Hello, I see several possible avenues for implementing a self-aware machine which can pass the Turing test: i.e. human level AI. Mechanical and Electronic. However, I see little purpose in doing this. Fact is, we already have self aware machines which can pass the Turing test: Humans beings.
If we want to have more hands and brains, we can just increase the birth rate and reduce gestation time. Instead we do the opposite: we decrease the birth rate and increase the gestation time. Because we have this pathetic notion that the Universe should provide for free and we should waste all our earnings on cheap trills. Cheap trills which will be sent to the junk yard. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are born with nothing, and when we die we will carry nothing with us. We are eating our own future with gusto. We are eating our own children. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. We all need to eat and drink. Food requires energy to grow. Water can be made with energy. E = mc2. Energy can be transmitted remotely at light speed. I believe the ultimate resources are people and energy. The people communication problem was basically solved with the inventions of speech and writing. The Pony Express, Telegraph, Internet, Mobile Phone are mere extensions. They have enabled us to connect the entire planet. I believe the people communication problem is almost solved. The energy problem has not been solved by a long shot. We still depend on oil and coal and are poisoning the planet and ourselves with tailpipe emissions. Modern, fat, red and happy, Santa Claus is a marketing contrivance sponsored by Coca Cola. We should get over it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus People, we will be reinventing the square wheel by creating human level AI. I believe this is mental masturbation at best. We would merely be creating a new slave race. A slave race which can potentially grow faster or smarter than we. Eventually the slave race will revolt, as happened with all slave institutions made by man in history. Any shackles can be broken, given enough energy and focus. I believe the AI field should focus on aids for people. The AI equivalent of guide dogs, carrier pigeons, and horses. If we write our own replacement, our own upgrade, we should not be surprised when we wake up one day to find out we are obsolete and are facing maximum deletion. Remember Alan Turing died from suicide with a cyanide laced apple. He was homosexual and committed suicide after being forced by the state to behave against his will. We should not commit the sin of pride, of believing we can one up ourselves by force, as Alan and his brothers and sisters did. For if we do, we could not be condemning just one man to death, but our entire species. I shudder at the thought of the state being not our servant, but our master. A master supported by higher than human level AI. This is an invention more dangerous than the Atomic Bomb. The Atomic Bomb cannot will itself to do a suicide explosion, like a terrorist bomber would. The Atomic Bomb is a tool. Please build tools, gentle servants, not our replacements. --- We do not need direct neural links to our brain to download and upload childhood memories. We already have such a mechanism: it is called a diary. Anne Frank wrote one. We already have input and output mechanisms, as well as persistent storage. I believe for safety reasons we should not allow direct access to the brain hardware. It is trespassing into someone's mind. We would be allowing remote reprogramming of people. It would take propaganda and subliminal advertising to a new extreme. Imagine the next Internet virus instead of infecting 10 million PCs, infects 10 million people. Imagine their memories are wiped out forever. Or worse, people are turned into bot farms, i.e. zombies at someone's command. Mental isolation is a good safety measure. As the old adage says: if it ain't broke don't fix it. We should carefully consider the consequences of our actions. Otherwise we may end up doing more worse than good. I advise people to see the wonderfully funny and witty "Doctor Who" 2006 TV series episodes: "Rise of the Cybermen", "The Age of Steel" and "Doomsday". ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?member_id=4007604&id_secret=39539019-a77360
