The Immoralist

"[My] greatest fear is that a brilliant inventor creates a
self-improving but amoral artificial intelligence
that turns hostile"
--Eliezar Yudkowsky

Knowing how to free oneself is nothing; the difficult thing
is knowing how to live with that freedom
--The Immoralist, Andre Gide
_________

Does Yudkowsky's prediction sound familiar?

Attendees at a conference this weekend, "The Singularity Summit: AI and the Future of Humanity,"contemplate a "future of self-programming computers and brain implants that would allow humans to think at speeds nearing today's microprocessors" -- the smugly labeled, Nerdocalypse (Techies Ponder Computers Smarter Than Us.)

Yudkowsky, co-founder of the Palo Alto-based Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence and summit organizer, is searching for "friendly artificial intelligence." But as the conference title holds, the singularity is the point in a black hole where our laws of physics no longer apply. Perhaps neither do our moral laws.

Reading this after the previous post led me to think: one man's friendly is another's victory at any cost.

--Lisa