Lifeboat Foundation

AUSTIN — At SXSW 2018, artificial intelligence (AI) was everywhere, even in the sessions that were not specifically about the subject. AI has captured the attention of people well outside the technology space, and the implications of the technology are far-reaching, changing industries, eliminating many human jobs, and changing the nature of work for most of us going forward. I expect that an AI bot could write this article within 10 years — and likely much sooner — simply by ingesting all the information from the sessions I attended, coupled with an ability to research related information on the internet much better than I could.

Interestingly enough, as Ray Kurzweil pointed out in his talk here, the term “artificial intelligence” was coined at a summer workshop at Dartmouth in 1956 attended by computing pioneers such as Marvin Minsky and Claude Shannon, at a time when computers still ran on vacuum tubes and computers in the world numbered in the hundreds.

Continue reading “Of Hives, Ethics, Morals, and the Singularity” »

I wrote this two years ago, so should be 28 years now smile

“So considering how far we’ve come already and how fast technology is improving and can be expected to improve in the future, I don’t think there’s any doubt that we’ll have the aging process under control in less than 30 years. Maybe 30 years is too cautious an estimate, even. Ray Kurzweil has said that already by 2030, life expectancy will increase by one year per year, and I actually won’t be very surprised if he’s right. But everyone in the world won’t get access to the technology as early as Kurzweil estimates, which is why nearly 30 years might still be closer to the truth for most people?”

- Norwegian version: Hvis du lever om 30 år, er det gode sjanser for at du også kan leve om 1000 år

Continue reading “If you’re alive in 30 years, chances are good you may also be alive in 1000 years” »

MIT 6.S099: Artificial General Intelligence class takes an engineering approach to exploring possible research paths toward building human-level intelligence. The lectures introduce our current understanding of computational intelligence and ways in which strong AI could possibly be achieved, with insights from deep learning, reinforcement learning, computational neuroscience, robotics, cognitive modeling, psychology, and more.

Lex Fridman

Continue reading “Future of Intelligence (Ray Kurzweil)” »

Will the transhumanist path forward lead us to singularity of posthuman superintelligence a-la Ray Kurzweil?

“I think that the definition of being human is about to change a lot in the next century,” says Michelle Thaller, astronomer and Assistant Director for Science Communication at NASA — National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Human beings next evolutionary leap is going to take us beyond our biological existence. How do you feel about merging with an artificial intelligence?

A look back at the most popular life extension articles of 2017.

The futurist Ray Kurzweil takes 100 pills a day to live forever. Here’s a list of 80 of the vitamins and supplements that he takes.

All over Silicon Valley and the regions that imitate it, executives follow weird revitalization fads. They think the code of aging can be hacked and death made optional. Daniel Gross, a partner at Y Combinator, fasts enthusiastically—and encourages others to do so—because he believes it will extend his life. Inventor Ray Kurzweil swallows 100 supplements a day for the same reason, presumably so he’ll live long enough to be uploaded into the singularity, circa 2045.

But you don’t have to be a prophet of posthumanism to wish for a few more good years. I’ve followed my own antiaging routines: For a time I ate 30 percent fewer calories than recommended, and I now starve myself for 16 of every 24 hours. And while there’s certainly plenty of folly in the tech elite’s quest for immortality, I’m glad they’ve embarked on it—for reasons that go beyond sheer entertainment value.

Ray Kurzweil discusses how biotechnology is rapidly and radically changing our lives, which will improve our health and longevity.

Summary: Cryonics has long been a non-starter due to technical limitations. A week-old radical proposal by a Russian cryonics firm to freeze people before death, combined with technological advances in Cryopreservation: Also called cryobanking. The process of cooling and storing cells, tissues, or organs at very low or freezing temperatures to save them for future use. Used in cryonics and the storage of reproductive cells in fertility treatments. [Source – NCI].” class=” glossaryLink “cryopreservation are shaking up the cryonics industry. When will cryonics be ready for prime time? [Author: Brady Hartman. This article first appeared on LongevityFacts.com. Follow us on Reddit | Google+ | Facebook. ]

Google’s most famous technologist, Ray Kurzweil, has signed up for cryonics, saying:

“My primary strategy for living through the 21st century and beyond is not to die”

Continue reading “Can These New Advancements in Cryonics Revive Our Bodies After Freezing?” »

In a recent article, I began to unpack Rodney Brooks’ October 2017 essay “The Seven Deadly Sins of AI Predictions.” Now I continue my analysis by looking into the faulty atheistic thinking that motivates the AI salvation preached by futurists such as Google’s Ray Kurzweil. Although Brooks does not address this worldview dimension, his critique of AI predictive sins provides a great opportunity for just that.

Brooks is a pioneer of robotic artificial intelligence (AI) and is MIT Panasonic Professor of Robotics Emeritus. He is also the founder and chief technology officer of Rethink Robotics, which makes cobots—robots designed to collaborate with humans in a shared industrial workspace.

Previously I discussed Brooks’ remark that “all the evidence that I see says we have no real idea yet how to build” the superintelligent devices that Kurzweil and like-minded singularity advocates imagine.

Continue reading “What’s Wrong with Godless AI Technological Salvation, the Singularity?” »