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In his essay A cure for humankind’s existential loneliness, technology forecaster Paul Saffo argues that the discovery of nonhuman intelligences equal or superior to our species would change everything because our crowded, quarreling species is lonely. A forecaster he is, ironic brand. And not quite an optimist. What follows is an extensive quote of his rather short essay.

from  A CURE FOR HUMANKIND'S EXISTENTIAL

LONELINESS by Paul Saffo

in     THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING

John Brockman, Ed., Harper Perennial, 2010

"As astronomers continue their hunt for intelligent neighbors, computer scientist are determined to create them. Artificial intelligence research has been under way for decades, and a few AIs have arguably already passed the Turing test. Apply the exponential logic of Moore’s Law and the arrival of strong AI in the next few decades seems inevitable. We will have robots smart enough to talk to and so emotionally appealing that people will demand the right to marry them.

One way or another, humanity will find someone or some thing to talk to. The only uncertainty is where the conversations will lead. Distant alien civilizations will make for difficult exchange because of the time lag ... and despite the distance, we will of course try to talk to them. A third of us will want to conquer them, a third of us will seek to convert them, and the rest of us will try to sell them something.

Artificial companions will make for more intimate conversations, not just because of their proximity but because they will speak our language from the first moment of their stirring sentience. However, I fear what might happen as they evolve exponentially. Will they become so smart that they no longer want to talk to us? Will they develop an agenda of their own that makes utterly no sense fro human perspective? A world shared with superintelligent robots is a hard thing to imagine. If we are lucky, our new mind children will treat us as pets. If we are very unlucky, they will treat us as food."

artificial intelligence

 2012-02-12 

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