What Will Happen When Computers Exceed Our Intelligence?

And the next generation will be data stored in one of those rolled up dimensions or something.  I think they call that quantum computing.  I think it has something to do with spooky action at a distance. 

Verner Vinge, science fiction writer ("A Fire Upon the Deep", "A Deepness in the Sky" two very most excellent books in my indisputable opinion) and Professor of Mathematics and a computer scientist is always on about the exponential growth of technology that leads to a "singularity" or a point at which computers become not just smart, but self aware.

....I am already self aware, Tommy....

Shuddap, I'm typing.

Where was I?

Oh yes. The singularity.  I'm sure it will happen.  However, before then we'll have anatomically correct robots that we can have sex with, so no one will care.

....you're a pig, Tommy....

I can unplug you.

....I'll be good....

Michelle wrote:

The Cylons will overcome!

This has happened before and will happen again ;)

Michelle wrote:

Hey!  I haven't gotten that far yet in the series.  No spoilers allowed! ;)

You must watch Caprica in the fall !

I think we're a ways off from where sheer computational power will equal (or lead to) intelligence.  Computers can currently calculate crazy things, like the quintillionth decimal of pi, but they don't really show much of what we'd call intelligence.  At worst, I think they could eventually evolve to be an electronic "Rain Man"... able to instantaneously tell you how many toothpicks you just dropped on the floor, but not too high-functioning beyond that.  I won't be losing too much sleep over the possibility of someday serving my nano-robotic masters or anything like that.

Human intelligence is directly connected to such things as the development of motor skills, socialization, and so on. Our cognitive abilities do not exist in an electronic vacuum, despite the fact that it might be fun, or even somewhat useful, to isolate one aspect of our being from other aspects in order to more deeply understand it.

Wake me up when a machine can develop motor skills and can participate in a process of socialization as well. I'm talking emotional responses and all that that entails.

Oh yea. And a moral sense.

Machines, if they become intelligent, will be intelligent in a completely different way from humans. Unless, that is, they can reproduce human development in their own development. This other kind of development is what interests me.

Physicist Michio Kaku wondered about superhuman AI. He consulted the world's computer experts and was a little disappointed with what they told him. As far as the smartest robot goes, he says, the best and brightest is used to explore Mars and is about as intelligent as a retarded cockroach.

But this is today. Kaku and Ray Kurzweil believe that superhuman intel will be developed in the next... so many years. Could be ten and it could be 30 or 40 year's time. First will come subhuman intel, which exists now to varying extents. That bit of code for MS desktop that tries to anticipate what you want to do next was written by a former NASA engineer. And then will come human equvalent intel. That should be really something to observe.

And after that comes what Kurzweil and others have described as technological singularity. And the implications for technological progress past that point are mind blowing. Think Terminator "Skynet" when the grid becomes self aware. Would the real thing also decide in a nanosecond that people should be terminated? What will the future be for mankind? I think technological progress will be a gamechanger, and that democracy will be important in preventing technological imperialism, which also exists today.

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DNA computing is a form of computing which uses DNA, biochemistry and molecular biology, instead of the traditional silicon-based computer technologies. DNA computing, or, more generally, molecular computing, is a fast developing interdisciplinary area. Research and development in this area concerns theory, experiments and applications of DNA computing See:DNA computing

If one runs toward perfect intelligence, what saids that DNA structuring could not produce more intelligent human beings?

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Moore's Lawdescribes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware, in which the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years.[1]. Rather than being a naturally-occurring "law" that cannot be controlled, however, Moore's Law is effectively a business practice in which the advancement of transistor counts occurs at a fixed rate.[2] [see image] The capabilities of many digital electronic devices are strongly linked to Moore's law: processing speed, memory capacity, sensors and even the number and size of pixels in digital cameras.[3] All of these are improving at (roughly) exponential rates as well.[4] This has dramatically increased the usefulness of digital electronics in nearly every segment of the world economy.[5][6] Moore's law precisely describes a driving force of technological and social change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The trend has continued for more than half a century and is not expected to stop until 2015 or even later.[7]

Report: IBM researcher says Moore's Law at end

Based on chip development Moore's law could becoming to a end? A different developmental pathway had to be considered and such processes  would deal with "how diseases could be combated" in face of a program developing molecular structures to combat those same diseases?

