Next month is The Singularity Summit, October 15th-16th in New York City. The legendary Dr. Ray Kurzweil is putting it on and will even kick things off with his presentation, "From Eliza to Watson to Passing the Turing Test." The Singularity Institute is bringing together thinkers from all aspects of life to discuss emerging technologies, computers that think, and how we're another year closer to the Singularity. Other guests and presentations will include Stephen Badylak: "Regenerative Medicine: Possibilities and Potential," science fiction author David Brin: "So you want to make gods. Now why would that bother anybody?" Michael Shermer: "Social Singularity: Transitioning from Civilization 1.0 to 2.0" (here's hoping we won't hear his views on the paranormal. Oy...) and Ken Jennings: "The Human Brain in Jeopardy: Computers That "Think." That bit with Jennings and Watson sounds especially interesting.
It is vital in this day and age to keep up with emerging technologies. As robotics has already eliminated vast swaths of middle-range jobs and manual labor, so will thinking computers do to anyone working with knowledge or information. So how 'bout it? Anybody interested in supporting a poor blogger by sending him to NYC and footing the bill for the two-day gig? Come on, I know you want to. I promise to tweet you from the conference and mention you by name. I will even get you into those off-the-chain hotel room parties that those transhumanists undoubtedly have.
Oh heck let's all save the money and just wait to see if the event gets either streamed live online or uploaded in video clips at a later date.
Here's a Time magazine article on last year's summit. 2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal
Follow me on Twitter: @Jntweets
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.