Scared of superintelligent AI? You should be, says neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris — and not just in some theoretical way. We’re going to build superhuman machines, says Harris, but we haven’t yet grappled with the problems associated with creating something that may treat us the way we treat ants.
Nice POV read.
We know that emerging innovations within cutting-edge science and technology (S&T) areas carry the potential to revolutionize governmental structures, economies, and life as we know it. Yet, others have argued that such technologies could yield doomsday scenarios and that military applications of such technologies have even greater potential than nuclear weapons to radically change the balance of power. These S&T areas include robotics and autonomous unmanned system; artificial intelligence; biotechnology, including synthetic and systems biology; the cognitive neurosciences; nanotechnology, including stealth meta-materials; additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing); and the intersection of each with information and computing technologies, i.e., cyber-everything. These concepts and the underlying strategic importance were articulated at the multi-national level in NATO’s May 2010 New Strategic Concept paper: “Less predictable is the possibility that research breakthroughs will transform the technological battlefield … The most destructive periods of history tend to be those when the means of aggression have gained the upper hand in the art of waging war.”
As new and unpredicted technologies are emerging at a seemingly unprecedented pace globally, communication of those new discoveries is occurring faster than ever, meaning that the unique ownership of a new technology is no longer a sufficient position, if not impossible. They’re becoming cheaper and more readily available. In today’s world, recognition of the potential applications of a technology and a sense of purpose in exploiting it are far more important than simply having access to it.
Continue reading “Science, Technology, and the Future of Warfare” »
A top U.S. general has issued a sobering warning that both China and Russia, given their years of emphasis on upgrading and renovating their space war arsenals, could, in the future, place the United States in a position of weakness if matters were to degenerate into a state of war between the countries. Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten believes that China and Russia have been attempting to outpace the U.S. in military matters with regard to space and that the Pentagon is now moving to counter the foreseen “challenge” of possibly being outmaneuvered and outgunned in space. If a World War 3 scenario were to actualize, he thinks the U.S. should be prepared to meet said challenge.
The Washington Times reported last week that Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, who has been chosen as the next commander of Strategic Command, told Congress’ Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. is moving to counter the threat of a space war disadvantage with China and Russia. He said China and Russia are currently in the process of developing anti-satellite missiles, laser guns, and maneuvering killer space robots that could, once deployed, knock out or incapacitate strategic U.S. communications, navigation and intelligence satellites. As military experts know, these craft are crucial to the maintenance and actionability of America’s high-technology warfare systems.
“The Department of Defense has aggressively moved out to develop responses to the threats that we see coming from China and Russia. I believe it’s essential that we go faster in our responses.”
A new survey of existing and planned smart weapons finds that AI is increasingly used to replace humans, not help them.
The Pentagon’s oft-repeated line on artificial intelligence is this: we need much more of it, and quickly, in order to help humans and machines work better alongside one another. But a survey of existing weapons finds that the U.S. military more commonly uses AI not to help but to replace human operators, and, increasingly, human decision making.
The report from the Elon Musk-funded Future of Life Institute does not forecast Terminators capable of high-level reasoning. At their smartest, our most advanced artificially intelligent weapons are still operating at the level of insects … armed with very real and dangerous stingers.
One of the biggest challenges of the 21st century is to make computers more similar to the human brain. We want them to speak, understand and solve problems — and now we want them to see and recognize images.
For a long time, our smartest computers were blind. Now, they can see.
This is a revolution made possible by deep learning.
Continue reading “How deep learning allowed computers to see” »
Robotic Custom Guards — could this be the answer to all countries problems for border security and police as part of fairness?
NK Technology, Beijing, Oct 2 : Ten robots have started working as customs officers at three ports in China’s Guangdong province, authorities said on Sunday.
They were the first batch of intelligent robots, to be used by Chinese customs at the ports of Gongbei, Hengqin and Zhongshan, Xinhua news agency reported.
The robots, named Xiao Hai, have state-of-the-art perception technology and are able to listen, speak, learn, see and walk.
A group of Polish cave divers have stumbled upon what would be the world’s deepest underwater cave. The cave is called Hranicka Propast, and it was recently examined with an underwater robot in the Czech Republic.
While scientists have always known this mysterious cave to be deep, it was until a team of spelunkers took a closer look that they realized just how astonishingly deep it was. They have measured it at 1,325 feet deep, which would make it the deepest cave yet discovered on Earth. The previous record holder is Pozzo del Merro, a cave in Italy that is 1,286 feet deep.
This isn’t your typical diving scenario, so the team needed a remote operative vehicle to access this cave. Still, scientists have dived their before — many times over the years, in fact. It has often been explored because it was formed from hot mineral water bubbling from the bottom, and not from rain coming down as is the case in most caves. It’s a very unusual geological feature.
Continue reading “Scientists astonished to discover mysterious, extremely deep underwater cave” »
