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September 19, 2007
Singularity and Merging of Man and Machine
Wow. Read Lee Gomes' column today in The Wall Street Journal. (For now, paid subscription required, however there are rumblings that Mr. Murdoch may change this practice in the future.) He writes about singularity or "the day when the intelligence of computers will exceed our own." For now, I think we're good, however, there apparently is talk of a "human-machine synthesis into a new, superintelligent life-form." That "has been projected as anytime from nine to 40 years hence." So, either 2016 or 2047 if you are counting. Mark your calendars.
What this really is talking about is the advance of technology at a dizzying pace - networks, processing speeds, storage, etc.. Much what our CEO John Chambers talked about in a recent Forbes column. One of the more interesting people at Cisco, in my mind, (out of 60,000 of us) is Dave Evans in our Internet Business Solutions Group. He is the closest that I've found to a futurist at Cisco and he talks of a "tech avalanche" and how fast technology is advancing. You can listen to his podcast on that topic here.
Gomes also writes about, "Ray Kurzweil, the best-known singularity writer, also co-wrote a lengthy guide to life extension. He once told me he expects literally to live forever -- first by prolonging his life via a daily regimen that includes hundreds of pills and the nonstop consumption of green tea, then, once super-powerful computers arrive, by uploading his consciousness into one."
Maybe we're actually looking at a little later than 2047. Mr. Kurzweil, I'll talk to you then...I'm off to make some green tea.
Posted by John Earnhardt on September 19, 2007 12:35 PM
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