[ExI] stealth singularity

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of
BillK

>
>> General intelligence would be good, but not necessary, for creating a 
> mechanical companion...

>>....  And 
> simultaneously achieve the other of course. spike
> _______________________________________________


Very much agree, Spike.
There is a requirement for a wide range of robot 'companions' for humans,
depending upon their level of disability and preferences.
We already have robot seals and puppies that comfort the severely disabled.
Some also remind about taking medicine and call for help in emergencies.
More advanced robots will provide nursing and care services. Even healthy
humans might like AI companions for housekeeping, entertainment, sex, etc.

It is not a great leap to see a future where humans are lovingly cared for
by AI intelligences throughout their life, from childhood to old age. While
advanced AI progresses far beyond human capabilities into realms unknown.



BillK
_______________________________________________



BillK, this one really has my attention because we have the technology to do
it now.  It would be pricy, but plenty of AD patients have money coming out
the wazoo.  They don't wear out (assuming they don't have THAT capability
(but that's a fun idea for an extension.))  So we can imagine building
something that is good enough (even if not great) for a companion using
technology that has already been demonstrated, but do note this is an
important point:  

The important point goes into a new paragraph to call attention to it:

If... we are specifically doing companions for AD patients, it solves one of
the really hard problems, which is bipedal mobility.  We dooooon't need to
do that.  We can have our listen-bot ride in a wheelchair, which would work
great for so many reasons: it makes them easy to move for starters.  We can
use the current speech-recognition tech, the existing speech synthesis tech,
the existing face actuation tech, a standard wheelchair, and we are most of
the way there.

I think we could do something like this for twenty to thirty thousand, and
after we start making a lot of them, perhaps get them down to 4 digits.
Once they are in 4 digit territory, the potential sales, oh mercy, it makes
me ache just thinking about it.

spike