8 replies to this topic

[wjfox]

This relates to the Singularity, but I thought it deserved a separate thread. A fascinating (but very scary) read.

http://agi-conf.org/...artilectwar.pdf

Here's the abstract, if you can't be bothered to read all 10 pages:-

This paper claims that the “species dominance” issue will dominate our
global politics later this century. Humanity will be bitterly divided over the
question whether to build godlike, massively intelligent machines, called
“artilects” (artificial intellects) which with 21st century technologies will have
mental capacities trillions of trillions of times above the human level. Humanity
will split into 3 major camps, the “Cosmists” (in favor of building artilects), the
“Terrans” (opposed to building artilects), and the “Cyborgs” (who want to become
artilects themselves by adding components to their own human brains). A major
“artilect war” between the Cosmists and the Terrans, late in the 21st century will
kill not millions but billions of people.

[jjf3]

It's so interesting what will come in the next fifty years. Do you think that the humans living today will be the last purebred humans? Free from genetic manipulation and robotics. I just saw a few clips about the soldiers coming home from Iraq and a lot of them had robotic limbs. It's also funny how easy those are being implemented into society without so much as a whimper from evangelicals or human rights groups. I guess anything that helps the soldiers heal and enjoy their lives fuller is good idea, but this is only the beginning of the mixture of Cyborgs, AI, and Humans

Very little know or understand what's coming next!

Edited by jjf3, 28 December 2011 - 08:43 PM.

[truthiness]

I can see how some people would fall into these three camps, but wouldn't these "artilects" come about through a fluid, gradual process of constructing ever-better computers and AI? I'm not sure that this war will ever come because I think these advances will come about gradually (well, they'd come about pretty quickly by our 20th century standards, but it still won't be the sort of thing that we debate one day - should we build these god-machines or not?). At any rate, it won't be something we'll be able to sit back and debate about. One group of people will up and do it. It may be the Chinese military, or a European research group, or some American corporation. Then the method will be copied, and improved upon. Once that genie is out of the bottle, I don't see how the "Terrans" could hope to put it back in.

[jjf3]

So can we pinpoint the exact "birth" of AI? or will it be just as hard to pinpoint as the birth of the web or web 2.0 etc. It's interesting to note that as technology progresses and gets more advanced its harder to figure out when exactly it was created.

WATSON is definitely a step in the right direction for the generation of super computers. WATSON mixed with Social Media inputs and fired up with a quantum computer could be within our reaches even today. Will the future of Robotic technologies be connected to some sort of smart cloud system? Or will they remain as separate functional items with their own programs/minds? I like Capira's version of the start of AI mixed with virtual reality you can download your avatars into Robots and live forever eventually like in BSG. Or iRobot and the Borg where all the Robots are connected to a super WATSON and controlled by some corporation with programmable but limited functions. I guess that will come before sentient lifeforms.

Either way I hope to see some of this technology arise within the next 50 years especially if technology is supposed to advance as quickly as they say it will.

Edited by jjf3, 02 January 2012 - 04:14 AM.

[Craven]

I find this hard to treat seriously. This article is stylised to make it look scientific, but it's kinda funny, I LOL'd at references - one item - Hugo de Garis own article, there's also him quoting himself... meh... come on! Oh and "Gigadeath" is hilarious - section that consists of single funny graph with 4 points (one speculative), no additional text.

But subject itself is very interesting. I'm in favor of building intelligent machines or augumenting human mind.

[sirhotalot]

A major “artilect war” between the Cosmists and the Terrans, late in the 21st century will
kill not millions but billions of people.

This is hilarious. Might make for a good sci-fi series though.

[shane_allen]

Obviously a bad article/paper/whatever this is trying to be.

I also don't see this war taking place.

Edited by shane_allen, 03 January 2012 - 01:53 AM.

[GNR Rvolution]

An interesting read, if somewhat based on complete fiction. The problem I have with it is how do you go to war with technology? By the time it is even considered technology is so embedded within our everyday lives that to remove it would be virtually impossible. Try taking away the internet, not sure it could happen, and it's this sort of organic network that will fuel the rise of any so-called Artilects. Yes I think there will be resistance to it, but I think it will slowly become accepted by all except a small minority who may well become the late 21st century 'terrorists', trying to sabotage the modern world, probably with limited success.

[themethod]

I find this hard to treat seriously. This article is stylised to make it look scientific, but it's kinda funny

Exactly. Why would these "artilects" choose to engage in wars with us considering we will merge with them? Eventually there will be no difference between "humans" and "robots", we will all be one.

I think Hugo de Garris is trying to sell this as a plot for a Holywood movie or something.