Event 36: Transhumanism, Humans 2.0, Wise Cyborgs of the Future

Discussion points

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• Are you concerned about the direction in which A.I. is heading?

• What are some ways you’ve personally seen the exponential growth of technology in your life?

• What are your greatest fears and hopes with the exponential growth of technology?

• What are some benefits and application to growth in artificial intelligence in different fields like healthcare, education and manufacturing?

• Would you want to see tomorrow’s smartest systems spend more time exploring “outer space” or “inner space” in coming years?

• What kind of impact do you think Artificial Intelligence will have on social change?

• Do you think that artificial intelligence should mimic the human brain? Is the convergence of neuroscience and computer science the best way to accelerate AI? If not, what is?

• What are some ways we can make our machine learning and emerging technologies safe?

• What kind of values or morals should we teach our machines?

• What are the benefits and risks of smart agents (software we can talk to, with an always-improving model of the world, itself and us)?

• What are some problems that can arise as we interact more and more with intelligent apps/machines?

• Will we need social reforms like basic income to deal with the impacts (tech unemployment, rich-poor divides, etc.) of accelerating AI?

• If we could offer anyone who wanted it the ability to inexpensively preserve their brain (memories and identity) when they die (which we may be able to do in the next decade, see brainpreservation.org), would that make for a better society? If so, how?

• In our accelerating world, what are the most effective strategies to make a more empowered, empathic, and evidence-based society?

• What excites you most about the future?

• What scares you most about the future?

• How long would you want to live for?  

• Can A.I. be conscious and self-aware?