Why Does the Future Not Need Us? PDF

# Why Does The Future Not Need Us? - An Overview ### Science, Technology and Society ## **Bill Joy** - Co-founder of Sun Microsystems - *Why the Future Doesn't Need Us* (2000) - Argues that increasingly advanced technologies, such as genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics, could lead to machines b...

# Why Does The Future Not Need Us? - An Overview ### Science, Technology and Society ## **Bill Joy** - Co-founder of Sun Microsystems - *Why the Future Doesn't Need Us* (2000) - Argues that increasingly advanced technologies, such as genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics, could lead to machines becoming smarter than human beings. - This would create a dystopian future where humans are subject to a great injustice. ## Technology is Changing Our World - Our world is changing at an overwhelming pace due to technology. - Most people are deeply involved with technology and tend to be optimistic about its prospects. - This optimism is generally focused on: - Health care - Food - Energy - Environment - Education - Economy - Agriculture - In recent years, social media, mobile devices and the internet have transformed how we communicate. ## C.S Lewis - Argues that humanity's so-called power over nature is really a power exercised by some men over other men, using nature as their instrument. - He feared that modernism and its ability to explain away everything would leave humans emptied of their humanity. - Humanity would be left with only its animal instincts. - Humanity is a complex combination of materal and spiritual components. - To be reduced to machines made of meat ruled by other machines, with nothing but natural instincts to guide them, would be a dystopian outcome. - Lewis warned of the dangers of a society that explains away every mystery. - He was concerned about the emergence of man-molders who would be armed with the powers of an omni-competent state and irresistible scientific technique. ## Francis Fukuyama - *The End of History and The Last Man* (1992) - Identifies three possible scenarios for the near future: 1. Genetically Enhanced Intelligence (The Gene Regime) 2. Stem Cell Research 3. Psychotropic Drugs: - Prozac - Ritalin ## Jacques Ellul - 20th-century philosopher - Warns that as technological capabilities grow, they result in countless means to accomplish tasks. - The more dependent we become on technology, the more it conforms our behavior to its requirements rather than vice versa. ## William Gibson - The writer who shaped the cyberpunk genre - Coined the term "cyberspace". - The future is here, but it's not evenly distributed. ## 21st Century Technologies ### 1. Genetic Engineering - Is the process by which an organism's genetic material is altered or manipulated to produce organisms with specific characteristics. - Applications of genetic engineering include research, medicine, industrial biotechnology, and agriculture. - It can be used in: - Cloning - Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) - Gene Therapy ### 2. Robotics - Is an interdisciplinary research area at the interface of computer science and engineering. - It involves the conception, design, manufacture, and operation of robots. - **Characteristics of Robots:** - Consist of some sort of mechanical construction - Need electrical components that control and power machinery ### 3. Types of Robots - **Pre-Programmed Robots** - operate in a controlled environment where they perform simple, monotonous tasks. - **Humanoid Robots** - look like and/or mimic human behavior. - **Autonomous Robots** - operate independently of human operators - **Teleoperated Robots** - mechanical bots controlled by humans. - **Augmenting Robots** - either enhance current human capabilities or replace capabilities that a human may have lost. ### 4. Applications of Robots - **Military Robots** - search, rescue, and attack. - **Industrial Robots** - manufacturing. - **Collaborative Robots or Cobots** - intended for direct human-robot interaction within shared space. - **Construction Robots** - robotic arm and exoskeleton. - **Agricultural Robots** - closely linked to the concept of AI-assisted precision agriculture and drone usage. - **Medical Robots -** da Vinci Surgical System - **Kitchen Automation** - Rotimatic, flatbreads baking, Frobot, frozen yogurts. - **Robot Combat** - for sports. - **Domestic Robots** - Roomba vacuums the carpets. - **Nanobots** - use protein domain dynamics to walk along a microtubule and swarm robotics for disaster rescue missions, target localization, and tracking, simultaneous localization and mapping, cooperative environment monitoring and convoy protection. - **Nanotechnology** - is the study and manipulation of atomic or molecular scale to improve or even revolutionize many technologies and industry sectors. - Branch of technology that builds dimensions and tolerances. ### 5. Products that Use Nanotechnology - **Sunscreen** - **Clothing** - **Furniture** - **Adhesives** - **Coatings for Car Paintwork** - **Tennis Balls** - **Computers** ### 6. Artificial Intelligence - **Definition**: REFERS TO MACHINES THAT RESPOND TO STIMULATION CONSISTENT WITH TRADITIONAL RESPONSES FROM HUMANS, GIVEN THE CAPACITY FOR CONTEMPLATION, JUDGEMENT AND INTENTION. - **Applications**: Health care, energy development, finance, transportation, aviation, and telecommunications. - **Examples**: Autonomous vehicles such as drones and self-driving cars, playing games such as chess or go, search engines such as Google search, online assistants such as Siri, image recognition in photographs, predicting flight delays and medical diagnosis. ## Alan Turing - Established the fundamental goal and vision of artificial intelligence, which is the attempt to replicate or simulate human intelligence in machines. ## Norvig and Russell - Defined Artificial Intelligence in four approaches: - Thinking rationally - Thinking humanly - Acting rationally - Acting humanly ## Methods and Goals in Artificial Intelligence - **The symbolic (or top-down) approach** - seeks to replicate intelligence by analyzing cognition independent of the biological structure of the brain in terms of the processing of symbolic labels - **The connectionist (bottom-up) approach** - involves creating artificial neural networks in imitation of the brain's structure. ## Helpful Everyday Examples of AI: - Google Maps and Ride-Hailing applications - Face detection and recognition - Text editors or autocorrect. - Search and recommendation algorithms. - Chatbots - Digital Assistants - Social media - E-Payments ## Potential Risks to Society: - Devaluation of humanity - Decrease in the demand for human labor - High costs of creation - Ethical issues - Social isolation - Environmental problems ## List of Emerging Technologies That Will Shape Our Future: 1. Electric/self-driving cars 2. Robot butlers 3. Flying cars 4. Space tourism 5. Colonization of other planets 6. Wearable screens 7. 3D printed food and metal 8. 5G-6G connectivity 9. Re-engineering and recycling 10. High-rise farms 11. Lab-grown meat 12. Robot soldiers 13. Roads over rivers and seas 14. Holography 15. Body implants prosthesis ## Other Terminologies - **Post-Humanity** - a theory/concept that refers to a level of technological or economic development that would involve a radical change in the human condition, whether the change was brought by biological enhancement or other cause. - **GNR** - Genetics, Nanotechnology, and Robotics. - **KMD** - Knowledge and Enabled Mass Destruction - **WMD** - Weapon of Mass Destruction - **NBC** - Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical. ## Thank You.