Abandon Earth! How Humans Will Survive the Singularity
The Long Now Foundation - Long Now Foundation
What If the Singularity Does NOT Happen? with Vernor Vinge.Vinge began by declaring that he still believes that a Singularity event in the next few decades is the most likely outcome - meaning that self-accelerating technologies will speed up to the point of so profound a transformation that the other side of it is unknowable. And this transformation will be driven by Artificial Intelligences (AIs) that, once they become self-educating and self-empowering, soar beyond human capacity with shocking suddeness.He added that he is not convinced by the fears of some that the AIs would exterminate humanity. He thinks they would be wise enough to keep us around as a fallback and backup - intelligences that can actually function without massive connectivity! (Later in the Q&A I asked him about the dangerous period when AI's are smart enough to exterminate us but not yet wise enough to keep us around. How long would that period be? "About four hours," said Vinge) - Stewart Brand blog excerpt, The Long Now Foundation