Will You Welcome and Love Your Robot Overlords?

Nicholas West
Activist Post

There is no question that robots are evolving at warp speed. As computer power grows exponentially, and political and military commitment to neuroscience is established, robots are taking on an increasingly humanoid form in both appearance and thought. Transhumanists like Ray Kurzweil have been very open discussing their plans for The Singularity – the moment when computer intelligence surpasses that of humans to such an extent that humans become practically redundant, perhaps as soon as 2045.

Robots are already having a massive economic impact on the planet, but now are poised to evolve to where they will begin to impact social interaction. This fact is embraced in the presentation below by Aaron Saenz from Singularity Hub given to the BAASICS conference one year ago as an “an ongoing effort to bridge the gap between science and the arts…” As Saenz highlights in his accompanying article, even his predictions from a year ago are now outdated. Keep this in mind as he dismisses with mockery and laughter any concern one might have about runaway technology. After all, the concept of having an overlord should be welcomed, no?

As a people then, the only real question remaining to us is the big question I presented at BAASICS: when the robots take over, what will they be like?

Another question might be: when the robots take over what will we be like?