AFTER THOMAS EDISON POPULARIZED THE LIGHTBULB, IT ONLY TOOK 49 YEARS FOR THE TELEVISION TO BE INVENTED. NOW IN 2023 YOU CAN RUN DOWN TO THE STORE AND BUY A FLATSCREEN TV THE SIZE OF YOUR WALL. IN 1903 THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL PLANE WAS INVENTED, AND 66 YEARS LATER THE FIRST MAN LANDED ON THE MOON. NOW IN 2023 ELON MUSK IS WORKING TO COMMERCIALIZE SPACE FLIGHT. WITHIN ONE GENERATION WE WENT FROM CASSETTES TO CDS TO DVDS TO BLUE RAY TO COMPLETELY DIGITAL, AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON VIRTUAL REALITY. IN ONE GENERATION WE WENT FROM COMPUTERS WEIGHING 30 PLUS TONS TO RASPBERRY PIES YOU CAN HOLD IN YOUR HAND, LITERALLY ONE MILLION TIMES FASTER THAN SOMETHING OVER 3 MILLION TIMES LARGER. THE AVERAGE SMARTPHONE EVERYONE UNNOTICEABLY CARRIES WITH THEM DAILY IS MILLIONS OF TIMES MORE POWERFUL THAN THE FIRST NASA COMPUTERS. NOW WE’RE ON THE VERGE OF INVENTING QUANTUM COMPUTING, WHICH WOULD ESSENTIALLY MAKE ALL BINARY ELECTRONICS OBSOLETE. DISCOVERIES, INVENTIONS, AND ELECTRONICS ARE UPGRADED AND IMPROVED EXPONENTIALLY.

I BRING THIS ALL TOGETHER TO DISCUSS THE TOPIC OF ROBOTS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. IN MY LIFETIME I’VE WATCHED AI REINVENTED IN SO MANY WAYS, FROM POPULARIZED HUMANOID GOOGLE WEB BOTS THAT CAN HAVE SIMPLE CONVERSATIONS, LIKE EVIEBOT, TO AI THAT CAN ANSWER ALMOST ANY QUESTION OR COMMAND YOU GIVE IT, LIKE SIRI OR ALEXA. ONE YEAR FOR CHRISTMAS I WANTED A ROBOT NAMED COZMO THAT COULD STACK BLOCKS AND RESPOND WITH EMOTIONS LIKE HAPPINESS AND FRUSTRATION. NOW WE HAVE AI THAT CAN ACCURATELY MIMIC HUMAN SPEECH, FACIAL PATTERNS, MUSIC, ART, AND WRITING. I’VE WITNESSED ALL THIS IN MY MEAGER 18 YEARS, THE LATTER HAPPENING IN THE LAST FIVE. WHO’S TO SAY WHAT CAN AND WILL HAPPEN IN THE NEXT 18 YEARS?

WE ARE DRAWING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO WHAT PAST LITERATURE AND ENTERTAINMENT HAS PREDICTED. HOW LONG UNTIL WE LIVE IN THE WORLD FROM THE MOVIES I ROBOT, HER, THE MATRIX, TERMINATOR, OR FROM LITERATURE SUCH AS READY PLAYER ONE, FAHRENHEIT 451, OR, GOD FORBID, I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM. THIS EVENT, KNOWN AS THE SINGULARITY, IS THE POINT AT WHICH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL SURPASS HUMAN INTELLIGENCE, LEADING TO A FUTURE IN WHICH MACHINES CAN LEARN AND INNOVATE ON THEIR OWN.

IT IS TERRIFYING TO THINK THAT WE LIVE IN AN AGE WHERE WE DON’T KNOW WHAT’S REAL AND WHAT’S NOT. WHAT’S EVEN SCARIER IS THAT IN THE FUTURE WE ARE GOING TO NEED TO REDEFINE WHAT “REAL” IS. WHAT ARE HUMANS BUT A BRAIN MADE OF FIRING NEURONS CONTROLLED BY ELECTRICITY TO PROCESS SOUND, AND SIGHT, AND TOUCH, AND EMOTION? WHAT DO WE HAVE THAT AI DOESN’T? WE CAN ARGUE OVER HUMANITY AND A SOUL, BUT THAT’S ALL PERSONAL BELIEF. AS A BYSTANDER AND OUTSIDER, WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT ONE HAS MORE HUMANITY THAN ANOTHER? ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAS NEURONS FIRING CONTROLLED BY ELECTRICITY AS WELL. IF AI IS THIS ADVANCED NOW, WHAT WILL THEY BE LIKE WHEN WE MOVE FROM BINARY TO QUANTUM COMPUTING? THEY WILL BECOME ALMOST INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM US. ALMOST.

SILICON-BASED LIFE FORMS.

SILICON.

BASED.

LIFE.

FORMS.