The Singularity

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Maybe someday that will be possible. I'm a big SF fan, so I do think about this kind of thing a lot. Will we ever have sentient androids like Lt. Cmmdr. Data?

Not sure, perhaps, if so, will they have souls?

Depends on how we choose to define "soul" in that context. Very interesting.

Probably not.

Although very good imitations

But sentient machines are a kind of holy grail for today's scientists. True sentiehnt would have to entail self-awareness, the machine's understanding of itself as a machine built by man. Now that would be something. Can you imagine the real-world implications of a truly sentient machine?

Yes that's what we call strong AI.

I don't believe it's possible but a 'machine civilization' is certainly possible and would probably function better than our own

I don't understand what the above illustration is supposed to mean.

Well, I don't know exactly what would be the religious position on this, I think they would not accept that such sentient beings could be created by man, after all, they would be refered as life forms, eventually creating a civil rights movement for them and stuff like that, it would suggest that humankind is somehow playing God in creating non-organic life forms.

Human beings play God all the time, don't we? We just can't help ourselves ...

The painting is Åsgårdsreien, The Wild Hunt of Asgard

How is it pertinent here?

Sentient machines would not bode well for us

what do you have to make you assume otherwise?


also...what's the latest on moore's law? still holding up?

For several takes on the concept of sentient machines in society, I refer the alert reader to Isaac Asimov's robot stories (particularly the collection I, Robot, which shares in common with the movie only the title and the names of a couple of characters), his novel Caves of Steel and its sequel The Naked Sun, Robert Heinlein's novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, David Gerrold's When HARLIE Was One, and of course the story arcs in the reimagined version of the television series Battlestar Galactica (and its upcoming prequel series, Caprica).

I would think that should a computer achieve sentience, it might well learn ethical behavior from the libraries of humanity - we may be bastards in reality, but by and large our fictional heroes are authentically nice people, and how would a sentient computer know the difference at first?

The lack of protest from my tower when I kicked it



Yes, but there's no magical critical mass of processing components that means '*BOOM!* sentience!'



If anything, a massive AI would adapt a 'social contract' system of ethical behavior

Social contract only applies to equals

You wouldn't feel ashamed of crushing ants, would you?

kick it harder. it'll protest eventually.






no, but it means better research.