Ethical Guidelines Required as Machines Outsmart their Makers

The physiological term "singularity" refers to the the centre of a black hole, the point at which the laws of physics no longer makes sense.

This notion of singularity in terms of technological progression was discussed at a recent conference in San Francisco whereby hundreds of Silicon Valley techies and scientists from abroad gathered to discuss the ethical considerations associated smarter-than-human technologies.

The conference was titled "The Singularity Summit: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity". The task of this group was to conceptualise a future of self-programming computers and brain implants that would permit humans to think at speeds nearing those of current microprocessors.

This issue clearly calls for implemented guidelines to ensure that technological advances and processes such as these are used to benefit rather than harm society.

At the conference, a robotics professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology confidently asserted that once self-programming and brain implants are introduced "who is us and who is them is going to become a different question", further stating that "we and our world won't be us anymore".

Clearly one of the greatest worries with technologies such as these is the potential for them to be used in an amoral, self-improving manner. However, despite the possibilities of this occurring, it has been stated that given the exponential pace of technological progress in the last 50 years, there is no reason why human thinking couldn't be pushed in such a direction.

These technologies are the future's only logical outcome given recent advances in biotechnological and information technology.

Director of the Singularity Institute, Ray Kurzweil, predicts that these technologies will be implemented by 2029. Subsequently, although the exact day cannot be predicted, there is no excuse for individuals failing to think about the possibility of smarter-than-human technology.