[extropy-chat] Forbes Magazine on Robotics

[BillK]

On 8/21/06, Keith Henson wrote:
>
> http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mnr/st/std076
>
> This has been discussed here and on the SL4 list without a definitive
> resolution.  Smaller is better for communications, but engineers worry
> about cooling.  Other places I have mentioned sinking uploaded societies in
> the deep ocean for cooling.
>
> The problem is *when.*  If it is clear that humankind will leave flesh
> behind in ten years there is no need to embark on an energy project to feed
> 6+ billion people.  If uploading takes 30-40 years then we need a massive
> energy source coming on line to displace the current ones.
>
> Given that war memes do well in societies seeing a bleak future, it might
> be worth starting even if you think uploading will come before a full scale
> space elevator could be completed just to keep the war memes down.  An
> unfriendly AI emerging as the result of desperate war research is not the
> stuff of pleasant dreams.
>


The whole field of AI was founded by WWII military research. The
military (and civilians) have already seen a huge payback from their
efforts.

The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is driving more funding and research,
mostly via DARPA.
See:  <http://www.aaai.org/AITopics/html/military.html>

Darpa projects include the Challenge for robot vehicles, language
translation, managing autonomous software agents, unmanned air
vehicles for observation and combat, Lifelog cognitive computing,
swarms of bot devices, etc.

Also <http://www.gizmag.co.uk/go/6033/>
Lockheed Martin showcases air, water and underwater unmanned vehicles
"Our customers want unmanned systems that can operate autonomously
while integrating and communicating with each other and with other
operational systems, whether these systems are in space, in the air,
on the ground, or in or under the water.


I expect all these projects to grow and gradually merge into something
you might call a powerful human intelligence / force multiplier. It
won't be self-conscious AI, but I really, really hope our side get
there first.

BillK