Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom spends an inordinate amount of time writing about human extinction. He believes that there are good reasons for mankind to contemplate its end. After all, 95% of all the species that have ever lived on this planet are extinct.
But what really keeps Bostrom up at night is not the thought of annihilation by asteroid or global warming. It's the thought that our undoing will be the very technologies that we've created.
The things that worry him most? Biological tech and artificial intelligence (AI). Each could herald the demise of humanity. Nuclear war is down the list somewhat.
On the other hand there's Daniel Dewey. He spends his time imagining a future where AIs cure diseases and help us get to the stars. All this is happening at Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute.
How long is humanity's future? Here's link to the article by Ross Andersen, who went to Oxford to interview Bostrom and his colleagues to ask that question.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment