From: Amara D. Angelica (amara@kurzweilai.net)
Date: Fri Apr 26 2002 - 00:00:04 MDT
Singularity is a major focus of Foresight SIGs
KurzweilAI.net News, April 26, 2002
Three of the special interest group meetings at Foresight's Exploring the
Edges: Spring 2002 Senior Associates Gathering, which begins Friday evening,
April 26 in Palo Alto, will focus on the Singularity -- a coming dramatic
phase transition as technology accelerates over the next few decades and
machines achieve superintelligence.
These include Brainstorms in Accelerating Change: Open Singularity
Discussion, moderated by Ray Kurzweil; Exploring the Technological
Singularity: Universal Trends in Accelerating Change, moderated by John
Smart; and Reaching for a Swifter and Safer Singularity, moderated by
Eliezer Yudkowsky.
Other SIGs will explore why the public is hostile to discussing or preparing
for the potential impacts of nanotechnology, aggressive approaches to
nanomedicine, strategies for creating a real-money Idea Futures market,
computer security, possible winners in the nanotech race, and making
next-generation wireless broadband and wearable computing happen ("Brave New
Unwired World: Getting From Here To Kurzweil's Future").
Four other sessions in the main program will also touch on the Singularity.
Stewart Brand will discuss Long Bets, including Ray Kurzweil's bet with
Mitch Kapor that a computer will pass the Turing Test by 2029. And J. Storrs
Hall will preview his forthcoming book, Ethics for Machines, to "show how
close we are to human-level AI by showing which parts exist in some form and
which still need work, and point in particular at the parts that would
produce a conscience (moral sense, call it what you will) such that you'd
consider trusting its motives."
In addition, Ray Kurzweil will make two presentations: one on the case for
an exponential technology future and a debate with Gregory Stock: "BioFuture
or MachineFuture?."
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:13:39 MST