The Emergence and Impact of Intelligent Machines
Abstract
The Challenge from Software: We're making exponential gains in hardware, but not software. However, we are making exponential gains in software, although the doubling time is indeed longer. 1) There has been increased productivity from new languages, class libraries, software development tools; 2) Software complexity required to emulate the human brain is manageable; 3) We have a specific game plan to reverse engineer the human brain; 4) We will not program human-level intelligence link by link (e.g., the expert system "cyc"). The Challenge from Ethics: 1) There is far less ethical resistance to the development of nonbiological intelligence (including intimate connection with our bodies and brains) than to biological tinkering; 2) In any event, ethical concerns end up as stones in a stream: the economic and moral imperatives are too strong; 3) There ultimately will be grave dangers, but the biological downsides are more apparent today.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 23, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA428714
Entities
People
- Ray Kurzweil
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology