Singularity Q&A Originally published in 2005 with the launch of The Singularity Is Near. Questions and Answers So what is the Singularity? Within a quarter century, nonbiological intelligence will match the range and subtlety of human intelligence. It will then soar past it because of the continuing acceleration of information-based technologies, as well as the ability of machines to instantly share their knowledge. And that’s the Singularity? No, that’s just the precursor. When will that occur? I set the date for the Singularity—representing a profound and disruptive transformation in human capability—as 2045. Why is this called the Singularity? The term “Singularity” in my book is comparable to the use of this term by the physics community. Okay, let’s break this down. Indeed. So how are we going to achieve that? We can break this down further into hardware and software requirements. And how will we recreate the algorithms of human intelligence? You mentioned the AI tool kit. Absolutely. But how can that be?
How Close Are We to a Fully ‘Bionic Body’? After shunning the GOP for decades, Charles and David Koch tried to take it over. And then the Donald came to town… The Republican Party’s ongoing civil war involves lots of fireworks and sub-plots, but the overarching fight is between two visions and three billionaires. Charles and David Koch are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to take over the GOP and push America towards libertarianism. Tragically, the Koch brothers’ mistakes are steadily handing victory to the Donald. Many voters might be surprised to learn that the men are so different. On substance, however, the men could hardly be more different. The parallels to Trump are eerie. With the significant but specific exceptions of climate change and health reform, the Koch brothers’ critique of Washington is almost the exact opposite of Trump’s. From the 1960s through the George W. The game is not yet over, however, and the Koch brothers still have cards to play. In the short term, this Koch investment clearly failed.
A Rare Mix Created Silicon Valley's Startup Culture Courtesy of Intel The first in a 3-part series airing this week on Morning Edition. When Facebook goes public later this spring, its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, will be following in the footsteps of a long line of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs that includes Steve Jobs and Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin. But there was a time when the idea of an engineer or scientist starting his or her own company was rare. In 1956, what is now called Silicon Valley was called the Valley of the Heart's Delight. Collecting Scientific Talent William Shockley was certainly brilliant, says Leslie Berlin, a historian and archivist at Stanford University. "People tend to collectively agree," she says, that "[Shockley] was one of the smartest people to walk about this valley for quite a long time." In 1956, Shockley won the Nobel Prize for co-inventing the transistor. "He'd grown up in Palo Alto," Berlin says. hide captionWilliam Shockley (at head of table) celebrates winning a share of the 1956 Nobel Prize.
Top 10 Robots Who Think They're Human - Top 10 Films - Movie Lists, Reviews, Competitions, News & Opinion “Johnny 5 is alive” says the robot in Short Circuit. He’s not the only “machine” to think they are human. From RoboCop to David Swinton, here’s ten of the best… Robots, or as some like to call themselves, Cyborgs, are computer-programmed characters that have turned up in films in both good-guy and bad-guy roles. These human-like qualities often provide the most entertainment as we can relate to their motivation in the wider context of their mechanical construction and microcomputer intelligence. Here I take a look at some of my favourite robots to get infected by the “Pinocchio Complex” – the moment when the robot thinks it’s human. More on Top 10 Films you might like: Top 10 Robots | Top 10 Robots Who Think They’re Human | Top 10 Scariest Robots, Cyborgs and Artificial Intelligence 10. The good-guy of the Starship Enterprise decides to add an emotions chip to his hardware in order to understand the human condition in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.
RIP, Aaron Swartz Click for ongoing posts about Aaron, his memorial service, his death, and the malicious prosecution brought by the DoJ against him To the extent possible under law, Cory Doctorow has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to "RIP, Aaron Swartz." Update: Go read Lessig: "He was brilliant, and funny. A kid genius. My friend Aaron Swartz committed suicide yesterday, Jan 11. I met Aaron when he was 14 or 15. But he was also unmistakably a kid then, too. I introduced him to Larry Lessig, and he was active in the original Creative Commons technical team, and became very involved in technology-freedom issues. This was cause for real pain and distress for Aaron, and it was the root of his really unfortunate pattern of making high-profile, public denunciations of his friends and mentors. Aaron accomplished some incredible things in his life. The post-Reddit era in Aaron's life was really his coming of age. This was so perfect that I basically ran it verbatim in the book.
