Thursday, February 12, 2015

A.I. & The Future of Machines



I've been reading & seeing a lot of insights into the possible consequences of the continuing progression of digital technology.

There is a spectrum of opinion on the subject- ranging from optimists who think robots & artificial intelligence will be a great help to human beings, to pessimists who envision Terminator-like doomsday scenarios of robot domination. There are also people (like me) in the gray area, who think there could be both good & bad results of A.I., depending on how the technology is developed & used.

Although I've been seeing thoughts about this topic from different sources, this article (below) that I originally saw on Reddit is a long, but deeply thought-provoking article. I would highly recommend reading the entire article or bookmarking the page.

It explores the many possibilities presented by artificial intelligence and advanced machines, and correctly concludes that there will be changes and effects that we cannot even conceive at this time.
It's a similar situation to how nobody could fully predict the profound effects that the development of the Internet would have on communications and creativity.

Wait But Why:

Although I would say that article is a must-read, Newsweek also published a shorter piece about the same topic that's easier to digest.

Newsweek:

I also just watched a TED talk the other night about the advances in machine learning, that is equally fascinating and frightening.


In the absence of some global catastrophe that destroys humanity & our technological achievements, I think there is no end to the progression of robots and machine intelligence.

Once zero-point energy & quantum computation are harnessed, it will be an entirely new world of possibilities, both positive and negative.

Like media and stories dealing with the subject of "man vs. machine", such as Mass Effect & The Matrix, I believe that the way forward is synthesis

 
"Digital Self-Portrait" by Paul Micarelli

We must consciously integrate digital technology and robotics into our physical being, for the purpose of augmenting our bodies & minds. We may evolve into a new hybrid creature of unimaginable abilities, but this is the way of the Universe.

As the great philosopher Heraclitus stated, "Nothing is permanent, except change."

Who knows?
Maybe with human help one day robots & machines will even learn to love...


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