradox of my fantasy world can … Continue reading Reaching the stars will require serious out-of-the-box thinking →

Massimo Pigliucci’s pessimistic view of mind uploading

Massimo Pigliucci wrote a paper on his skepticism of the possibility of mind uploading, the idea that our minds are information which it might be possible someday to copy into a computer virtual reality system or some other type of technology.  His paper appears to be one chapter in a broader book, 'Intelligence Unbound: The Future … Continue reading Massimo Pigliucci’s pessimistic view of mind uploading →

Saying that mind uploading will never be possible is unwarranted

This question came up on Quora: 3 What percent chance is there that whole brain emulation or mind uploading to a neural prosthetic will be feasible by 2048? - Quora. After seeing a number of skeptical responses, many claiming that mind uploading was inherently impossible or even incoherent, I posted the following reply: I think mind … Continue reading Saying that mind uploading will never be possible is unwarranted →

The Paraphrase Challenge: How to understand what your opponent is saying

Earlier today, John Zande clued me into an awesome science fiction novella by David Brin called 'Stones of Significance', which I highly recommend to anyone interested in AI, post-singularity fiction, and the nature of reality. By coincidence, the author, David Brin, tweeted this video earlier which, given the epic online fights that have happened recently, … Continue reading The Paraphrase Challenge: How to understand what your opponent is saying →