From: hal@finney.org
Date: Wed Nov 29 2000 - 09:36:26 MST
I have a stupid question about Joy's article and the title of the debate.
"Why the Future Doesn't Need Us". What does this mean, exactly?
The future doesn't need us because... we're going to wipe ourselves
out? That's kind of a weird way to put it.
We wiped out the dodo. Would we say the future didn't need the dodo,
as a synonym?
A more plausible interpretation is to stick to the AI "threat", and to
say that our machines will become more creative, more intelligent, more
*human* than we are, so they can carry on the legacy of the human race
without biological humans. In that sense, the future doesn't need us,
because our mind children can do the job without us.
But Joy never actually makes this point.
What do you think the title means?
Hal
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