Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/5219
35 www.hplusmagazine.com DoeS The FUTURe neeD nBIc? It seems clear that there's a huge potential for the convergence of key NBIC technologies to alleviate human suffering and to accelerate access to sustainable energy, abundant food, and universal healthcare. The social risks associated with not furthering the use of NBIC to share the wealth of innovations "may destabilize global security in the future," concludes NSF's William Bainbridge. "Future dangers from new technologies may appear alarming when considered in the context of today's unprepared world," writes Ray Kurzweil. "The reality is that the sophistication and power of our defensive technologies and knowledge will grow along with the dangers. When we have 'gray goo' (unrestrained nanobot replication), we will also have 'blue goo' ('police' nanobots that combat the 'bad' nanobots)." "Possibly the best approach is a more fine-grained one," suggests Oxford's Nick Bostrom. "There are some research areas where safety is served by pushing ahead as hard as possible. For example, research into how to safely manage an upload transition, or how to ensure that a seed artificial intelligence would remain human-friendly, or how to enhance human rationality, wisdom, and moral responsibility, or how to rapidly detect new pathogens in the environment — these seem like risk-reducing enterprises. "By contrast," Bostrom continues, "research to develop advanced biological warfare agents or to invent self-enhancing artificial general intelligence before the friendliness problem has been solved — these appear to increase risk, and one would do well to discourage research in those areas." "This is a race, warns Kurzweil, "and there is no alternative." Surfdaddy Orca is another monkey with a laptop and a cell phone waiting for Godot or the Singularity or whatever comes next. While he waits, he writes regularly for the h+ website nanobots that combat the 'bad' nanobots)." Oxford's Nick Bostrom. "There are some research areas where safety is served by pushing ahead as hard as possible. For example, research (unrestrained nanobot replication), we will also have 'blue goo' ('police' nanobots that combat the 'bad' nanobots)." Oxford's Nick Bostrom. "There are some research areas where safety is served by pushing ahead as hard as possible. For example, research there's a huge potential for the convergence of key nBic technologies to alleviate human suffering and accelerate access to sustainable energy, abundant food, and universal healthcare. Recipe for Destruction http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/17/opinion/17kurzweiljoy. html Why the future doesn't need us http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html Ray Kurzweil on the Promise and Peril of Technology in the 21st Century http://www.cio.com/article/29790/Ray_Kurzweil_on_the_ Promise_and_Peril_of_Technology_in_the_21st_century Nick Bostrom's Home Page http://www.nickbostrom.com/ NBIC Converging Technologies http://convergentsystems.pbworks.com/nBIc-converging- Technologies Converging Technologies http://mysite.verizon.net/wsbainbridge/dl/nbic.htm National Nanotechnology Initiative http://www.nano.gov/html/about/nsetmembers.html Managing Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno Innovations: Converging Technologies in Society http://ebook30.com/science/biology-and-genetics/101242/ managing-nano-bio-info-cogno-innovations-converging- technologies-in-society.html We Are Plenty Good Enough http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200311/interview.asp resources