Top Five Singularity Concerns

33rdsquare.com

8 points·rblion··5 comments

These aren't a list of concerns that most AGI researchers would put forth: they are the concerns of a fanboy base, who tend to think of the singularity as some kind of really, really swank PS3.

It is very interesting to me how the 'singularity culture' talks about the singularity as if it is a given for our future. This seems very un-scientific, as they are betting on something to happen, without proper evidence or even solid ideas on what will happen. Just that it will, and it's going to be great!

The singularity seems, to me, to be based on a few simple ideas:

1) There is nothing supernatural about thought.

2) Investigation will lead us to understand it well enough to emulate it.

3) Once we can do this we will be be able to do it better than people.

4) Once this happens it will be able to improve itself better than we can.

5) Once this happens, we have no idea what will happen next.

2/3 are arguable, but don't seem unreasonable to me. The rest seem obviously true.

These ideas seem reasonable to me, however when I talk about 'singularity culture' I refer to those who think that the singularity will be the end of the human race, will 'save the world', will be a new species of humans on this planet, will be the rise of machines who enslave us, is the realization of 2012 and so on. These ideas are going around non-technical circles and they believe them.

Oh yes, the people that have ideas about what will happen afterwards, or who believe that it will save us all seem very odd to me.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com