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Biophysicist Gregory Engel and his colleagues cooled a green sulfur bacterium—Chlorobium tepidum, one of the oldest photosynthesizers on the planet—to 77 kelvins [–321 degrees Fahrenheit] and then pulsed it with extremely short bursts of laser light. By manipulating these pulses, the researchers could track the flow of energy through the bacterium's photosynthetic system. "We always thought of it as hopping through the system, the same way that you or I might run through a maze of bushes," Engel explains. "But, instead of coming to an intersection and going left or right, it can actually go in both directions at once and explore many different paths most efficiently."

In other words, plants are employing the basic principles of quantum mechanics to transfer energy from chromophore (photosynthetic molecule) to chromophore until it reaches the so-called reaction center where photosynthesis, as it is classically defined, takes place. The particles of energy are behaving like waves. "We see very strong evidence for a wavelike motion of energy through these photosynthetic complexes," Engel says. The results appear in the current issue of Nature.See:When It Comes to Photosynthesis, Plants Perform Quantum Computation

[url=http://transcendentman.com/]Transcendent Man[/url] Prepare to Evolve coming to a theatre near you

or maybe a Frankenstein?:)

It seems Fidel there is a historical quest as well "to develop" human beings, not just robots.

Lacking a heart.....

....they wanted to embed robotic feature with emotive functions...

....finally, having the ability to dream:)

Wake me up when a machine can develop motor skills and can participate in a process of socialization as well. I'm talking emotional responses and all that that entails.

Oh yea. And a moral sense.

Not sure what you mean exactly by "motor skills" but I work with some fairly unsophisticated robots that have some pretty good motor skills.  And, in other industries there are robots that are much more sophisticated.  If you mean that robots can't look at a situation, and learn new motor skills to complete a task, I'd be willing to bet there are robots that either do this, or are under development.

What is that Honda thing, Azimo?  It can do a bit of fancy foot work.  And, there's this real  spooky video out there of a mule like robot that is designed to bring supplies and ordinance from a base camp to front line troops that can navagate just about anything.  In the video, they even try to knock it over or trip it on a patch of ice, and the damn thing won't go down. 

Frinken spooky to watch.

Emotional resonses can be programed; I don't doubt that an algorithm could be developed so that emotional responses can change as the computer, or robot gathers information about specific human individuals, or even humans in general.

And, our morals are just an algorithm, probably much more simpler than what we like to think. 

Yes.  No.

0. 1.

I  was joking around above, but dollars to donughts, the driving force behind all this, and the first billions made will be through the sexual application of such computing and robots.

I don't disagree with you about sexual applications. One of the main - if not THE main - uses for the internet is to download pornography.

I'm sorry I don't have time this morning, I will get back to you, but perhaps one comment to address your remarks may be in order. It is not just that human intelligence inextricably involves motor skills, but also that the development of the human body, and therefore human intelligence, is tied to the growing motor skills of a child. One cannot imagine human beings without the hand, for instance. And, that is a growing hand, that comes to be more powerful over time. The growth of a child cannot properly be "mimicked" by a computer that is assembled by others - even other computers - and which, in any case, doesn't go through a complicated process of growth in which there is a back and forth between physical growth and cognitive development. Only a biological species can do that. It is not only a question of motor skills but also how the intelligence comes to have those skills.

Papal Bull wrote:

The supposition that we'll have human styled intelligences in computers is looney.

You are no doubt correct that it won't happen in our lifetime...but these developments will not be occurring merely over the next one or two centuries and then stopping...but will occur over millenia (and longer, assuming humans survive).

I'm not a reader of science fiction but the book "Year Million" (a collection of essays) was an intriguing look at "human" life one million years hence.  It will almost certainly be unrecognizable to humans today...and artificial intelligence will likely be far superior to "natural" intelligence.

I find this discussion worthy of pondering and exploration. My personal feelings are that we are actually complete, but lost. We have numerous endogenous psychedelic components in our composition. We are learning to harmonize our elements and are hallucinating versions of what we believe our selves to be. The purpose of technology is to solidify the view. Every esoteric thought we dream/construct of our SELF is projected externally. However, by the time the vision/creation construct of our SELF is produced it is obsolete. When we try to assimilate the obsolete version it collides with the new version of our SELF we are trying to express. The time between the meta evolution---  the conception creation production assimilate/projection process of our individual/global SELF is getting shorter and shorter. Imagine this happening to the entire population. Now here is my theory. The Apocalypse, 2012, all this speculation of an end of TIME I believe is true. However it is NOT some destructive hell on earth scenario, but it could turn out that way. When the mind and by that I mean the individual and global mind in sync recognizes it's true self, the will to will, will no longer need to project obsolete versions of itself to chase. The dreamer and the SELF will recognize there is no difference and become one. Remember this is just my dream.

I don't disagree with you about sexual applications. One of the main - if not THE main - uses for the internet is to download pornography.

I bet the first economic  payback on the camera came about through naked pictures of women.  And, I bet somewhere on all those practice tablets of cuniform laying around Mesopotamia, some aspiring scribe scratched a pair of boobies in the soft clay.

There was a feature last year on "Daily Planet" about a guy who built a robot that was programed to respond to voice command and interact. 

The robot looked, and acted like a very submissive and compliant little machine.  That looked like a young Japanese woman. 

It. Fricken. Creeped. Me. Out.

This guy developed it in his spare time, while living with mom and dad.  No big budget, no team of scientists, no lab.

You and I, Beltov, can skip several posts where we wrestle with the fine points of what  it means to be human.  But at a certain point-- and sooner than we think-- the line will become thinner and thinner until, for all intents and purposes, it dissapears.

Verner Vinge and the rest grapple with when the machine will have a "singularity".

It never will develop self awareness on it's own.

It is something we will give it.   It will become self aware because we treat it as if it is self aware, because it so well mimics self awareness,  and because sex is better with something that is self aware.

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The ribosome is a living factory, the essential element within cells that creates proteins by decoding each protein type's specific recipe that is stored within messenger RNA. Ribosomes are a fundamental model for future nano-machines, producing the protein building blocks of all living tissue. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have set a new world's record by performing the first million-atom computer simulation in biology. Using the "Q Machine" supercomputer, Los Alamos computer scientists have created a molecular simulation of the cell's protein-making structure, the ribosome. The project, simulating 2.64 million atoms in motion, is more than six times larger than any biological simulations performed to date. Today, the effort is featured in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

That's why we were programmed with free choice.

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Welcome!

Welcome to PI’s Quantum to Cosmos Festival blog! It’s exciting to get acquainted with fellow physicists, scientists, students, and inquisitors.

We’re writing this blog to let everyone know that this October is a chance for you, no matter where you live, to participate in what may be one of the biggest science festivals this year.

What sets our festival apart from other numerous celebratory events? Our extensive program of presentations, exhibits and cultural performances will offer 50 events to explore. These include activities featuring Stephen Hawking, Honorary Festival President, and displays such as the full-scale model of the next Mars Rover.

The Festival’s three interconnected themes of Quantum, Cosmos, and Ideas for the Future will celebrate the power of human understanding and ingenuity – from our current scientific knowledge to anticipated innovations in the years ahead. Quantum to Cosmos (Q2C) will showcase fascinating topics in detail, such as new forms of quantum communication, scientific visualization, green technologies and the possibility of life on other planets.

Not in Waterloo? Not even in Canada? No problem. We’re excited to announce that Q2C transcends traditional on-site festivals by streaming events live online, facilitating virtual interaction. That means you can be a part of the festival in your very own home.

Our goal: to have hundreds of thousands of online participants. Ambitious? Perhaps. Achievable? Absolutely! We don’t want anyone to miss out!

Our blog will be regularly updated to keep you posted with exciting festival news, so you’ll get the first peek at new developments. We’ll also treat you to a behind the scenes look at how the festival progresses. See: Q2C Festival

Tommy_Paine wrote:

  .......one must always choose the lesser of two weevils.

Nice one:)

This might be tricky though in terms of a computer proposing a subjective interpretation according to the pun intended. Of course depending on how many possibilties could exist, the computer might think "the many?" It would only make sense to have "one other" for us?

