Lux Alpstraum at Undark argues against "Our Irrational Fear of Sexbots": When most people envision a world where human partners are abandoned in favor of robots, the robots they picture tend to be reasonably good approximations of flesh-and-blood humans. The sexbots of “Westworld” are effectively just humans who can be programmed and controlled by the … Continue reading The dangers of artificial companionship
Tag: Future
Is the singularity right around the corner?
You've probably heard the narrative before. At some point, we will invent an artificial intelligence that is more intelligent than we are. The superhuman intelligence will then have the capability to either build an improved version of itself, or engineer upgrades that improve its own intelligence. This will set off a process where the system … Continue reading Is the singularity right around the corner?
The difficulty of interstellar travel for humans
Futurism.com has an article reviewing the results of a survey they conducted with their readers asking when the first human might leave the solar system. The leading answer was after the year 2100, which make sense given our current level of progress just getting humans back out of low Earth orbit. But I think the … Continue reading The difficulty of interstellar travel for humans
Predicting far future technologies
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. Niels Bohr If you're a science fiction writer, one of the things you do is try to predict what future technologies will come along. If you're not writing hard science fiction, this is relatively easy. You just come up with a cool capability and throw in some … Continue reading Predicting far future technologies
The odd animosity toward ebooks
Someone called my attention to an Aeon article by Craig Mod describing his abandonment of digital books, returning to the traditional paper variety. From 2009 to 2013, every book I read, I read on a screen. And then I stopped. You could call my four years of devout screen‑reading an experiment. I felt a duty … Continue reading The odd animosity toward ebooks
How a driverless car sees the road
I found this TED talk on self driving cars interesting, particularly the time frame mentioned at the end that Google is aiming for. If it comes to fruition, it could revolutionize travel by the 2020s. Personally, I'm looking forward to being able to surf the web, read, or just get a head start on emails … Continue reading How a driverless car sees the road
The problems with ensuring humanity’s survival with space colonies
Stephen Hawking, as he has done before, expresses a common sentiment, that we need to colonize space in order to survive. Humans should go and live in space within the next 1,000 years, or it will die out, Stephen Hawking has warned. "We must continue to go into space for the future of humanity," Mr … Continue reading The problems with ensuring humanity’s survival with space colonies
Wanderers – a short film on exploring the solar system
This is pretty nice. A short video by Erik Wernquist showing humans in various locations around the solar system, with a voiceover from Carl Sagan, always guaranteed to enrich the sense of wonder. via Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist on Vimeo. h/t Alex Parker
Enthusiasts and Skeptics Debate Artificial Intelligence
Kurt Anderson has an interesting article at Vanity Fair that looks at the debate among technologists about the singularity: Enthusiasts and Skeptics Debate Artificial Intelligence | Vanity Fair. Machines performing unimaginably complicated calculations unimaginably fast—that’s what computers have always done. Computers were called “electronic brains” from the beginning. But the great open question is whether a … Continue reading Enthusiasts and Skeptics Debate Artificial Intelligence
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
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