[sciborg2]

David Chalmers: "Simulation and the Singularity"

Chalmers' makes a good point that simulated evolution is probably the best possibly path to conscious AIs, assuming you believe in such things. (I don't, for reasons given by Lanier)

Note that this depends at least partially on Chalmers' division of the Hard and Easy problems of consciousness. As such, one might want to consider Lowe's There is No Easy Problem of Consciousness:

This paper challenges David Chalmers’ proposed division of the problems of consciousness into the ‘easy’ ones and the ‘hard’ one, the former allegedly being susceptible to explanation in terms of computational or neural mechanisms and the latter supposedly turning on the fact that experiential ‘qualia’ resist any sort of functional definition. Such a division, it is argued, rests upon a misrepresention of the nature of human cognition and experience and their intimate interrelationship, thereby neglecting a vitally important insight of Kant. From a Kantian perspective, our capacity for conceptual thought is so inextricably bound up with our capacity for phenomenal consciousness that it is an illusion to imagine that there are any ‘easy’ problems of consciousness, resolvable within the computational or neural paradigms.

[sciborg2]

Ray Kurzweil: Get ready for Hybrid Thinking

"Two hundred million years ago, our mammal ancestors developed a new brain feature: the neocortex. This stamp-sized piece of tissue (wrapped around a brain the size of a walnut) is the key to what humanity has become. Now, futurist Ray Kurzweil suggests, we should get ready for the next big leap in brain power, as we tap into the computing power in the cloud."

[sciborg2]

Scientists Say 'Printing' Humans May Be The Best Way To Conquer Space

From pizza to prostheses, 3-D printers are being used to whip up all sorts of things. And now scientists are talking about "printing" out batches of people to colonize outer space.

Sounds wacky, but these guys are serious.

"Our best bet for space exploration could be printing humans, organically, on another planet," Adam Steltzner, lead engineer on NASA's Curiosity rover mission, said at a futurist conference held this month in Washington, D.C.

After all, scientists including Stephen Hawking believe our very survival depends on "escaping our fragile planet" and colonizing other planets. Of course, landing humans on other planets is no simple task. A short hop to nearby Mars could take up to 300 days and cost over $6 billion. Once we got there, if we were to hit the red planet's atmosphere at the same speed that the Curiosity rover did, our retinas would detach from our eyeballs. Yikes.

Instead, why not just seed the galaxy with tiny organisms designed to recreate our species? Here's how that might work.

[Wilshire]

The printing humans bit is basically the same thing as the long held belief of "futurists" that the best way to colonize the galaxy is with self replicating robots. Colonize planets in all direction, make a factory to make more, etc. You end up colonizing the universe in a sphere at roughly the speed of light (apparently?) At least this is what Michio Kaku said.

Being able to make the robots human is an added bonus

[Madness]

Is It Time to Give Up on the Singularity?

I knew there was a thread for this when I bookmarked it.