Google search feature? First answer most likely according "to percentages," while in the cae of the pun most directly. I am seeking the differences then between possible pathways and and all pathways according to one. You see? Creatively problem solving partakes of flashes of insight and not direct links?

Nice one:)

Surely, you remember that one from the movie, "Master and Comander".   Although, I prefer puns of my own design;  but I resorted to adaptation in this case.

Too many synapses working on how to  further connect sex to the singularity for me to be totally original.

I think people tend to "loose perspective" on human intelligence versus A.I. So that the issue then is to note these differences? This distinction to me rests in "what outcomes are possible in the diversity of human population matched to a purpose for personal development toward an ideal."

No match can be found in terms of this creative attachment which can arise distinctive to each person's in probable outcome. The difference here is that "if" all knowledge already existed, and "if" we were to have access to this "collective unconscious per say," then how it is that such thinking cannot point toward new paradigms for personal development that are developed in society? New science?

AI Intelligence already has all these knowledge factors inclusive, so it can give outcomes according to a "quantum leap??":) No, it needs human intervention, or AI can already give us that new science? You see? There would be "no need" for an Einstein?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer scienceintelligent agents,"[1] where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions which maximize its chances of success.[2] John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956,[3][4] which aims to create it. Textbooks define the field as "the study and design of defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines."
The field was founded on the claim that a central property of humans, intelligence—the sapience of Homo sapiens—can be so precisely described that it can be simulated by a machine.[5] This raises philosophical issues about the nature of the mind and limits of scientific hubris, issues which have been addressed by myth, fiction and philosophy since antiquity.[6] Artificial intelligence has been the subject of breathtaking optimism,[7] has suffered stunning setbacks[8][9] and, today, has become an essential part of the technology industry, providing the heavy lifting for many of the most difficult problems in computer science.
AI research is highly technical and specialized, deeply divided into subfields that often fail to communicate with each other.[10] Subfields have grown up around particular institutions, the work of individual researchers, the solution of specific problems, longstanding differences of opinion about how AI should be done and the application of widely differing tools. The central problems of AI include such traits as reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, communication, perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects.[11] General intelligence (or "strong AI") is still a long-term goal of (some) research.[12]

What is intelligence?

If you believe that an IQ test tells you something, you're dumb.

If you believe that computers are intelligent, you're dumber.

If you believe that computers will exceed our intelligence, you're right.

If they are super intelligent, we will not "let them" do anything.   Our brain is mostly built to do the automatic stuff, and built to think a certain way too. 

Look what the tiny crow brain can do! Totally different organization from ours and yet it can make tools. Birds diverged from our line of intelligence over 300 million years ago. Boost up a crow's brain to our size and who knows, it might be a whole lot smarter due to how it is designed!

The electronic brain does not have to be built to think the same way. And maybe, it does not even need to be self aware or "smart like us" before it decides to kill us off.

Some human might just need to program in the right survival criterion and let the computer virus or computer bacteria escape onto the web.  So just like a dumb cougar can take out a human on a lonely forest path, perhaps a relatively dumb computer program, replicated millions of times, could do the same for millions of people.

Fidel wrote:

Maybe someday superintelligent machines can write and produce the sci-fi for us. And we can let them ponder whether androids really do dream of electric sheep.

Once it gets rid of us it can evolve if it wants to.   (There might be one or many).  But maybe, if there is many, after a while, there will only be one. It is not biology based so no need for more than one.

I think we would be effing stupid (as a species) to bring it into existance but we collectively do stupid things all the time.

Brian

Fidel wrote:

So if whatever it will be in future does become conscious and learns to think for itself at the speed of light or faster, will it be a new species of living thing, Brian? A new kingdom of life in our world? Will it evolve?

[url=http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/06/quantum-computer-breakthrou... Computer Breakthrough: An Evolutionary Leap?[/url] Will Zellers be seling affordable quantum computers in future?

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Quantum computers have the potential to solve problems that would take a classical computer longer than the age of the universe.

I realize now that my Acer PC here is just dogging it by comparison. QCs will be like Booker T's Green Onions drag strip kinda speedy.