Preview

Barry Ptolemy's Transcendent Man: Ray Kurzweil's Predictions about the Future of Technology

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
374 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Barry Ptolemy's Transcendent Man: Ray Kurzweil's Predictions about the Future of Technology
Transcendent Man is a 2009 documentary film by American filmmaker Barry Ptolemy about inventor, futurist and author Ray Kurzweil and his predictions about the future of technology in his 2005 book, The Singularity is Near. In the film, Ptolemy follows Kurzweil around the world as he discusses his thoughts on the Technological Singularity, a proposed advancement that will occur sometime in the 21st century when progress in genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics will result in the creation of a human-machine civilization. The Technological Singularity, or simply the singularity, is a theoretical moment in time when artificial intelligence will have progressed to the point of a greater-than-human intelligence that will "radically change human civilization, and perhaps even human nature itself " .
The possibility of a Technological Singularity is a key issue for the future of the artificial intelligence (AI) community and of human society. If the Singularity occurs, it is very likely that the main social and technological problems facing us will then be eliminated, for better or worse.
To achieve Technological Singularity many futurists have determined the "ways forward" like:
1. The development of a computer or a robot that exceed human intelligence (and therefore would be autonomous, thinking, able to make their own decisions by previous analyzes).
2. The modification of our processing capacity by methods of genetic modification or cranial modification.
The second option is not feasible in the short term as disciplines such as biotechnology and bioengineering are still very new and involve an ethical and moral, given the need for human experimentation, where there will be an obvious resistance to this type of society activity.
The first option is the most favorable for our species, and we currently have an exponential increase of inventions and technological projects in the field, which apparently will not stop.
However, no matter which of the two options

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Mankind has the power to evolve in rapid succession. The wheel, the light bulb, and the internet have changed the world when first invented. However, the greatest invention of all time is close to being perfected and ready to alter modern and future outcomes. The future of mankind has been developing and evolving for an extensive amount of time, artificial intelligence is the unknown fortune of society and, eventually most people will have some type of contact with AI. Artificial intelligence can be used in the workplace, and in everyday activities. Therefore, adapting to artificial intelligence can eventually lead to improvements, and downfalls in society.…

    • 1577 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Artificial intelligence will help humanity with its advanced problem solving. Artificial intelligence is the ability of a computer or computer controlled robots to have an intellectual process. This technology will soon be in use in everyday life and will eventually advance to the next levels of intelligence. The concern with Artificial intelligence is whether it should continue to be studied for further process or if it should just end its research. Although some people oppose Artificial Intelligence it should continue its advancement for reasons, such as cancer research and reducing surgery risk.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Radical Evolution

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In Joel Garreau’s book “Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies- and What It Means to Be Human” Garreau discusses the concept “singularity” along with views from Vernon Vinge, Ray Kurzweil and others. Singularity is this drastic change that will take place during a period of accelerating change in particular with technology. “The Curve implies one of the all-time changes in the rules. Those who study it call it “The Singularity”. (p.67) Garreau covers three different scenarios of singularity one he calls it heaven, which is viewed as something good taking place for humanity. Another scenario is if technology gets into the wrong hands and this scenario he calls it Hell. Lastly he discusses a possible scenario where people can alter conditions leading to singularity which he calls this prevail.…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer system to process information in a manner similar…

    • 1535 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Artificial intelligence is rapidly growing in popularity. Conversely, will it reach a point where technology goes too far? As the development of artificial intelligence progresses, scientists are beginning to ponder as to whether the further creation of A.I. serves to mankind's benefit, or destruction. In George Orwell’s novel 1984, the author depicts a fictional dystopia that demonstrates how easily artificial technology can rule a society. Modern science as well as literature supports theories about technology compromising a community. By looking at the ideals of scientist Stephen Hawking and author George Orwell in his novel 1984, a postulate can be made about technology changing mankind by controlling the way humans interact, independently…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Artificial intelligence is not just limited to an android having intelligence on par with a human, it can also be small nanoparticles that go into the human body to manipulate the endocrine system to help the body, and live as part of the body. In past events an artificial intelligence has beaten a Chess Grandmaster, and other games that require a large amount of intelligence. There was already many artificial intelligence that's been developed, and there are other artificial intelligence that are in the process of becoming useful to society. The thing is that we are close to achieving greatness with the development of artificial intelligence. Also as stated before artificial intelligence is not just limited to a robot, it can also be implemented to humans. One example would be nanoparticles being injected into us to make us healthier or to repair our cells from the inside. In the next thirty or so years we will look back on what we used to do in every field of study, and think to ourselves that we used to do such things. There is another side to this however, some of today’s scientist have come to the conclusion that artificial intelligence could bring the end of us, but this is no reason to stop the development of artificial intelligence to stop. There are plenty of other things that could end humanity, yet they are ignored. Such as research on nuclear weapons,…

