‘THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY’
SINGULARITY SUMMIT 2012
AUGUST 18-19
RMIT UNIVERSITY
What will tomorrow look like?
Few could predict just how fast and dramatic the social, economic and political impacts of computer technology have been in out lifetimes.
If present trends are to continue, computers will have more advanced and powerful ‘brains’ than humans within 25 years.
This August, leading scientists, inventors and philosophers will gather in Melbourne to discuss the upcoming ‘intelligence explosion’ that many now refer to as ‘The Singularity’- a technological breakthrough that promises to eclipse previous computing developments with the creation of super-human machines.
The ‘SingularitySummit’ - a part of NationalScienceWeek - is an unprecedented opportunity to engage with today’s leading experts on emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, nanotechnology and brain-computer interfaces - right here in Melbourne.
The screening will also feature a prerecorded address to Australia from Ray Kurzweil and producer Barry Ptolemy, and a Q&A session with documentary participants and Internationally renowned Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts - Dr Ben Goertzel and Dr Hugo De Garis - both of whom will also be presenting at the summit.
Both the 2010 and 2011 Singularity Summits each drew over a hundred local, interstate and international enthusiasts to hear first-rate speakers from a range of fields.
In 2012, we have again assembled a stellar line-up - Including leading Artificial Intelligence expert Dr Marcus Hutter, and Molecular Scientist Randal Koene, popular Futurist Mark Pesce, president of the Rationalist Society Meredith Doig and others.
The summit will explore the important ethical and philosophical dimensions of the Singularity - whilst sharing the very latest scientific and technological breakthroughs.
There’s simply no better way to glimpse the future of these exciting technologies.
http://2012.singularitysummit.com.au/
This conference is brought to you by Humanity+ @ Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). Humanity+ explores how society might use and profit from a variety of creative and innovative thought.
Join in an exciting weekend as we explore the surprising future. See you there!
And please feel free to pass this on.
It is hypothesised that Machines will out think humans before mid century.
Professor Hugo de Garis says in History Channel’s documentary Prophets of Doom “It is only a question of time now before humanity can build artificial brains that are far more intelligent than human beings. So this is a huge issue that will eclipse any other human issue this century…I call this ‘Species dominance’.”
Although this sounds like science fiction, lately ‘The Singularity’ been taken this very seriously. This year it has made thecoverofTimeMagazine, has been sprouting like mushrooms in news reports (i.e. IBMs AI ‘Watson’ winning at quiz show Jeopardy), and has been the topic of feature and TV documentaries (i.e. ‘TranscendentMan’). You have people such as Larry Page (CEO of Google), Steve Wozniak (Co-founder of Apple) and Justin Rattner (CTO of Intel) taking an interest in this stuff, prominent public figures willing to associate their names with the Singularity, the idea is moving away from the fringes, and if it is not mainstream yet, then it is definitely a lot closer.
“If you go back 500 years, not much happened in a century. Now a lot happens in 6 months.” says Ray Kurzweil in documentaryTranscendentMan. “Technology feeds on itself and it gets faster and faster, it’s going to continue, and in about 40 years it is going to become so fast, the pace of change is going to be so astonishingly quick that you won’t be able to follow it, unless, you enhance your own intelligence by merging with the intelligent technology we have created.”
This conference will challenge and enhance your view of the future.
The Singularity Summit Australia represents a great opportunity - Singularity-related ideas, being once a vague and strange to most, are growing into an increasingly powerful force of possibilities in the minds of anyone who is technologically literate. For those who are already familiar with the accelerating pace of technological change, the Summit will help broaden peoples awareness of the widening vista of possibilities resulting from technological developments (for instance in biotechnology, nanotechnology and AI).
