Anyone else think Technological Singularity is a joke?

[spyder]

We have adaptive programs that can change how they operate based on a strict set of rules, but I don't think they "learn" in the same way we do. You'd have to write a different set of learning codes to cover every possible situation for the robot, and if it ever encountered something not coded for it would just take a shit and not know what to do. Overly complicated and VERY fragile.

Those adaptive programs are neat; a friend who was a day trader used one to automatically predict trends as stock prices went up/down. Had some pretty phenomenal returns for a while, and then equally bad losses.

Like I said, there are robots already that carry out experiments, reason about the results, and plan the next experiment without the help of humans.

[spyder]

Here pancho, one that is learning in a social setting.

• MERTZ is an active vision head robot, designed for exploring scalable learning in a social context. Inspired by how human infants learn by observing and imitating other people, we plan to have MERTZ be placed in a public venue for long periods of time, continuously interacting with people and incrementally learning about various correlations. For example, the robot may learn to correlate objects and people with frequently uttered phoneme sequences, differentiate among people and their interaction habits, learn to dislike some people who tend to annoy the robot, etc. MERTZ has recently gone through a series of experiment where it interacted with many people at different public spaces in the Stata Center.

[Irving]

I posted an article here, or maybe it was someone else, about the robots hooked up to the Skyney type thing. Where people taught one robot how to do a task, the robot uploaded what it learned to the Skynet, then another robot down loaded that information, and performed the same task all by itself, without ever having been taught that by people.

Spyder, quit being so vague. What technologies are you talking about? I like reading about graphene.

[Elhuero]

the technology available right now is amazing.

it is released in measured doses to the public to prevent chaos.

[jerrymrc]

the technology available right now is amazing.

it is released in measured doses to the public to prevent chaos.

I do not believe that for a second. Many company's are releasing all they can to stay one step ahead and to get the consumer to buy.

Any giant leap in current tech that had been proven in a lab and real world would position a company to corner the market and make trillions. Are they going to sit on it while the others figure it out? no.

Just a thought.

[spyder]

I posted an article here, or maybe it was someone else, about the robots hooked up to the Skyney type thing. Where people taught one robot how to do a task, the robot uploaded what it learned to the Skynet, then another robot down loaded that information, and performed the same task all by itself, without ever having been taught that by people.

Spyder, quit being so vague. What technologies are you talking about? I like reading about graphene.

I read an article on something like that also where the robots could dock up and learn from eachothers experiences over the net. Also, I read about one today that a company is getting ready to push for household use that will go online to learn something that it doesn't understand about what you tell it.

[spyder]

I do not believe that for a second. Many company's are releasing all they can to stay one step ahead and to get the consumer to buy.

Any giant leap in current tech that had been proven in a lab and real world would position a company to corner the market and make trillions. Are they going to sit on it while the others figure it out? no.

Just a thought.

There are lots of companies that have amazing tech out already in use that we don't know about because the media attention isn't there. I think most companies will show off their finished products, but some are willing to keep it secure till it is completely done and a ready product to sell. As far as what any random government and what they have behind closed doors is concerned is a completely different story.

[Uberjager]

My biggest gripe with Kurzweil's idea is that he is applying the principles of Moore's law, which states that approximately every two years the number of transistors that can be put in a specified area doubles, universally. Let's take a look at suits, are suits similar in fabrication to the way they were 75 years ago? They're almost the f$%^ing same! If suit and textile technology were experiencing exponential growth, then you would think that by now, everyone would be able to afford suits made from Super 220's Merino wool. There are countless other industries that have peaked.

And gee, guess what? Moore's law will go bust probably within a 100 years. You can't make transistors smaller than atoms.

[spyder]

Well maybe not smaller than one atom, but how about seven atoms?

Enlarge
An image of the template of the quantum dot device showing a central hole where seven phosphorus atoms are incorporated. Running diagonally from top left to bottom right are the two electronic leads to connect to the dot.
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have literally taken a leap into a new era of computing power by making the world's smallest precision-built transistor - a "quantum dot" of just seven atoms in a single silicon crystal. Despite its incredibly tiny size - a mere four billionths of a metre long - the quantum dot is a functioning electronic device, the world's first created deliberately by placing individual atoms.

http://www.physorg.com/news193896845.html

[KevDen2005]

I personally think Skynet and Cyberdine systems both are way out of control...

I will say this about technology. When I was in SF Support we had server systems that was literally some of the oldest equipment this unit had. Years and years old. It was just hitting the civilian market as the next big computer thing for speed and connectivity.

The unit I was in was using secured internet and high speed internet when the civilian world thought a 33.6 modem was the best and it couldn't get better.