    • 1711 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The advancement of technology has brought about a new term. This term is artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is the “area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence.” Robots are now capable of doing the jobs that humans were once in control of. The more artificial intelligence advances the more jobs are taken away from humans. In the article “Artificial Intelligence could make us extinct, warn Oxford University researchers” by Mark Stockley, artificial intelligence is shown as being the reason for mankind no longer existing. Researchers have no idea how artificial intelligence is going to react when the robots reach full potential. The strongest…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Many would argue that Genetic Engineering will benefit society and is ethical. Genetics will increasingly enable health…

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Considering the questions raised about the advancement of humanity through technology, two opposing positions are generally discussed. One group accepts the path of human evolution and transformation, and Ray Kurzweil was one of them. He believed that one day in the future we will reach the point of “Singularity” defined as “a future period during which the pace of technological change will be…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The movie “The Matrix,” depicts a futuristic era in which computer based artificial super intelligence has significantly exceeded the potentials of human brain power. Bringing us into a world that is overrun by artificially intelligent computer based machines. Many of us may believe that the idea of such an event can only exist within a Sci-Fi film. However, the majority of also may not know about long lived scientific theories projecting such futuristic capabilities in the near mid-21st century. It is said in the article, “Doomsday scenarios: How the world may go on without us,” that our computing technology doubles approximately every 18 months and has been doing so for the past few decades. With this exponentially increasing power of computer based technology, theories in technological singularity state possibilities in building machines with artificially super intelligent computing capabilities. Bringing with them abilities in problem solving and innovation far greater than what humanity is currently capable of. These machines may then have the ability to create machines with greater capabilities with even more powerful computing powers, leading to a cycle of self-evolving technological machines. A species of their own that in “The Matrix,” have been envisioned with the power to take over the world. However, According to the article, “Transhumanism and the Wisdom of Old Genes is Neurotechnology as Source of Future Happiness,” it is said that if there is one thing we can learn from the past is that the future has often been different than predicted and often more outrageous. Although, this technology summons potential dangers to humanity in creating a new alpha species, our goals are to directly enhance human life rather than create supporting robotic creatures. With this being said, it is more so projected that futuristic computer based technology will evolve the human race into hybrid…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most iconic shows that ever graced television sets was The Jetsons. The Jetsons was a show released in the 1960s – an age in which “Apple” was just a fruit – which represented a family living in the 2060s complete with flying cars and autonomous, artificially intelligent robots. The Jetsons was immensely popular among that generation in its attempt to depict what a future utopia would look like. Since then, many others through various mediums have tried to predict the unknown future, whether it’d be through TV shows, books, magazine articles, or movies. As seen through Blade Runner, Artificial Intelligence, and I Robot, humans have tried to imagine what life would be like with robots…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Artificial Intelligence is an exciting subject that will only get better with time, allowing humans to do things that were never thought to be reality, until the last few decades. In this paper, I will be telling you about the four main studies of artificial intelligence and their importance to our society, as well as how they are affecting our everyday lives. These four studies are expert systems, natural language, neural networks, and robotics. Mostly all artificial intelligences can be categorized under these four studies. Not only are these technologies making life easier, they are making life more enjoyable for all societies.…

    • 1664 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    He believes that advances in biotechnology will augment our biological form beyond disease and again, as well, he believes that artificial intelligence, will essentially allow us to bring back the dead, through our own memories of the person, DNA samples and any records we may still have of them (Ptolemy, 2011). Though he would state otherwise, the film Transcendent Man leaves one to wonder if Mr. Kurzweil has a vested interest in the singularity coming sooner, then later. Ray’s obsession with eating pills to maintain his health and desire to bring his father back to life, give the idea a sense of “wishful thinking,” at least in the…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Asimov, Isaac. In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954. New York City: Doubleday, 1979. Print.…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the course of history, humanity has taken strides that have propelled us to be the most intelligent species that we have discovered. From the beginning of cavemen who could no more than grunt a command, to wireless communication and computer controlled systems, human innovation and gain have taken unbelievable strides. In one hundred years, we have gone from dreaming of flying through the air, to walking on the moon, and now taking pictures of distant galaxies from far away from our home planet. With the progress we have made, the question of where do we go next still lingers. There is always one major aspect of development throughout history, whether it is the airplane, a rocket in space, nuclear technology, or fuel-efficient vehicles. Where do we go next, and what factors can be analyzed?…

    • 2249 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays