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    6.2 Why The Future Does Not Need Us

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    Carolyn Elizabeth Barcemo
    Bill Joy worries about the development of modern technologies like genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR). He is concerned that these technologies have the potential to self-replicate and be used by small groups or individuals to cause massive destruction. If machines perform all work, humanity may become dependent on the machines or an elite class may control the masses, reducing their freedom. Joy concludes that GNR technologies are too risky and dangerous to continue pursuing due to possibilities like autonomous nanobots destroying everything.

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    6.2 Why The Future Does Not Need Us

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    Carolyn Elizabeth Barcemo
    14K views15 pages
    Bill Joy worries about the development of modern technologies like genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR). He is concerned that these technologies have the potential to self-replicate and be used by small groups or individuals to cause massive destruction. If machines perform all work, humanity may become dependent on the machines or an elite class may control the masses, reducing their freedom. Joy concludes that GNR technologies are too risky and dangerous to continue pursuing due to possibilities like autonomous nanobots destroying everything.

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    6.2 Why the Future Does Not Need Us

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    Bill Joy worries about the development of modern technologies like genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR). He is concerned that these technologies have the potential to self-replicate and be used by small groups or individuals to cause massive destruction. If machines perform all work, humanity may become dependent on the machines or an elite class may control the masses, reducing their freedom. Joy concludes that GNR technologies are too risky and dangerous to continue pursuing due to possibilities like autonomous nanobots destroying everything.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    14K views15 pages

    6.2 Why The Future Does Not Need Us

    Uploaded by

    Carolyn Elizabeth Barcemo
    Bill Joy worries about the development of modern technologies like genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics (GNR). He is concerned that these technologies have the potential to self-replicate and be used by small groups or individuals to cause massive destruction. If machines perform all work, humanity may become dependent on the machines or an elite class may control the masses, reducing their freedom. Joy concludes that GNR technologies are too risky and dangerous to continue pursuing due to possibilities like autonomous nanobots destroying everything.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
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    At a glance
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    Bill Joy is concerned about emerging 21st century technologies like genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics that have the potential for self-replication and could allow small groups to cause massive destruction if not properly designed and regulated.

    Joy is concerned that emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and nanotechnology could potentially lead to humans becoming dependent on or controlled by machines, or even made extinct if machines surpass human intelligence.

    Kaczynski argues that if machines do all work, society can either let machines make all decisions or humans must maintain control, but either scenario could lead to problems - with machines in control humans may be dependent on their commands, and with human control an elite class could form that sees the masses as unnecessary.

    WHY THE

    FUTURE DOES
    NOT NEED US
    BILL JOY
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    Bill Joy (1954 – )


    is an American computer scientist who co-
    founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and
    served as chief scientist at the company until
    2003. His now famous Wired magazine essay,
    “Why the future doesn’t need us,” (2000) sets
    forth his deep concerns over the
    development of modern technologies
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    Joy traces his concern to a discussion he had with Ray


    Kurzweil (involved in fields such as optical character
    recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech
    recognition technology, and electronic keyboard
    instruments. ) at a conference in 1998. He had read
    an early draft of Kurzweil’s The Age of Spiritual
    Machines: When Computers Exceed Human
    Intelligence and found it deeply disturbing.
    Subsequently, he encountered arguments by the
    Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    Kaczynski argued that if machines do all of


    society’s work, as they inevitably will, then
    we can:
    a) let the machines make all the decisions;
    Or
    b) maintain human control over the
    machines.
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    If we choose “a” ,It is not that we would give


    them control or that they would take control,
    rather, we might become so dependent on
    them that we would have to accept their
    commands. Needless to say, Joy doesn’t like
    this scenario. If we choose “b” then control
    would be in the hands of an elite, and the
    masses would be unnecessary.
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    In that case, the tiny elite: 1) would


    exterminate the masses; 2) reduce their
    birthrate so they slowly became extinct; or 3)
    become benevolent shepherds to the masses.
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    In this last scenario, the elite would see to it


    that all physical and psychological needs of
    the masses are met, while at the same time
    engineering the masses to sublimate their
    drive for power.
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    In this case, the masses might be happy, but


    they would not be free.
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    Joy finds these arguments both convincing and


    troubling. About this time Joy read Hans Moravec’s
    book Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent
    Mind where he found predictions similar to
    Kurzweil’s. Joy found himself especially concerned by
    Moravec’s claim that technological superiors always
    defeat technological inferiors, as well as his claim that
    humans will become extinct as they merge with the
    robots.
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    Joy’s worries focus on the transforming technologies of


    the 21st century—genetics, nanotechnology, and
    robotics (GNR). What is particularly problematic about
    them is that they have the potential to self-replicate. This
    makes them inherently more dangerous than 20th-
    century technologies—nuclear, biological, and chemical
    weapons—which were expensive to build and require
    rare raw materials.
    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    By contrast, 21st-century technologies allow for small groups or

    individuals to bring about massive destruction. Joy accepts

    that we will soon achieve the computing power necessary to

    implement some of the scenarios envisioned by Kurzweil and

    Moravec, but worries that we overestimate our design abilities.

    Such hubris may lead to disaster.


    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    And nanotechnology confronts the so-called

    “gray goo” problem—self-replicating

    nanobots out of control. In short, we may be

    on the verge of killing ourselves!


    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    Joy concludes that we ought to relinquish these

    technologies before it’s too late. Yes, GNR may bring

    happiness and immortality, but should we risk the

    survival or the species for such goals? Joy thinks not.


    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

    Summary – Genetics, nanotechnology, and

    robotics are too dangerous to pursue; we

    should abandon them.


    WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US

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