Fwd: "Humanchines"/Ray Kurzweil on "The Paula Gordon Show"

[Owen Densmore]

        -- Owen

Owen Densmore         908 Camino Santander   Santa Fe, NM 87505
Cell: 505-570-0168    Home: 505-988-3787     http://backspaces.net


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Paula Gordon <[hidden email]>
> Date: April 4, 2004 6:01:42 PM MDT
> To: "Paula J. Gordon" <[hidden email]>
> Subject: "Humanchines"/Ray Kurzweil on "The Paula Gordon Show"
>
> Further Information:  Paula Gordon 404/875-3318
>
>
>        Atlanta/April 3, 2004   Machines and humans will merge by
> mid-century, says Ray Kurzweil, inventor and futurist.  He wants us
> thinking
> -- now-- about what the means he ways when Guest on "The Paula Gordon
> Show:
> Conversations with People at the Leading Edge."(sm)   LISTEN  in
> RealAudio
> at <http://www.PaulaGordon.com> beginning April 3, 2004.  (Below are
> also
> broadcast schedules for WGUN/AM1010 in Atlanta, "LookOut"(sm) on
> CNNRadio
> and "Perspectives"(sm), both heard at CNN.com.)
>        M.I.T.'s "Inventor of the Year" in 1988, Ray Kurzweil invented
> speech-recognition technology, music synthesizers and reading machines
> for
> the blind.  He urging us all to help shape the future he foresees in
> his
> books, _The Age of Intelligence Machines_ and _The Age of Spiritual
> Machines_.
>        "As early as 2030 or 2040, humans and machines will be
> indistinguishable.  We won't be able to tell the different between
> humans
> and machines.   But they won't be an alien invasion since they're
> emerging
> from within our civilization.  So we need -- now -- to confront
> fundamental
> philosophical questions about the meaning of 'life' and
> 'consciousness' and
> 'value.'  We can't get there through objective measurements.   The
> questions
> will have to be resolved in the way humans resolve everything --
> politically."
>        What Mr. Kurzweil sees ahead he describes as an ongoing
> acceleration
> of evolution.
>        "It's a growing power of our human/machine civilization.
> Politically, I think machines will prevail in asserting their rights.  
> They
> will be very intelligent, ultimately more intelligent that unaided
> human
> intelligence.  Ultimately, I think we'll accept machines as conscious
> entities, much as we accept that other humans are conscious, even
> though we
> cannot objectively 'prove' it."
>        This next stage is deeply familiar, Mr. Kurzweil says.
>        "Technology is more than just one of the activities in which
> humans
> are engaged.  We are a technology-creating species.  And technology is
> ultimately part of the great story of evolution that began billions of
> years
> ago.  Each stage creates the foundation for the next stage to be more
> powerful and to take place more quickly," Mr. Kurzweil observes.
>        He believes this profound shift in the game of human-machine
> interaction has already been made.
>        "The two worlds of thinking -- human and machine -- are already
> intimately intertwined.  We already use biologically inspired computer
> programs to solve problems which have too many variables and are too
> complicated for a person to sit down and design directly -- like
> designing
> jet engines.  Already many of our technological systems are so complex
> that
> they are unpredictable in the same way people are unpredictable."
>        Mr. Kurzweil is optimistic in the face of what he expects to
> happen.
>        "Even when non-biological entities have both a personality and a
> human presence and are operating at a fully human level or beyond,
> they'll
> still be an extension of us.  Technology is an expression and
> extension of
> human civilization and its powers.  When nanotechnology delivers
> nanobots,
> it will liberate us from being the limited creatures we are today,
> enable us
> to expand human intelligence, allow more people to exhibit the best
> expressions of humanity.  And, yes, these new technologies are going to
> introduce new problems and challenges."
>
> This program was recorded November 2, 2001, in West Wellesley, MA.
> LISTEN to RAY KURZWEIL in RealAUDIO at<http://www.PaulaGordon.com>
> beginning
> 4/3/04.
>
> DISTRIBUTION...
> ??"The Paula Gordon Show:  Conversations with People @ the Leading
> Edge"(sm)
> ?Broadcast: 50,000 watt WGUN/AM1010/Atlanta - 7PM, Sat., April 3, 2003
> -
> Nina Munk, AOL/Time-Warner
> ?Internet:  <http://www.PaulaGordon.com> RealAudio & summary text - RAY
> KURZWEIL beginning 4/3/04.
> ?Programs are available on CD.
>
> ??"CNN/LookOut"(sm) on CNN/Radio's affiliates worldwide
> Week of 4/5/04:   RAY KURZWEIL, thinking machines; ROBERT PUTNAM,
> community
>
> ??"PERSPECTIVES"(sm) are available as part of CNN radio' streaming
> audio
> service at <http://www.CNN.com>  --  CLICK ON  "CNNRadio"
> Week of 4/5/04: TONY HILLERMAN, cure; PAUL EKMAN, moods; RICHARD BEN
> CRAMER,
> change; FREDERICK FERRE?, relevance; WALTER MASSEY, ratios
>
>
> ? Paula J. Gordon   2004
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