Lifeboat Foundation

The end of the world as we know it is near. And that’s a good thing, according to many of the futurists who are predicting the imminent arrival of what’s been called the technological singularity.

The technological singularity is the idea that technological progress, particularly in artificial intelligence, will reach a tipping point to where machines are exponentially smarter than humans. It has been a hot topic of late.

Well-known futurist and Google engineer Ray Kurzweil (co-founder and chancellor of Singularity University) reiterated his bold prediction at Austin’s South by Southwest (SXSW) festival this month that machines will match human intelligence by 2029 (and has said previously the Singularity itself will occur by 2045). That’s two years before SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s prediction of 2047, made at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) earlier this year.

Continue reading “Can Futurists Predict the Year of the Singularity?” »

This is big: Is the Singularity a step closer?

Tesla Inc founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk has launched a company called Neuralink Corp through which computers could merge with human brains, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Neuralink is pursuing what Musk calls the “neural lace” technology, implanting tiny brain electrodes that may one day upload and download thoughts, the Journal reported. (on.wsj.com/2naUATf)

Continue reading “Elon Musk’s new co could allow uploading, downloading thoughts: Wall Street Journal” »

Google’s chief futurist says that humans could start living forever by 2029.

3 Christian articles/sites w/ #transhumanism in it: http://www.christianpost.com/news/google-directors-hope-for-…in-177809/ & http://straightoutthegate.com/tech-savings-gate/zoltan-istva…has-to-go/ & https://blogs.lcms.org/2017/storming-gates-paradise

Google’s director of engineering is saying implanting computers “inside our brains” is upon us, words theologians and Christian bioethicists consider a “slap in the face” to Christ and would result in horrific human rights violations.

According to the Daily Mail, Ray Kurzweil, a futurist who works on Google’s machine learning project, said at the South by Southwest conference taking place this week in Austin, Texas, that by the year 2029, technological “singularity” will be achieved, the complete merging of human and computer intelligence.

Continue reading “Google Director’s Push for Computers Inside Human Brains Is ‘Anti-Christ,’ ‘Human Rights Abuse,’ Theologians Explain” »

Ray Kurzweil a futurist who works on Google’s machine learning project predicted that singularity would happen in the next twelve years at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas.

More news on the new #transhumanism book just out: To Be a Machine. http://www.signature-reads.com/2017/03/7-best-books-artificial-intelligence/ & https://undark.org/article/30154-2/ & http://bookforum.com/blog/17478

Decades ago, if you were writing about robots, it was probably in one of two forms: either a science fiction narrative, or something short about the handful of robots that could be purchased for home or recreational use. Now things have changed. Home devices can recognize and respond to speech, prosthetic technology has been dramatically advanced, and our very understanding of what constitutes a robot has significantly changed.

With these advances in technology have come other questions, some pertaining to the nature of intelligence, some relating to the lines between humanity and machines, and still more that use our research into robotics to explore what makes us human. So, with that in mind, here’s a look at a handful of the best books on artificial intelligence, dealing with questions of robots, body modification, the Singularity, and more. Crank up Flight of the Conchords’s song set after a robot uprising and dig in.

Continue reading “Thinking Machines: 7 of the Best Books on Artificial Intelligence” »

Nikola Danaylov Soars to No. 1 Best Seller for.
‘Conversations With The Future: 21 Visions for the 21st Century’

Singularity. FM Podcaster and Author, Nikola Danaylov was recently recognized as an Amazon #1 International Best Seller for his new book, “Conversations with the Future: 21 Visions for the 21st Century.”

“Conversations with the Future” reached #1 on Amazon’s U.S. and Canadian Best Seller lists in several categories including:

Anyone who’s seen Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son give a keynote speech will know he rarely sticks to the standard industry conference playbook.

And his turn on the stage at Mobile World Congress this morning was no different, with Son making like Eldon Tyrell and telling delegates about his personal belief in a looming computing Singularity that he’s convinced will see superintelligent robots arriving en masse within the next 30 years, surpassing the human population in number and brainpower.

“I totally believe this concept,” he said, of the Singularity. “In next 30 years this will become a reality.”

Continue reading “Superintelligent AI explains Softbank’s push to raise a $100BN Vision Fund” »

On route to Singularity with Bahai.

When I reflect on the Baha’i teachings, which stunningly prefigure many of the discoveries of modern physics, I see an interesting pattern.

As a physicist, I’ve noticed that most of the clearest scientific expressions and explanations in the Baha’i teachings come from the writings and talks of Abdu’l-Baha. Looking carefully, those explanations usually trace back to the original concept provided by Baha’u’llah. However, ultimately Abdu’l-Baha seems uniquely capable of pulling these concepts out, explaining them in clear, modern language, and rendering them intelligible to us—or at least to me.

Continue reading “Quantum Mechanics, Modern Physics and the Baha’i Teachings” »