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Hugo de Garis is the past director of the Artificial Brain Lab (ABL) at Xiamen University in China. Best known for his doomsday book The Artilect War, Dr. de Garis has always been on my wish-list of future guests on Singularity 1 on 1. Finally, a few weeks ago I managed to […]

Hugo de Garis is the past director of the Artificial Brain Lab (ABL) at Xiamen University in China. Best known for his doomsday book The Artilect War, Dr. de Garis has always been on my wish-list of future guests on Singularity 1 on 1. Finally, a few weeks ago I managed to catch him for a 90 minutes interview via Skype. During our discussion with Dr. de Garis we cover a wide variety of topics such as: how and why he got interested in artificial intelligence; Moore's Law and the laws of physics; the hardware and software requirements for artificial intelligence; why cutting edge experts are often missing the writing on the wall; emerging intelligence and other approaches to AI; Dr. Henry Markram's Blue Brain Project; the stakes in building AI and his concepts of ArtIlects, Cosmists and Terrans; cosmology, the Fermi Paradox and the Drake equation; the advance of robotics and the political, ethical, legal and existential implications thereof; species dominance as the major issue of the 21st century; the technological singularity and our chances of surviving it in the context of fast and slow take-off. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.)   Who is Hugo de Garis? Prof. Hugo de Garis is 64, and has lived in 7 countries (Australia, England, Holland, Belgium, Japan, US, China). He got a PhD in Artificial Life and Artificial Intelligence from Brussels University in 1991. He was formerly director of the Artificial Brain Lab (ABL) at Xiamen University in China, where he was building China's first artificial brain, by evolving large numbers of neural net modules using supercomputers. He guest edited, with Ben Goertzel, the planet's first special issue of an academic journal on Artificial Brains, and is currently writing a book Artificial Brains : An Evolved Neural Net Module Approach for World Scientific. He is probably best known for his concept of the Artilect War in which he predicts that a sizable proportion of humanity will not accept being cyborged and will not permit the risk of human extinction at the hands of advanced cyborgs and artilects. Such people he labels Terrans who he claims will go to war against the Cosmists (i.e. people in favor of building artilects) and the Cyborgists (who want to become artilect gods themselves). This artilect war will take place in the second half of the 21st century with 21st century, probably nanotech based, weapons and may kill billions of people - Gigadeath. Hugo de Garis is the author of two books: The Artilect War: Cosmists Vs. Terrans: A Bitter Controversy Concerning Whether Humanity Should Build Godlike Massively Intelligent Machines and Multis and Monos; What the Multicultured Can Teach the Monocultured Towards the Creation of a Global State Since his retirement in 2010, Hugo has been "ARCing" (after retirement careering) taking up a new (actually old) career of intensive study of PhD level Pure Math, and Math Physics. He makes home videos of his lectures in these topics and puts them on YouTube for the world to be given a comprehensive education in graduate level pure math, math physics and computer theory. He is doing at the high end what Khan of Khanacademy is doing at the low end, i.e. teaching people for free. Dr. de Garis is also very interested in Globism - the ideology in favor of the creation of a global state. He sees the annual doubling speed of the internet having a huge impact on the growth of a global language, global cultural homogenization, and the formation of economic and political blocs, pushing for the creation of a fully democratic global state (world government) "Globa" Prof. de Garis is the technical consultant for a major Hollywood movie on the theme of species dominance coming out in 2013, along with Spielberg's upcoming Robopocalypse. Thus he believes that by 2014 the issue of Species Dominance should be mainstream.

Hugo de Garis is the past director of the Artificial Brain Lab (ABL) at Xiamen University in China. Best known for his doomsday book The Artilect War, Dr. de Garis has always been on my wish-list of future guests on Singularity 1 on 1. Finally, a few weeks ago I managed to catch him for a 90 […]

Daniel H. Wilson earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of The New York Times best selling science fiction novel Robopocalypse and a columnist and contributing editor for Popular Mechanics magazine. He has also written: How To Survive a Robot Uprising, How to Build a Robot Army, A Boy and His Bot and Where’s […]

