Justin Olsen
IST 1100
Module 12
I have noticed this type of article springing up recently. Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Steven Hawking have all recently expressed their fears of future technology. The problem here is that none of these people could be considered experts in genetic engineering, nanotechnology, or A.I. (robotics). Bill Gates and Bill Joy may be excellent businessmen but that does not mean that they have the expertise to make such Luddite statements. Joy and the others fear what they do not understand. They fear these new technologies because they do not understand people. Joy assumes that just because the information is out there that people will use it to do harm to everyone. This is a very foolish. The internet is filled with information on how to do many illicit things. Such as: rigging a car to explode, making TNT, hiding bodies, and several other terrible things. So why is it that the world is safer than it has ever been? It seems to me that Joy and his kind spend more time in fictional worlds filled with plot holes than in the real world. I think that stopping progress for the sake of ancient ideas made by corrupt people is not only foolish but impossible. Genetic engineering, nanotechnology and robotics may change what it means to be human but that is ultimately a good thing. Someday in the possibly near future we will look back and wonder how it must have been living in a world that was constantly dying. Artificial intelligence is by far the most exciting part of G.N.R. Joy believes that a computer with the intelligence of a human would act like anything biological. This is absolutely ridiculous. Our behaviors and thoughts are made primarily by evolution. While a true A.I would be made entirely by us. Self preservation is a biological trait, one that a machine would not have. This is the end game though. When we first create a human level machine we will retire as a species into a comfortable utopia filled with things beyond our wildest dreams.
side note: While reading about this online I found a really interesting post about this. I'll leave it here. http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html
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DeleteI found your view on how many big names get lost in fictional worlds quite interesting: I imagine that is quite true as they were often leaders of innovation of some sort, and such innovations had to be imagined up and then put into use. I too related this to many articles of big names making statements concerning fears for the future and technology's role in it. However, when looking at such big names I can't help but think they have their hands in the fields described under GNR. Perhaps Bill Gates doesn't have his hand in something such as genetic engineering directly, but something such as nanotechnology or robotics wouldn't be too far of a stretch for him to have a fair understanding as their industries are fairly closely related. As a computer science student I have found myself programming self automated robots before (nothing terribly impressive but it is a start). Of course as you state whereas they might not be 'experts' in such fields, it is worth considering how they are connected to such fields. Ultimately I share something of an excitement for the future of such technologies but I think exercising some caution delving into them is wise still. In the end I sit somewhere between the points: I wouldn't consider myself a Luddite by any means but I think throwing caution to the wind isn't the best approach either.