New American Visionary Art Museum show examines creative and destructive powers of technology - tribunedigital-baltimoresun Allen Christian created "Piano Family: Adagio, Amorosa,… (Allen Christian, Handout ) October 06, 2013|By Julie Scharper, The Baltimore Sun Kenny Irwin Jr. has seen the future, and it is fast and fierce — intergalactic travelers catching flights from an Afghan spaceport, extraterrestrials so weary of human warfare they swoop down and blast away our weapons. The 39-year-old artist says he has had as many as 60,000 visions in which he is spirited to far corners of the galaxy and ferried around by beings who "have such advanced technological capabilities ... they know we're here." Irwin's meticulously shaded ballpoint-pen drawings of futuristic battles and his jangly, blinking installation "Have Yourself a Happy Little Robotmas" form the heart of the American Visionary Art Museum's 19th themed exhibit, "Human, Soul and Machine: The Coming Singularity," which opened Saturday and continues through August. "There's so much creative technology already in place here," in the state, said Hoffberger.
Robots on the rise in the workplace Technology has always been one of the great drivers of the U.S. economy, constantly creating jobs and eliminating some in the process. But recently, MIT professors tell Steve Kroft, technology has been eliminating more jobs than it creates -- a net loss that poses a danger to the delicate economic recovery. Kroft's report on this technological revolution, often characterized by advanced robotics, will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. "Technology is always creating jobs. Fewer Americans on a percentage basis are holding jobs now than 20 years ago. The irony is that the economy is growing. One reason for this was automated warehouses, which surprised McAfee. Kroft visits a huge warehouse in Devens, Mass., where about 100 employees work with 69 suitcase-size robots that navigate the massive facility, moving product from shelf to shipping point faster and better than humanly possible.
Meditating Machinery | Mechanical-Buddhas | Wang Zi Won | R . E . W . I . R . E . D “The artist predicts that in the future humans will evolve and adapt themselves to enhanced science and technology just as men and animals in the past evolved to adapt themselves to their natural circumstances. He sees this future as our destiny, not as a negative, gloomy dystopia. His work is thus based on neither utopia not dystopia. Wang represents the relations between man, technology and science through the bodies of cyborgs. The artist considers it important to escape from human bondage in order to achieve harmony between men and machines.
Elon Musk's Mission to Mars | Wired Science Maverick entrepreneur Elon Musk Photo: Art Streiber When a man tells you about the time he planned to put a vegetable garden on Mars, you worry about his mental state. But if that same man has since launched multiple rockets that are actually capable of reaching Mars—sending them into orbit, Bond-style, from a tiny island in the Pacific—you need to find another diagnosis. That’s the thing about extreme entrepreneurialism: There’s a fine line between madness and genius, and you need a little bit of both to really change the world. All entrepreneurs have an aptitude for risk, but more important than that is their capacity for self-delusion. I have never met an entrepreneur who fits this model more than Elon Musk. And he is leading the private space race with SpaceX, which is poised to replace the space shuttle and usher us into an interplanetary age. It’s no wonder the character of Tony Stark in Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., was modeled on Musk: This is superhero-grade stuff.
Humans: a bankable British TV show that isn't a costume drama | Television & radio In what may now be seen as a preview of the problems currently afflicting the EU and the single European currency, TV commissioners in the 70s and 80s experimented disastrously with the idea of a single European drama. So, one of the attractive aspects of Humans (Channel 4, Sundays, 9pm) – which, after two episodes, already has the feel of being one of 2015’s dramatic hits – is that this co-production between Channel 4 and the American network AMC aims for multinational appeal without the detractions that have resulted in the past from trying to be one thing to all people. The casting of William Hurt, for example, seems transparently calculated to increase American bankability, but his presence also feels incorporated into the story and style. It’s equally pleasing that Humans – unusually for a Britain-based TV project with hopes for a long and wide life – is set, if not quite in the present, then in a recognisable very near future.