Daniel H. Wilson earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of The New York Times best selling science fiction novel Robopocalypse and a columnist and contributing editor for Popular Mechanics magazine. He has also written: How To Survive a Robot Uprising, How to Build a Robot Army, A Boy and His Bot and Where’s My Jetpack?. Robopocalypse is not only one of Amazon’s top books for 2011 but, most notably, Steven Spielberg is directing a film based on the novel, scheduled for release in April of 2014. Most recently Daniel published a book called Amped dealing with issues of human enhancement. By now you will not be surprised that I was very happy to get Dr. Wilson on Singularity 1 on 1. During our discussion we cover a wide variety of topics such as: being a scientist versus being a writer; making fun of Hollywood, then, going over to the dark side and becoming part of it; technological progress or lack thereof for the past 40 years; Robopocalypse - the book and the Spielberg movie; why superhuman AI will not be preoccupied with exterminating humanity; being a writer and telling a story that people can relate to; tips on writing visually powerful content; Robogenesis - the sequel to Robopocalypse; Amped and what happens when technology becomes part of our bodies; whether technology makes us more powerful or more vulnerable. I have to say that I enjoyed talking to Daniel H. Wilson as much as I enjoy his books. Hope you do too. (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.)   Amped Book Trailer: Technology makes them superhuman. But mere mortals want them kept in their place. Enter a stunning world where technology and humanity clash in terrifying and surprising ways. Some people are implanted with upgrades that make them capable of superhuman feats. The powerful technology has profound consequences for society, and soon a set of laws is passed that restricts the abilities - and rights - of 'amplified' humans. On the day that the Supreme Court passes the first of these laws, 29-year-old Owen Gray discovers that his seizure-supressing medical implant is actually a powerful upgrade. Owen joins the ranks of a new persecuted underclass known as 'amps' and is forced to go on the run, desperate to reach an outpost in Oklahoma where, it is rumoured, a group of the most enhanced amps are about to change the world - or destroy it. Amped by Daniel H. Wilson and narrated by Robbie Daymond   A Future With Superhumans Superhumans with neural implants may belong to the realm of science fiction for now. But the day is fast approaching when technology offers us abilities beyond our wildest dreams (or darker than our worst nightmares). PhD in Robotics and NYTimes best selling author Daniel H. Wilson had a conversation with Epipheo to discuss the near future reality of brain implants that make us superhuman.   Related articles How To Survive A Robot Uprising (aka Robopocalypse) Robopocalypse: Daniel H. Wilson’s Novel To Become Steven Spielberg’s Film

Daniel H. Wilson earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of The New York Times best selling science fiction novel Robopocalypse and a columnist and contributing editor for Popular Mechanics magazine. He has also written: How To Survive a Robot Uprising, How to Build a Robot Army, A Boy and His Bot and Where’s My Jetpack?. Robopocalypse is not only […]

Federico Pistono is perhaps the youngest guest I have ever had on Singularity 1 on 1. Despite that Federico is already a scientific educator, social activist, blogger and aspiring filmmaker. More recently, he is the author of a book called Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK and an incoming student to Singularity University. […]

Federico Pistono is perhaps the youngest guest I have ever had on Singularity 1 on 1. Despite that Federico is already a scientific educator, social activist, blogger and aspiring filmmaker. More recently, he is the author of a book called Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That's OK and an incoming student to Singularity University. During our discussion with Federico we cover a wide variety of topics such as: his early fascination with technology and wide spectrum of personal interests; Singularity University and the grand challenges that humanity is facing today; his upcoming book Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That's OK; artificial intelligence and the relationship between robotization and unemployment; the technological singularity and our chances of surviving it; entrepreneurship, capitalism and intellectual property rights. My favorite quote that I will take away from this interview with Pistono is: "The cure for boredom is curiosity. And there is no cure for curiosity." (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.)   Who is Federico Pistono? Federico Pistono is a scientific educator, social activist, blogger, and aspiring filmmaker. He has written several articles for newspapers and blogs regarding a variety of topics, from science, technology, Internet communities and social media, artificial intelligence, and climate change. He was interviewed by radio and TV stations in Italy, Denmark, and the United Stated. He hosted hundreds of hours of podcasts covering the impact of technology in society, activism, as well as science-related news. He was invited to speak at universities, symposia and other events around the world. Federico has a formal education in science and technology, with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Verona, Department of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences. He continued his studies by following online courses at Stanford on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, as well as many other subjects. In 2012 he was accepted to the Graduate Studies Program at Singularity University, NASA Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley. He is author of the book Robots will steal your job, but that's OK: how to survive the economic collapse and be happy, which explores the impact of technological advances have on our lives, what it means to be happy, and provides suggestions on how to avoid a systemic collapse and live happier.

Federico Pistono is perhaps the youngest guest I have ever had on Singularity 1 on 1. Despite that Federico is already a scientific educator, social activist, blogger and aspiring filmmaker. More recently, he is the author of a book called Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That’s OK and an incoming student to Singularity University. During our discussion with Federico we cover […]

Dr. Anders Sandberg is a well known transhumanist, futurist, computational neuroscientist and currently a research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford University. I have been thinking of inviting him on Singularity 1 on 1 for some time and when one of my readers actually asked me to do it I could not be happier to oblige. (Thanks Shahan!) Dr. Sandberg is one of those rare individuals who clearly loves his work and is always very enthusiastic to discuss it. I really enjoyed talking to him and feel that we could have talked a lot more than we did. Thus I will try to bring him back on the show for little more focused discussion on one of his areas of expertise - transhumanism, mind uploading and the ethics thereof. During our first discussion with Anders we cover a wide variety of topics such as: his childhood and early passion for science fiction; his intellectual journey from science fiction to science and - eventually - to ethics; the goals and benchmarks of his work; human enhancement, body modification and the risks of early adopters; the problem of finding the right priorities; the technological singularity and our chances of surviving it; other existential threats to humanity. My second favorite quote that I will take away from Anders Sandberg is: The Singularity should not stop us from thinking! (The first one, of course, is the title.) (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.)   Who is Anders Sandberg? Anders Sandberg’s research at the Future of Humanity Institute centres on societal and ethical issues surrounding human enhancement and new technology, as well as estimating the capabilities and underlying science of future technologies. Topics of particular interest include enhancement of cognition, cognitive biases, technology-enabled collective intelligence, neuroethics and public policy. He has worked on this within the EU project ENHANCE, where he also was responsible for public outreach and online presence. Besides scientific publications in neuroscience, ethics and future studies he has also participated in the public debate about human enhancement internationally. Anders also holds an AXA Research Fellowship. He has a background in computer science, neuroscience and medical engineering. He obtained his Ph.D. in computational neuroscience from Stockholm University, Sweden, for work on neural network modeling of human memory. He has also been the scientific producer for the major neuroscience exhibition "Se Hjärnan!" ("Behold the Brain!"), organized by Swedish Travelling Exhibitions, the Swedish Research Council and the Knowledge Foundation that toured Sweden 2005-2007. He is co-founder and writer for the think tank Eudoxa.

