You must have heard or read about "Singularity" and the famous book "The Singularity is Near" by the well known futurist and author Ray Kurzweil. Usually, when I want to understand and remember things I have to write about them and this time I decided that the best thing I could do is to make a summary of selected responses of the writer to a series of questions in relation to his book.
The book which is really interesting was published in 2005 and we are now almost at the end of 2015 but the content of the book examines the future, the era of a new civilization and a vision of human capability by 2020 through 2045. Singularity as a word is synonymous with "uniqueness" or "distinctiveness" but in this case the writer has used the term in the context of physics and refers to it as the age of "intelligence implosion". Here is the summary of what is supposed to happen:
- Human intelligence will be vastly enhanced because of the continuing acceleration of information-based technologies as well as the ability of machines to instantly share their knowledge.We will get to a point where technical progress will be so fast that unenhanced human intelligence will be unable to follow it.
- By 2020 we will have effective models for all of the brain and a full understanding of the methods of the human brain. We will be able to create non-biological systems or super-intelligent computers that match human intelligence and can share knowledge and skills at electronic speeds. By 2030 there will be a web of computing deeply integrated into the environment, our bodies and brains.
- Artificial Intelligence "AI" programs will be able to diagnose electrocardiograms, evaluate medical images, fly and land airplanes, guide intelligent autonomous weapons, make automated investment decisions and guide industrial processes.
- With the advent of technology-based manufacturing in the 2020s we will be able to use inexpensive table top devices to manufacture on-demand just about anything from very inexpensive raw materials using information processes that will rearrange matter and energy at the molecular level.
- We will meet our energy needs using nanotechnology-based solar panels that will capture the energy in .03 percent of the sunlight that falls on the Earth, which is all we need to meet our projected energy needs in 2030. We will store the energy in highly distributed fuel cells.
- The impact of these developments will be a radical life extension affected by genetics (biotechnology), nanotechnology, and robotics. At one point we will be able to overcome most major diseases and nanobots could deliver to our blood streams an optimal set of all nutrients, hormones, and other substances we need, as well as remove toxins and waste products.
- The nanobots will keep us healthy, provide full-immersion virtual reality from within the nervous system, provide direct brain to brain communication over the internet, and otherwise greatly expand human intelligence.
- Adding new genes or gene therapy, regrowing our own cells and creating new tissues and organs are emerging field of rejuvenation medicine. We may have nanobots that replace our red blood cells and as a result one could sit at the bottom of a pool for four hours without taking a breath.
- We will have the means to meet the material needs of any conceivable size population of biological humans. Nanotechnology will also provide the means of cleaning up environmental damage from earlier stages of industrialization.
- We need to give a higher priority to preparing protective strategies and systems. One strategy would be to use RNAi, which has been shown to be effective against viral diseases. We need to create a nanotechnology immune system - good nanobots that can protect us from the bad ones.
We could saturate the universe with our intelligence within a couple of centuries and humans will be defined as the species that seeks - and succeeds - in going beyond our limitations.
***
#singularity, #intelligenceimplosion
