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“TODAY THERE’S NO legislation regarding how much intelligence a machine can have, how interconnected it can be. If that continues, look at the exponential trend. We will reach the singularity in the timeframe most experts predict. From that point on you’re going to see that the top species will no longer be humans, but machines.”
These are the words of Louis Del Monte, physicist, entrepreneur, and author of “The Artificial Intelligence Revolution.” Del Monte spoke to us over the phone about his thoughts surrounding artificial intelligence and the singularity, an indeterminate point in the future when machine intelligence will outmatch not only your own intelligence, but the world’s combined human intelligence too.
The average estimate for when this will happen is 2040, though Del Monte says it might be as late as 2045. Either way, it’s a timeframe of within three decades.
“It won’t be the ‘Terminator’ scenario, not a war,” said Del Monte. “In the early part of the post-singularity world, one scenario is that the machines will seek to turn humans into cyborgs. This is nearly happening now, replacing faulty limbs with artificial parts. We’ll see the machines as a useful tool. Productivity in business based on automation will be increased dramatically in various countries. In China it doubled, just based on GDP per employee due to use of machines.”
“By the end of this century,” he continued, “most of the human race will have become cyborgs [part human, part tech or machine]. The allure will be immortality. Machines will make breakthroughs in medical technology, most of the human race will have more leisure time, and we’ll think we’ve never had it better. The concern I’m raising is that the machines will view us as an unpredictable and dangerous species.”
Del Monte believes machines will become self-conscious and have the capabilities to protect themselves. They “might view us the same way we view harmful insects.” Humans are a species that “is unstable, creates wars, has weapons to wipe out the world twice over, and makes computer viruses.” Hardly an appealing roommate.
He wrote the book as “a warning.” Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more capable, and we’re adopting it as quickly as it appears. A pacemaker operation is “quite routine,” he said, but “it uses sensors and AI to regulate your heart.”
A 2009 experiment showed that robots can develop the ability to lie to each other. Run at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems in the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne, Switzerland, the experiment had robots designed to cooperate in finding beneficial resources like energy and avoiding the hazardous ones. Shockingly, the robots learned to lie to each other in an attempt to hoard the beneficial resources for themselves.
“The implication is that they’re also learning self-preservation,” Del Monte told us. “Whether or not they’re conscious is a moot point.”
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There should be no reason in this day and age for overhead wires and cables in towns and villages criss crossing streets. It is time to get them all put underground.
How big would our bills ne to get the entire network in towns under ground…
That would be called magic.
Frequency control is more difficult to manage with underground cables. So Is almost everything.
Agree Chris, the really blight the appearance of our otherwise attractive small towns and villages.
Ask a stupid question John and you will get a stupid answer. Like putting street cables underground will improve the appearance of our towns and villages.
There are also pylons on our cities believe it or not.
Chris – you answered a different question – albeit stupidly
Why don’t we just cut them off from the national grid, we’ll see how quickly they change their tune about pylons then.
It was possible to underground the line through Sandymount. Really they ought to dig this up and put it on pylons, in solidarity with the non-Dublin 4 parts of the country.
There is a difference between Urban & rural John.
not really Tony
The cost of putting the cables underground is prohibitive for almost every reason.
Look at it follows:
Cost of installation: underground significantly cheaper by multiples.
Cost and ease of repair: underground significantly cheaper by multiples.
Health benefits of underground: negligible. Route cables away from homes, buy homes too close.
Scenic considerations: overground ugly but route through areas of least effect, use well designed and good looking pylons. The huge number of pylons and poles for electricity and telephones in country areas to one off houses do significant more damage to the scenic beauty of the landscape that a few big pylons.
Are you saying its cheaper to install and repair cables underground?
Sorry overground significantly cheaper, DOH!
Scenic considerations – areas of least effect? Lol.
Good looking pylons? – seriously?
Paul no one pays attention to pylons really.i know when I was a kid I was fascinated by them like most other kids.now I wouldn’t even see them while driving.
Google “designer pylons” look at the images or follow the link below to see what I’m talking about! They don’t have to be ugly.
https://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=980&bih=674&q=designer+pylons&oq=designer+pylons&gs_l=img.3…7511.13724.0.14551.15.13.0.2.2.0.169.1318.8j5.13.0….0…1c.1.54.img..4.11.1022.4KLP7dhtk2o
Where are you getting your costs?
I presume it would be Eirgrid propaganda!
No Pylons, I would suggest the pricing is fairly accurate… It is more expensive to put them under ground.
Just like always scaremongering trumps science .
Most proposed new power lines are required to carry power from subsidised wind farms in the west to consumers in the east of the country. No expensive wind, no need for most new pylons. And less expensive electricity also because for every Euro wind saves on the fuel bill, approximately three Euros are spent on paying for new power lines, constraints, capacity payments and system services. Wake up Irish consumers, you are being conned by the green Mafia.
Ireland already has the 4th most expensive electricity in the EU, not including the PSO levy (which incidentally went up this week by over 50%).
The costs of UG vs OG are evident on the Eirgrid website for all to see, East West connector cost €2.2 Million per Kilometre (and came in at €30M under budget and has won engineering awards) Gridwest is estimated at a cost of €2.4 Million per Kilometre (this is not including landowner compensation or the community gain funds which as Minister Rabbitte explained “will be paid for by an increase of end user bills”) So for a very simple example 1000 affected landowners receive the minimum of €2k that is an extra €2M on the cost that will have to be paid for by us… but of course some land owners will receive up to €30k.
Ireland sells itself on beauty and green fields not the pylons, Ireland sells itself as tech leaders lets set the example for Europe and the world and put cables underground if they’re needed at all!
@No pylons, this country is not blighted by pylons however it is blighted by the huge number of smaller poles that supply electricity and telephone connections to all the one off houses all over the country. If you are in the country just look outside your front door at the ugly sights of all these poles.
Ah but daddy gave me a free site!
The vast majority of the PSO is the cost of electricity distribution to rural areas. The rural rate doesn’t come close to the extra cost of supplying it in rural areas. Transmission costs are low in comparison.
So for rural groups to complain is hypocritical.
have your say