Dr. Anders Sandberg is a well known transhumanist, futurist, computational neuroscientist and currently a research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford University. I have been thinking of inviting him on Singularity 1 on 1 for some time and when one of my readers actually asked me to do it […]

Dr. Anders Sandberg is a well known transhumanist, futurist, computational neuroscientist and currently a research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford University. I have been thinking of inviting him on Singularity 1 on 1 for some time and when one of my readers actually asked me to do it I could not be happier […]

Karl Schroeder is one of those fantastic science fiction authors and futurists who, despite his numerous and profound books, have not quite made it into the mainstream yet. In fact, it was just a week ago that Eric Boyd emailed me to suggest that I interview Karl on Singularity 1 on 1 and […]

Karl Schroeder is one of those fantastic science fiction authors and futurists who, despite his numerous and profound books, have not quite made it into the mainstream yet. In fact, it was just a week ago that Eric Boyd emailed me to suggest that I interview Karl on Singularity 1 on 1 and I was skeptically struggling to figure out who Schroeder is, why I've never heard of him before and why he would be a good interview subject. Little did I know that Karl Schroeder will turn out to be one of the smartest and most enjoyable interviewees I have ever had on the show. He not only managed to challenge and stimulate me intellectually but also provided alternative lenses that I can now use when looking at the world and thinking about the future. I can honestly admit that it took only an hour for me to become a Schroeder fan and I have already finished reading one of his earlier books - Sun of Suns. During our discussion with Karl we cover a wide variety of topics such as: his Mennonite background and early interest in science fiction; the Hunger Games and Karl's peacekeeping foresight novel for the Canadian military - Crisis in Zefra (free download);  the differences and the similarities between foresight and science fiction; the technological singularity as a possible though, in Karl's estimate, not a probable scenario for our future; the concepts of the technological maximum, rewilding and natural selection; Schroeder's Law as a solution to the Fermi Paradox; his novels Lady of Mazes and Sun of Suns; exponential growth, systems theory and limiting factors thereof; transhumanism and his concepts of trans-lionism; trans-dogism and inhumanism. My favorite quote from Schroeder: "You have to keep moving forward. [...] The singularity is not the most interesting current idea. It's old at this point. You've got to keep up. You've have got to look at what's going on now. [...] Sure, take the singularity - use it - it's a lens. Develop other lenses! Use other lenses! Keep looking forward! Keep looking for new ideas, for blind-spots! And the world will continue to be a very interesting place." (As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full.)   Technological Maximum (as defined by Karl Schroeder): You hit the technological maximum when you have systems that can rapidly perform natural selection on technological designs. As one of the characters puts it in my novel The Sunless Countries, "Everybody's equally able to evolve new devices because everybody has the same, perfect physics model. Once you've got that model, and fast enough calculation, nobody in the universe should be able to come up with a machine that you can't duplicate. You just select for it and its design eventually pops out. So there's a technological stalemate everywhere in the universe." This is analogous to the biological stalemate that pertained on Earth prior to the evolution of human beings. The Rewilding (as defined by Karl Schroeder): The Rewilding, by contrast, is simply a vision of what happens when you erase the distinction between the natural and the artificial. Some cognitive studies, for instance, suggest that the human brain offloads difficult calculations to the physical environment whenever it can. When catching a pop-fly in baseball, for instance, the brain does not attempt to do the calculations necessary to predict the trajectory of the ball; instead it gets you to run backward while occluding the ball with your glove and keeping a fixed angle between your arm and the horizon. This replaces the calculations. Such 'partial programs' mean that you're not required to process all information internally; you use your ambient environment as part of your thinking apparatus. In The Rewilding, we have a world of physical partial programs. Why build a water treatment plant when you can use the local wetlands for the same purpose? In The Rewilding,

Karl Schroeder is one of those fantastic science fiction authors and futurists who, despite his numerous and profound books, have not quite made it into the mainstream yet. In fact, it was just a week ago that Eric Boyd emailed me to suggest that I interview Karl on Singularity 1 on 1 and I was skeptically struggling to […]