Computers will overtake us when they learn to love, says futurist Ray Kurzweil Genes edited like computer code..
Computers will overtake us when they learn to love, says
futurist Ray Kurzweil
by Jose Pagliery and Hope King @CNNTech
March 8, 2016: 5:38 PM ET
Ray Kurzweil, the celebrated American inventor who keeps
predicting the future with scary accuracy, says computers will match -- and
possibly beat -- human intelligence by 2029.
Here's the trick: By then, computers will possess
emotions and personality.
"When I talk about computers reaching human levels
of intelligence, I'm not talking about logical intelligence," Kurzweil
said at an event in New York on Monday night. "It is being funny, and
expressing a loving sentiment... That is the cutting edge of human
intelligence."
The futurist spoke about AI and the future of technology
with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
When Tyson pushed back and asked if computers will one
day write a Nobel-prize winning novel, "and supplant even that aspect of
what it is to be human," Kurzweil said he puts it differently.
"We're going to combine with that
intelligence," Kurzweil responded.
How? Cell-sized nanobots in our brains will connect us to
the global Internet and let us download skills, Matrix-style. We'll also edit
genes like computer code to cure diseases, Kurzweil predicts.
"Yeah, like cell phones," Kurzweil responded.
"Only the rich have access to these technologies -- at a point in time
when they don't work."
Industry perfects products for mass consumption, Kurzweil
noted. And the tech will inevitably get cheaper. As computer makers keep
doubling the number of chips on a circuit board, the "price performance of
information technology" doubles every year, he said.
"Nanobots will be available to everyone,"
Kurzweil said. "These technologies are ultimately democratized because
they keep getting less and less expensive."
And even if Kurzweil thinks AI will probably replace many
of today's workers, he's optimistic about future jobs for humans. But when
Tyson pressed him to name specific jobs, Kurzweil was stumped. After all, no
one in 1910 could predict today's computer chip designers and website
developers.
Kurzweil's best bet: Nanobots in our brains will create
new bodily senses. Right now, music pleases our ears and fine dining stimulates
our taste buds.
"We'll be creating art and rituals for our other
senses," he said.
And where does privacy fit in all this? Tyson brought up
Apple's current fight with the FBI, which could grant the government huge legal
powers to search our personal devices by weakening data encryption.
But Kurzweil told him not to worry.
"Encryption is outpacing decryption," Kurzweil
said.
"That gives me hope," Tyson responded.
Comments
Post a Comment