The coming singularity and how it could affect you.

Recently there has been growing excitement over the coming “Singularity” or the day when computers/robots become self aware and realize that they don’t need humans anymore. These fears were popularized in the 50’s with stories by writers such  as  Isaac Asimov and Phillip Dick fueling speculation of a time in the near future when computers would gradually become smarter than us and ultimately realize we were unnecessary.  This idea became popularized in the 80’s with movies like War Games and Terminator and recently the New York Times published an article which spoke specifically about some of the new advances that might make such a reality possible. As tempting as it is to jump on the fear mongering bandwagon, I find that I cannot. One attribute that robots/computers have is a firm reliance on logic and must act in a logical manner. Although man has a logical core, he often acts illogically.  If I have more food than I need, and you don’t have enough, logic dictates that I share what I have, because chances are, one day I will need the favor returned.  However in many cases, humans choose to arm themselves to protect their extra food.  I’m not arguing the rightness or wrongness of this choice, just highlighting this interesting attribute of human nature.  Machines, on the other hand have no ability to be greedy or to feel dissatisfied with their current situation. Now, this is not to say that integrating robots fully into our day to day activities should be handled carelessly or without some kind of forethought. One more likely danger that robots present is the replacement of jobs. We’ve seen this happen with computers. Remember telephone operators, secretaries and gas station attendants.  Next up bank tellers and grocery store checkout personnel. As robots become more adept at seeing,hearing, understanding and moving, we’ll see them begin replacing workers at an alarming rate.  I’m not sure if anything can be done to stop this “progress”, but we must begin the discussion now and start looking for alternatives, other wise we’ll be looking at an unemployed and unemployable service class.  The high school dropout who could at least count on a job in the fast food industry my find even that option taken away.  Let’s begin the discussion now.  Comments?

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