Singularity Questions

When (and if) super-intelligent AI arrives mid-century, will it be Friendly or Unfriendly? Averting a "nerdocalypse" is a primary goal of the Singularity Institute, sponsor of last weekend's (August 14-15) Singularity Summit in San Francisco's Embarcadero Hyatt. Fresh reports on the advancement of AI were going to be delivered, and I believed that my favorite topic - the augmentation of humanity (a safer path) - would receive enormous attention. I crave superhuman powers, doesn't everyone? I wondered, do the summit's 22 speakers want to create FrankEinsteins in laboratories, or mutate - like me - into demi-gods themselves?

In the lobby I queried Scott, the leader of an Easy Bay transhumanist group, on his position. "I'm an 'embodiment' guy," he confided. "I want careful human intelligence augmentation. But most of the people here are different. Maybe 5-10% of the community agrees with me." I wanted to pester him for more info but he had to leave and go to the bathroom, to relieve his not-yet-enhanced bladder. Inside the glittery Grand Ballroom packed with 600 attendees, Ray Kurzweil's image on the big screen voiced brief solidarity with my desires. "Ultimately our computers are going to go inside our bodies and brains," he intoned. "We'll be merging with our tools."

Exactly, I thought. I want my IQ boosted, my senses expanded, my muscles strengthened, my organs cleansed. I want the Singularity to happen inside me. Why? I'm reasonably concerned that a smarter-than-us AI machine might choose to eliminate gross humanity, but mostly... I'm tired of my mental and physical limitations. We "meatbags" - a new pejorative for our archaic anatomy - need to be upgraded. We've already assisted ourselves with contact lenses, plastic hips, hearing aids, prosthetic limbs... but still, the preponderance of our flesh remains Paleolithic.

Would speaker Steve Mann, the world's "first human cyborg," offer exciting body-improvement predictions? I appreciated his early observation that clothing is an augmentation invention that's now regarded as "natural" and I enjoyed learning that people will soon be able to scrawl messages on his virtual retina. But then, Mann veered away from enhancement to spend the last 10 minutes introducing us to his wet new invention, "the world's first musical instrument that produces sound from vibrations in water."

Okay. I shifted my anticipation to the next speaker, Mandayan A. Srinavasan lecturing on "Enhancing Our Bodies and Evolving Our Brains." He promises humans and machines will become "increasingly interactive", he asserts "interface technologies will give us superhuman ability" he champions "brain modification and evolution." Unfortunately, in every invention he mentioned, the robots got to do all the cool stuff. We'll use robots as a "third hand" that will reach for miles, and the "Beaming Project" will allow us to manipulate cyborg duplicates, but still - its the 'droids that get out-and-about while we sit strapped in a Matrix chair.

At lunch, I chomped on a turkey sandwich donated by Boudin and engaged a Florida hacker in a flesh-based vs. artificial organ argument. "I don't want a pig heart that will die like a pig," I whined. "I want a synthetic heart that lasts forever; they're arriving in only five years." He demurred, pulling his beard. We talked about rock-climbing next. Wouldn't it be great to have ultra-powerful fingers?" I proposed. "I'd scamper up Half Dome like a spider!" He retorted, "it's also enjoyable to simply see what we can accomplish within our own limitations." Luddite, I thought. Can't we have fun?

I sat through several more speakers, but augmentation was ignored. Irene Pepperberg wants nonhuman-enhancement, but I tyrannically oppose elevating lower species. I thought, surely Ramez Naam - author of "More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement" - will give me the goods, but once again, nada. Ramez lectured instead on his new interest, an environmental topic. I squirmed, vertebrae aching after multiple hours in a chair. Glancing at the program, I realized no one else was going to even remotely address augmentation. Why? Because they're computer geeks, I decided in an epiphanic flash. They adore computers; they want to build THEM smarter and quicker and stronger...

But what about ME? I want all that, for myself.

About the author Hank Pellissier is a contributor to hplusmagazine.com and IEET (Institute of Ethics in Emerging Technologies). His website is HedonistFuturist.com