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When will computers surpass Human intelligence?
Posted: Apr 09, 2008 in Things to do
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I'm reading Ray Kurzweil's "The Age of Spiritual Machines". Anyone read this? It's not my typical read, but I'm really enjoying it. He predicts that by the year 2020 a $1000 PC will surpass human intelligence and that by 2045 $1000 buys a computer a billion times more intelligent than every human combined. He also predicts that by the 2040s people will spend most of their time in full-immersion virtual reality, similar to the Matrix. Kurzweil has actually made very accurate predictions regarding technology that has already occured.
What do you think of his predictions? (You can read more on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_kurzweil) What do you think some of the effects will be of computers surpassing human intelligence and becoming more and more "human"?
It seems that, in a way, computers are already smarter than us. They can do everything from making astronomical calculations in milliseconds, to correcting our spelling. However, for the most part, they are able to do this because we have programmed them to be able to do this. What really gives me the creeps is the idea that artificial intelligence will one day develop the ability to learn and adapt on its own. Without the limitations of a human brain and human emotion, who knows what they could do.
This topic reminded me of a cool short story I read awhile back called "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov. I think it has a pretty cool ending.
http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html
Skynet will take over any day now.