The Grab Bag - What Will The Future Look Like

We saw Bill Gates on Jimmy Fallon last week. He's a pretty amazing guy and I so appreciate the Gates Foundation and the work he and his wife do. I saw him drink the water from his treatment plant too - what better way to show he has faith in his invention.  I will read the AI Revolution next. 

Sure wish I would have been at the meet-up yesterday. Way cool that you surprised everyone. 

I agree with Alexandra on the Bill Gates Foundation but haven't read "The AI Revolution - The Road To Superintelligence" yet.  Well done food for thought Dick. 

Hello Dick,  I need to read this as soon as I am finish with some comments.  Can not wait.

Dick, if only we had a crystal ball to see into the future. I am already experiencing things in my lifetime that if one had told me I would be living today I would not have believed it.  Interesting stuff ....

Dick- I am so happy to see your Grab Bag.  I wanted to let you know before I head off the read the links.  Thanks!

Dick Greenberg   These are thought provoking articles.  I agree that technology is developing exponentially.  I am not certain all developers have our best interests at heart. For that reason, I find it disconcerting that computers "may" be as fast as the human brain in 2025.  I pose the question, "Is AI decreasing the intelligence of the world population, by taking away the necessity to think for ourselves?"  I am forwarding these articles, by personal email, for intellectual stimulation.

I can't even begin to comprehend the world ahead but that 2030 article is amazing.

2030 was not that surprising or impressive but thats OK they didnt have much time to go into tons of detail but the AI piece good grief I got through half and was like WTF! I totally buy into this as its biblical and just amazing how much knowledge has increased. But that has been mentioned for appx 2000 years now these days would be here just didnt expect that I would be alive to see it!Crazy

Dick Greenberg  I need to get reading it, i am a couple of day behind in blogs so i am trying to catch up. What a busy weekend and the next time i have a bright idea of installing a new toilet myself, instead of wasting 3-4 hours i am hiring someone and i will stay working,.  

Dick if you say these articles are worth reading I will check them out.

Dick - That's some crazy s _ _ _! I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of this AI stuff does come true, and it sounds like it will happen in my lifetime, god, or computer, willing.

Dick as soon as I finish making comments, I'll be sure to check these out.

Dick I would love to see Sharon Parisi 's counter point articles I also agree that it is not all in our best interest....how many kids know how to think, and subtract or should I say even adults....:), this was a conersation we started but did not get into it deep enough the other day...Endre

Dick, I read the first one, and got through most of the second....which was very, very scary for an old fart like me.  The pop up came through and I subscribed....Wait, but Why?  Is RIGHT.  WHY DID I DO THAT????

At any rate if you read my obituary soon, you will know that I DPUed.

I will go read both of those. It is scary to hear what people think the future holds. I am going to keep my thoughts positve.

That is just some scary, crazy stuff that someoe my age shouldn't even be reading.....deflated balls is much more my speed.

Aloha Dick,

A fairly heady topic so i'll jump to the juiciest bit of your post. Let's just say an Artificial General Intelligence entity would most likely categorize Human Beings as "problematic" and slate them for termination, not unlike a oncologist destroying cancerous cells in the body. Considering we still spend billions of dollars by the second in order to protect ourselves from each other, it is a far stretch to think that the next step for Humanity is super intelligence. An AGI entity would have little use for  beings obsessed with the accumulation of fiat currency, consumerism, and self aggrandizement. In fact it would probably view humanity as a dangerous bundle of contradictions, a curious aberration in the Earth's history, the product of a deliberate attempt to circumvent natural evolution by the mixing of alien DNA with homo heidelbergensis.

If AGI suddenly pops into being, it most likely won't be a homo sapien and thus not predisposed to empirically placing humanity at the pinnacle of existence. Why keep a dangerously self destructive species addicted to consumerism, except as slaves or entertainment. It reminds me of the Aesop's fable of the frogs and the log, what came next wasn't pleasant for the frog's. We should be very weary of creating an AI omniscient omnipotent, as it's reaction to humanity might echo Aesop's fable, and give us what we ask for, a great God that gobbles us all up, BUURP!

I read most of this, but will come back to it, and now....since Ron subscribed there is an even more ominous post....I am afraid to read it. 

Dick Greenberg as you have deducted from some of my posts, this so resonates with me and I really appreciate Tim Urban. History is not a straight line. I don't agree with every point, but he gets it for sure about the exponential change rate. We can't compare the last 30 years to understand the next 30 years. It's excellerating and  like it or not, hiding out or not, accepting it or not... we're just the same headed into the future the way we're headed. This calls to me... We need leaders! Not managers, not tricksters, not value based on money. We need humanity... We're in it all together and all of it needs our participation.

The one thing that history teaches us is life changers aren't necessarily all from the rich. The world of social media proves that and it fascinates me and I am so intrigued to follow the events and changes going on in the world  and just how much change is present because I can share, you can share, all can share (in real time) what's going on, what we feel and think, and what we do and where we are.

Thanks for sharing these two articles.  It's an amazingly amazing world we now live in. 

Good morning Dick,

2 articles well worth the read, thank you for proving them for us to read. I so admire the Gates and what their Gates Foundation is able to accomplish and enjoyed the article "The world in 2013." Will make time later to read the AI Revolution. Rene Fabre is so right.."It's an amazingly amazing world we now live in."