All computers need to do is be able to "define" things like people can and all of a sudden you'll have a new entity which is unrivalled.
If you think about everything on the net, everything computers are plugged into defense, maths phsics, you name it, they have the potential to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING should they ever reach a level where they become more human in the sense that they're able to think and realise things for themselves then I think that could be potentially very scary.
Imainge a person, that knew everything that was stored on every hard drive, on every web server, that is potentially the level of AI people will one day have to compete with and we ain't gonna win:)
You hear about things like the stone age, ice age, but I'm convinced we're actually in the digital age at the moment where huge changes are happening.
So yes, I do believe some form of super AI is emerging.
Without getting carried away, there is a certain irony to films the The Terminator/Waargames.
Problem is most people don't see it, and those that do are labelled as geeks because there will always be more stupid people than smart ones, which is why people only have a finite existence.
Luckily we'll all be dead by then so no immediate worry, but I think some mad changes are due over the next few hundred years.
When you ask a computer to perform a specific task they are hugely superior to people. When they figure out how to think for themselves, people will become redundant becasue by that time they will be some dependant on technology as a way of life.
Your vision about this subject is similar to mine. Most people laugh when I tell them these theories. I guess ingorance is a bliss. Indeed we won´t find immediate thread, but our childrens children probably will find themselves in an age where AI is starting to rise rapidly.
The biggest thread I see for us now is the Radio frequency identification chip.
It will happen eventually, but what nature did in millions and millions of years, wont be done by humans overnight. And prolly before human challenging AI emerges we will all die due to nuclear war/global warming/genetically enhaced virus or bacteria/whatever.
We who evolved over such a long time made it happen, so it might be done with us in no time :P Or it might wait until a machine is made that it can control to make stuff for it self :P No reason to kill everyone only to realize it's stuck in the hardware we created.
But are you sure it will want to kill everything? :P
I tried to make this post earlier on but esr was bugged.
Gibson is awesome, the novels were written in the early 80's afaik and he predicted globalization, the overtly information-intensive society and microcultures, amongst other stuff. His only failure was afaik the modem-era fascination with hardware re:ono-sendai cyberspace deck :D
Like, if there's a direct brain>puter connection what do you need keyboards for?
I think artificial intelligence could be already superior in about 10 years ... you just have to get the artificial intelligence to be able to collect experience, so it improves itself, his knowledge, I think this is the key ... I think once they have a clue on how to do that, everything will go very fast, much faster than humans might want ...
but well, why not?
I mean this new world is not really worth living for anyway ...
I think everything has become ridiculous ...
everyone trys to define himself by his intelligence ...
yet they are 95 % just animals ... it's all so ridiculous ...
the values ... the evaluations ... everything ...
these working enviroments dependent on social networks and theoretical diplomas ...
or at least just kill of all men, because we are living in a world of women ... men have no function anymore ... they have become entertainment for women ...
"everyone trys to define himself by his intelligence ", erm not really sure where exactly you live but that sounds a shitload better than the "looks are everything" bullshit we get fed on a daily basis over here in belgium.
And women are just as useless as men in a few years, you really think the technological equivalent of a uterus is that impossible to develop? Or even a fullblown female reproduction system.
Humans are worthless yes, but i'm not convinced your reasons are the right ones :-)
I was talking with a women for a few months on the net, we met once, now I wait for the moment of entertainment...hope I'm gonna be able to give her at least five entertainment reasons in one night
As I said, I am almost 21 years old and I, (according to evaluations) have a 2-3 year delay in my cognitive development. I scored 89 on an I.Q. test in high school, becaue of a learning disability in math. Simply speaking, I have the intellectual ability of someone who is 18-17.
some people are just forever young <sigh>
good to u!
"As I said" I missed the part where you said that, you have my atrocious excuses for this! I also do regret I missed the moment the first monkey climbed down the tree