The 'Singularity'

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Corth
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The 'Singularity'

Postby Corth » Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:08 am

http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... -1,00.html

Interesting article on the so-called 'singularity' which I guess would be defined as that point in time when machines become conscious of themselves. The basic point is that technology continues to grow exponentially - which could mean some exciting stuff in the next few years.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

Goddamned slippery mage.
Todrael
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Re: The 'Singularity'

Postby Todrael » Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:19 pm

It's a complex and confused meme since so many people are entering the space and diluting the word 'singularity' for their own purposes. Most of it is an attempt to predict the future, to see where technology is going, and what kind of impact that can have on us.

There are three primary definitions:

* Increasing technological progress (Kurzweil)
* A time beyond which we cannot understand the future due to something smarter than us doing things beyond our comprehension (Vinge)
* Recursively self-improving intelligence, either through AI (Artificial Intelligence) or IA (Intelligence Amplification of existing humans) (Yudkowsky)

You'll find these detailed here. If you're interested in more, I've found Yudkowsky's writings to be the most coherent and accessible. He's the lead researcher at the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, which I contribute to as a donor.

I came here today to post this article; seeing it already posted, frankly, is quite surprising. I've been following this movement for about 6 years now, primarily around Yudkowsky's ideas, since I find Kurzweil to be more marketing and flash than realistic prediction, and Vinge was never much of a proponent besides contributing to the initial idea and writing some good sci-fi novels.

Some of the best research into this topic is done as part of an effort to head off threats to humanity. Unfortunately, it's considered crackpot by most people exposed to Kurzweil rather than the other, more rigorous forms.

Nick Bostrom is another key figure, and his website has many interesting articles on it, including The Future of Human Evolution and When Machines Outsmart Humans. He is also the editor of the volume Global Catastrophic Risks and head of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford.

The LessWrong rationality group, which I've linked here before, is also heavily involved in Singularitarian ideas, such as recently discussing an article (PDF) by noted philosopher David Chalmers. A more accessible introduction to the topics discussed at LessWrong can be found in the fanfiction Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
-Todrael Azz'miala, Ravager
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Corth
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Re: The 'Singularity'

Postby Corth » Fri Feb 11, 2011 2:52 pm

I have to admit, when I posted the topic I was kind of wondering if it would somehow lure you to the forum. :)
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



Goddamned slippery mage.

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