Singularity

The twenty-year time span required to provide a basic education
to biological humans could be compressed into a matter of weeks
or less (Kurzweil 2005: 294).

Not only the BBC´s documentation evaluated a status quo of AI research, Kurzweil mainly refers to the technological side of computational capacities in the beginnning. Chapter 4 describes

Achieving the Software of Human Intelligence:
How to Reverse Engineer the Human Brain
(Kurzweil 2005: 143)

Chapter Six meets

The Impact...
...on the Human Body
...on the Human Brain
...on Human Longevity
...on Warfare
...on Learning
...on Play
...on the Intelligent Destiny of the Cosmos
(Kurzweil 2005: 299)

What some scientis call frightening, might also be a big step to more peace, I think. From an anthropological view millions of questions arise. A glimpse of the future can be read about on the BBC documentary website.

As I pointed out above, the shift to nonbiological
thinking will be a slippery slope, but one on
which we have already started. We will continue
to have human bodies, but they will become morphable
projections of our intelligence. In other words,
once we have incorporated MNT fabrication into ourselves,
we will be able to create and re-create different
bodies at will (Kurzweil 2005: 324).

Blackmore writes about meme

There are many kinds of meme which parents pass down
vertically to their children. The ones that are
successful in getting spread this way (and are common
in the meme pool) are those that people want to pass
on. These include not only religious and political
views, social mores, and ethical standards (in any
case some children reject these entirely), but all
the possessions that go with living in a meme-rich
society. Memes are ultimately responsible for us
having our homes and possessions, our position
in society, and our stocks, shares and money.
None of these things would exist without a meme-
based society and these are the things we work hard
for and want to leave to someone we care about
when we die (Blackmore 2000: 143).

Will we, the then-media in our biological bodies, which would be morphological projections, pass on our meme via AI? Who will decide then which meme to deliver or transport or save? Will we create shops to buy our choice of "life" data - as we do already? Can our lives be stored on a DVD-like item? What about emotions then? Will we speak hundreds of languages? Can everybody then paint like Van Gogh, Klimt, Schiele or would we buy a data chip to download Michelangelo´s sculptural abilties in the 99-Cent-store? What about our emotions and beliefs?

Blackmore, Susan 2000. The Meme Machine. New York: Oxford University Press.
Frijda, Nico H. / Bem, Sacha /Manstead, Antony S. R. 2000 Emotions and Beliefs. How Feelings Influence Thoughts. Paris: Cambridge University Press.
Kurzweil, Ray 2005. The Singularity is Near. When Humans transcend Biology. London: Penguin Books.

© Sybille Amber: Intellectual Property 2005/2006/2007