Singularity: When Computers Become “Smarter” Than Us
Computers keep getting faster and more sophisticated, and at some point they will move beyond our ability to judge them. That point is called the “technological singularity,” and according to Ray Kurzweil, the researcher who popularized it, it will arrive in 2045. Some consider him a brilliant forecaster, others a charlatan. Either way, it is worth asking whether, at such a moment, artificial intelligence will help us solve humanity’s eternal problems—or enslave us…
02“In Building True AI, We Get Only One Shot”
Everyone is talking about artificial general intelligence, the enormous next step that will confront us as a species with colossal and unpredictable challenges, and one of the first scientific conferences on the subject was organized in Blagoevgrad by Dimitar Dobrev, an AI and mathematical logic researcher who teaches at Sofia University. Before we let the genie out of the bottle, he says, we should at least decide what we want from it. We talk about intelligence as a force, our naivety about the future, control, regulation, open source, and one simple but frightening question: if we don't know what future we want, how do we expect to get it?
03“Our Only Chance Is to Remember That We Are Creators”
Todor Kolev is a seasoned programmer, entrepreneur and mentor to remarkable young talents in information technology, but also a man with his own, deeply curious view not only of technology but of how we are evolving as a civilization. Are we ready for the next step in evolution that technology is bringing, and what comes after the end of capitalism?
04“AI Is Bringing a Revolution to Photography”
“Photography works with a high level of abstraction and metaphor. I didn’t expect software like this to exist any time soon, but it turns out I was very wrong,” says Ivaylo Petrov. The experienced photographer is among the first enthusiasts to get access to a new artificial intelligence which, he believes, has the power to revolutionize photography and the way we perceive the world. See the wonders the AI painted from the prompts Ivaylo gave it, and read why the photographer is so impressed by what it can do.
05RoboGod: What Should Artificial Intelligence Believe In?
If one day we create a technology indistinguishable from a human, will it… believe in God? What will its God look like? Might it try to become God itself? Or… simply be God? Technology and religion have always had a complicated relationship. But will they find the road to the future and to the survival of the human species together?
06When Musk Puts a Chip in Our Brains…
“It’s very important that artificial intelligence not be ‘other.’ It must be ‘us.’ That’s the only way we survive,” says Elon Musk. To get there, he has launched Neuralink, an ultra-ambitious project whose goal is for us to merge with machines: a tiny chip in the brain that makes us part of the global network. Is this fantasy, or the only chance for the human species to survive?
