Surprising Science — September 12, 2010

Singularity Summit 2010

“Either you and everyone you love are going to be killed by robots; or you are going to live forever.” A.I. guru Michael Vassar on what future technology has in store for humans.

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

“As night thickens around Marina Boulevard on a murky San Francisco evening, one thing is crystal-clear: the future is not what it used to be. The wildest, most mind-frazzling visions of the years ahead are no longer the sole preserve of science fiction. At least, it seems that way at a reception to mark the start of the 2010 Singularity Summit, the world’s leading forum for serious discussion of incredible things to come. … The singularity is a metaphorical term used to express the transformative moment when technology has moved so rapidly that the human race can never be the same again.”

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Industrial landscape featuring large smokestacks and various structures of an oil refinery, some incorporating cutting-edge carbon removal technology, set under a cloudy sky.

The Present

Not all forms of carbon removal are created equal

The carbon market and offsetting system have created “carbon cowboys” and perpetuated forms of neo-colonialism and other inequities.

The letters "AI" appear with a glitch effect in multicolored pixels against a black background.

The Present

AI skeptic Gary Marcus on AI’s moral and technical shortcomings

The cognitive scientist argues the current AI environment is failing us as consumers and a society. But it’s not too late to change course.

A digital illustration of a human brain with blue veins and a glowing light at the top, set against a black background.

The Future

How Neuralink’s chief competitor is tapping into the brain without surgery

“Neurotech is not just about the brain,” says Synchron CTO Riki Banerjee, explaining how their tech can help with paralysis, brain diseases, and beyond.

An abstract illustration features a bell curve with red dots and a percentage labeled 49%. The background includes a monochrome portion of a face with wide-open eyes peeking below the curve.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: Bad at probability? That might be a blessing.

How black and white is your thinking?

Image of Earth set against a black background with the text "A Volatile World" in large white letters.

Why does it feel like the world is falling apart?

“We’ve engineered a volatile world where Starbucks is completely unchanging from year to year, but democracies are collapsing and rivers are drying up.”

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11 min

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with

Brian Klaas

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