Michael Anissimov - the Singularity

My name is Michael Anissimov, and I live in San Francisco, CA. Some of my interests are decision theory, camping, and anime. I'm also a futurist who has been interested in the topics of nanotechnology and intelligence enhancement since 1996, when I read a short article in Popular Mechanics about the prospect of self-replicating molecular-scale machines (nanotechnology).

The prospect of intelligence enhancement is especially important. Since an enhanced intelligence would likely have access to the tools originally used to create it, plus enhanced smartness, it could apply that smartness to think up new intelligence enhancement techniques the original researchers didn't think of. It could apply these intelligence enhancements recursively, which would probably end up creating a being that was substantially smarter than human ("transhuman"). Transhuman intelligence, if it were benevolent, could really help us create better inventions faster, and apply those inventions to improving the world and helping those in need.

Combined with nanotechnology or superior technologies, such smarter-than-human intelligence would be able to make itself faster-than-human, more self-aware, even kinder-than-human or wiser-than-human. With its superior intelligence and technology, smarter-than-human intelligence could acquire great influence in the real world, for better or for worse, depending on its goals. This is an event of great importance to everyone on Earth, and important to think about in advance. Sometimes such an event has is referred to as a "Singularity". Here is a link to a respectable organization that has done extensive thinking on these crucial issues:

Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence

Other Singularity related papers or websites:

Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence
How Long Before Superintelligence?
Existential Risks: Analyzing Human Extinction Scenarios and Related Hazards
Transhumanist FAQ: What is Superintelligence?
Why AGI May Be Near
Working Towards Apotheosis
AcceleratingFuture.com
Evolution by Choice