“Benefits of a Successful Singularity” Reaches the Front Page of Digg
My Good.is article from earlier this week, "Benefits of a Successful Singularity", reached the front page of Digg. I am boosting my stat in the "Memetics" skill.
Here's an interesting comment from a reader, which summarizes the article in the first paragraph and comments in the next:
AI is on the horizon, but we need to figure out how to create intelligence through algorithms, we can't just keep souping up our hardware. AI will bring a major economic boost, lifting all boats, so to speak, across the planet, to beyond even what us hedonist westerners enjoy.
The next question is what we do with all this new wealth and knowledge, and where we go from there.I think the author underestimates the impact of AI on our world. To even mention 'economy' is folly; with true AI an 'economy' would become obsolete. What use is an economy where anybody can get anything they want, and machines can perform any menial or non-menial task?
Yes, indeed! But, saying that outright can get some people riled up. Following the advice of Robin Hanson, I try to be weird in as few ways at possible to get my point across at any given time.
One of the comments singles out a particularly convoluted line:
"but each neuron operates so slowly that a $10,000 desktop supercomputer can execute 933 billion operations per second"
...what?
My point here is that this is within a factor of 10,000 of most estimates of the computing power of the human brain. That's what I write right after that. Yes, it's a slightly convoluted sentence that I had trouble writing, but I'm still trying to make the point that the Tesla Personal Supercomputer is surprisingly close to the computing power of the human brain. This ties in with my point that AI is about software, not hardware.
Someone also noticed:
I like that this article has advertisements for Caprica all along the right border.
It is a cool ad, isn't it?
Another guy said:
Too long, did not read.
Wow -- it's two pages. As someone who used to frequent Digg daily for more than two years, I am familiar with how low the average intellectual standard of your average "nerd" is. Anything longer than a 200-word AP press release or an XCKD comic is not worth taking time from games for.
December 20th, 2009 - 05:50
As a somebody who is working in field of economy I must say, that I enjoy comments in that matter in context of singularity. It still amazes me, that people don’t now actuall meaning of the word. Economy is not “acquirng something” but managing available resources in most efficient manner. Even universe is doing that.
“(…)with true AI an ‘economy’ would become obsolete. What use is an economy where anybody can get anything they want, and machines can perform any menial or non-menial task?” That’s basically ideal market in capitalism. And yes, it is economy. It is common misconception made by singularitarians, that economy after singularity will become so complicated or bizzare (or both), that it will be hardly-if at all-comprehensible by humans. That something new will emerge. Where in fact economy will become much simplier, following the basic, theoretical models presented on first lecture of microecononomics. Ideal market, ideal supply and ideal demand=economy following two curves.
February 27th, 2012 - 20:29
I prefer the first stage you made there, but I am not sure I could reasonably apply that inside a postive way.