Genome Sequencing For Babies Brings Knowledge And Conflicts : Shots - Health News hide captionBy sequencing a newborn's genome, doctors could screen for more genetic conditions. But parents could be confronted with confusing or ambiguous data about their baby's health. iStockphoto.com By sequencing a newborn's genome, doctors could screen for more genetic conditions. But parents could be confronted with confusing or ambiguous data about their baby's health. When Christine Rowan gave birth prematurely in August, her new baby was having problems breathing. "It's funny because when we first had the testing done, we didn't even really think about the fact the testing was going to lay out all of her DNA," says Rowan, 32, who lives in Northern Virginia. But while Rowan and her husband were waiting for the results, questions started popping into their heads. "If we have all this information, when do we tell Zoe? "Or do we kind of keep that to ourselves? Genome sequencing deciphers an individual's entire genetic code. But that's just the beginning.
Rob Scharff's Soft Robotics hand responds to a human grip Dutch Design Week 2015: Delft University of Technology graduate Rob Scharff has created a soft robotic limb that can shake hands with people. The hand was created as part of Scharff's Soft Robotics research project – which focuses on the ways robots can be integrated with more tactile materials, and so improve robot-human interactions. Video showing a demonstration of Rob Scharff's Soft Robotics 3D-printed hand "Robots are becoming omnipresent in our lives," Scharff told Dezeen. "This makes it very interesting and important to think about robotics from a design perspective." "Currently, most robots are relatively rigid machines which make unnatural movements. Scharff referenced natural biological systems to design the hand, including human muscles and the structure of an elephant's trunk. The palm of the hand contains integrated air chambers, which work like bellows, and respond to the pressure applied when held by a human hand.
Bump On The Road For Driverless Cars Isn't Technology, It's You : All Tech Considered hide captionCar companies are picking up automobile concepts such as this Lexus SL 600 Integrated Safety driverless research vehicle, shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January in Las Vegas. Julie Jacobson/AP Car companies are picking up automobile concepts such as this Lexus SL 600 Integrated Safety driverless research vehicle, shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January in Las Vegas. When you watch science fiction movies, you notice there are two things that seem like we will get in the future — a silver jumpsuit and driverless cars. In the movie I, Robot, which is set in a futuristic 2035, Will Smith is sitting in the driver's seat of his Audi, relaxing and reading a magazine when he suddenly gets attacked by robots. Jumping On The Band Wagon Filip Brabec with Audi of America says the car company is still a couple of decades away from the film's depiction of technology, however, the car maker is navigating toward a new initiative. YouTube Well, we are.
Bionic lens promises SUPERHUMAN sight three times better than 20/20 The Ocumetics Bionic Lens was created by Canadian Dr Garth WebbSurgery to implant the lens into the patient's eye takes eight minutesIt is folded into a syringe in a saline solution and placed in an eyeOnce it has unravelled - within about 10 seconds - the vision is corrected By Victoria Woollaston for MailOnline Published: 13:53 GMT, 21 May 2015 | Updated: 07:41 GMT, 26 May 2015 From glasses to standard lenses and even lasers, there are many ways people can restore or correct their vision. But the latest so-called 'bionic' lens promises to not only restore sight, it claims it can boost it to three times better than 20/20. And surgery to insert the lens takes just eight minutes, with sight being restored in seconds. Scroll down for video The Ocumetic Bionic Lens (pictured) was created by Dr Garth Webb. The Ocumetic Bionic Lens was created by Dr Garth Webb. Once it has unravelled - within about 10 seconds - the vision is corrected and Dr Webb claims it is 'three times better than 20/20'.