On Mar 16, 2007, at 12:14 PM, Mark Nuzzolilo wrote:
On 3/16/07, Joshua Fox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Why has the singularity and AGI not triggered such an interest?
Thiel's donations to SIAI seem like the exception which highlights
the rule.
Joshua
The issue at hand is that AGI has a very high failure rate, and the
singularity scenario is plausible speculation at best. I am sure
many would love to see a singularity, but the singularity efforts
are not developed enough to attract reasonable funding from
philantropists. How do you know that the money will not go towards
failure? Myself, like many on this list, believe that those
failures don't necessarily have to always happen, but try telling
that to Bill Gates.
More of a failure than fighting the AIDs pandemic in Africa with 20th
century medicine? That fight may make you be perceived as more of a
humanitarian than a kook but it is certainly not remotely failure proof.
By the way, the quote by Gates on the back of "The Singularity is
Near" said that an AGI would be worth 10 Microsofts. If you were
Bill Gates, would you want to give your competitors enough funding
to develop AGI and then be worth ten Microsofts? The singularity
would probably change the meaning of money and commerce, but try
telling that to Bill Gates, or anybody who has spent an entire life
around money.
Bill Gates does not have to care if something comes along that eats
Microsoft's lunch but also totally changes the entire world.
Besides, he could buy or build is own AGI project or projects if it
finds it so promising.
- samantha
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