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Futurepath: 3D printing

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 21:29

3d printer setup If you pay any attention to the tech world, you realize 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, is the next big thing as dozens of startups are racing to get their product to market ahead of the competition. Everything from toys to guns, shoes to pizza - there are printers being developed to print anything we buy.

Futurepath: Human employment

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 21:24

Baby fed by a robot Last year, Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne published their paper, "The Future of Unemployment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerisation?" In their research, they identified that nearly half of US jobs will be automated within the next 10-20 years. Since then, there is a rising sense of urgency represented by the range of articles presenting the medium to long-term career forecasting of either a world of high unemployment or a world in which robotic productivity creates a socialist scenario where all humans maintain a minimal life quality without concern over unemployment. Digging more deeply into viewpoints with more diverse data and historical comparisons show a lot more reasons to be either bullish or bearish on the future.

Futurepath: Energy

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 21:22

Energy mosaic From ultra-modern Manhattan penthouses to cell phones and radios in sub-Saharan homes, from private jets zipping over the oceans to motor scooters in southeast Asia - we require energy to power our lives. At this point, only protected Amazon tribes and the few humans who have chosen to live off the energy grid do not use any of the world's energy supplies.

Overall, we humans use in excess of 500 exajoules of energy per year. The energy we produce is derived by a variety of sources such as nuclear; fossil fuels, including coal, crude, and gas; and renewables such as wind, hydro, and solar. These fuels are broken into two main types of use, the first is locomotion via fuel burning engines and the second is the creation of electricity, which is then used as a source of power for motors, lights, appliances, and the gadgets we use (to name a few).

Can We Live Forever?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 21:12

A 6 minute film presenting the history, research, and expectations of life extension.

Abundance 360 and Exponential Technologies (2014)

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 20:49

A 5 minute video illustrating 6 expected technology advancements over the next 25 years and how they will impact our future. Developed for Peter Diamandis' Abundance Summit attendees as an introduction to his view of an abundant future, it's now online for us to enjoy.

History of a Time to Come

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 20:47

Dr. Michio Kaku gives us 15 minutes of insight on upcoming events set to change our world and gives his expectations of what will dominate the rest of this century.

What will future jobs look like?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 19:45

Andrew McAfee, one of the authors of The Second Machine Age, gives a presentation on the future of jobs as one of his TED talks. He provides a nice overview of the benefits and challenges of "the new machine age" and, on the human side, who will be impacted. At 15 minutes long, it's a fairly complete overview on the topic and how our societies might adapt to prepare our children and the adult unemployed for this change.

Do We Need Humans?

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 19:28

Robot worker There is a lot of speculation on the technological singularity - the point at which artificial intelligence has progressed beyond human intelligence. Between AI and advanced engineering, humans could quickly become extraneous to modern society, especially from the viewpoint of those who own the robots and see extra humans as needful beings who return little to the planet.

That's a very dystopian view, but a possible outcome all the same. The February 28, 2014 episode of NPR's Ted Radio Hour offers four viewpoints on the future of humanity.

Train your Robot Well - This Week in Law

Submitted by Daryl Weade on Sat, 10/11/2014 - 18:54

#255 of This Week in Law's weekly discussion focuses on the various issues we may face when regulating robots in the future. The discussion revolves around James Barrat's book Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era. Based on Barrat's writings, they discuss how a super intelligence might come to view its human 'captors' - humans that used to be the smartest creatures on the planet and now occupy a lower rung of intelligence as we are surpassed by our creation.

Topics include building sympathy into machines to instill ethics, robotic personhood, and a range of issues we might encounter after the Singularity occurs. The discussion of robotics lasts around an hour and is a very deep discussion.

Available as a video or audio download.

The impact of life extension

Submitted by admin on Wed, 06/04/2014 - 13:49

Katherine Helmond getting her face stretched in the movie Brazil Promises to extend lifespans keep rising. Some online surveys peg my lifespan between 76 and 88 years old, but specialists are claiming lifespans as long as 140 years for some humans as medicine provides the ability to regenerate, grow, or print and replace human tissue. With ongoing breakthroughs in organ printing, providing they can get bodies to accept the replacements, it is theorized the replacement of every body part with the possible exception brain can be replicated and the limitation with the brain is shifting our persona/character/self/soul into a viable replacement - an advancement that could truly create immortality.

If this turns out to be true, then science is really looking for ways to keep the brain healthy and living for a longer duration. Looking back at Bruce Sterling's novel Holy Fire, the character Mia lives by the rules governing her participation in a lifetime-enhancement program. I'm not certain longevity won't be available to the masses, or at least those who can afford the payments for procedures or insurance to cover the costs, but I do suspect Sterling got it right that longevity will be a privilege and not a right.