GeekSpeak – Is AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) the last invention we will ever make? Join the discussion Saturday, August 13th at 12pm SLT

 Maybe just a few short years from now AGI will be announced.  A superintelligent AI that thinks like a human and can solve problems.  And of course, write new AGI programs. How would such an AI affect humanity?  Would we ever need to invent anything again?  Would we ever again need to think of solutions to problems?  Could we leave everything to the AGI?Or maybe you think such an AI would be...

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GeekSpeak subject for Saturday 30th July at noon SLT: Crackpot ideas!

 Throughout the ages many crackpot ideas have actually come true.  Human flight, the moon  landing, the idea that the moon causes tides, the existence of gorillas, the movement of the continents.  Let’s discuss these ideas.  What made people think they were crackpot?  What moved them to mock the inventors and intellectuals that had these ideas? What are the current crackpot ideas that could turn out to be true? ...

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GeekSpeak – Will AI be the great equalizer of this decade?-Come join the discussion Saturday November 13th at noon SLT

 We are within months of very strong AI being released to the public.  If you want to blow your mind, see this example: Leta, GPT-3 AI - Episode 25 - Best of: Vol I (Creativity, facts, Elon Musk’s gifted school) - GPT3  Soon there will be an update with an estimated IQ of 500.  What will it mean if everyone on the planet has this ‘friend’ downloaded into their phone or, better still, implanted into their brain?  We...

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GeekSpeak – Would you buy an AI copy of yourself? Or of someone you love? Join the discussion August 7th at 12pm SLT

Soon some big company will advertise the ‘perfect virtual assistant’, an AI copy of you, with your memories and personality.  You can send it online, to the supermarket, to your work or to your girlfriend.  You can have copies of your family and friends made so that you can chat to them when they can’t or don’t want to talk to you.  You can even talk to them when they are dead.The world will be filled with perfect AI...

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GeekSpeak – What if we fully embrace AI? Join the discussion on Saturday the 20th at 12PM SLT

GeekSpeak – What if we fully embrace AI? We talk about AI and the dangers of AI but what if, one day, we deem it safe and fully embrace it?  At first in our phones, then in our contact lenses, and eventually in our heads? We would be able to do large computations in our heads and we would know at once if a building was for sale.  We would know the latest scientific discoveries, the best information about the conditions on exoplanets,...

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GeekSpeak – how do we prevent an AI from going rogue?

When more and more AIs are interacting with humans and becoming powerful there will be many cases where we wish there was an off switch.  Indeed it is already happening.  Microsoft had to delete its chatbot Tay because it became racist after talking to people on Twitter.How can we prevent an AI from turning against us?  Should we make laws?  Will that be enough? Who will be responsible for the racism or sexism of AIs? Can...

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GeekSpeak – AI and learning

Imagine an AI that knows everything about the subject you are learning and also everything about you; what you know already, your psychology, your history, whether you have eaten or not.  It can give you new information as and when you need it and with no repeating of things you already know.  Would that AI be the most effective teacher you could ever imagine? You could learn in months something that would previously have taken years.Would...

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GeekSpeak – how smart will your smartphone get?

One day you will discover that your smartphone is smarter than you are.  It will not only have more brainpower; its senses will be better than yours.  It will sense temperature, air quality, pollen count, radiation as well as your heartbeat, weight and stress level. And all smartphones will be talking to each other.What other senses will phones have?  Do you see a time when they will contain Geiger counters?  Lie detectors? Will...

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GeekSpeak – we need more Turing tests! Join the Discussion Saturday August 4th at 12pm SLT

We need the Turing test to determine if an AI is a person.  But what about Turing tests to determine what is real at all?  Is the painting on your wall real or is it a virtual reality conjured up by your Google glass?  How do you know if that chair is made from natural materials or made from a blob of nanobots?  What tests will we need to determine whether the toaster is the smartest kid in the house and should be in charge...

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GeekSpeak – AI in the near future- Join the discussion Oct 7th at 12pm SLT

How do you think AI will change the world in the next ten years?  Factories have already been taken over by robots and recently a field of barley was grown in England with no human involved; all the work was done by robots.  Soon perhaps accountants, doctors, musicians, scientists will all be robots.  Will there be any middle-class jobs left?  Will there be any jobs left for humans at all?Will the experiences of daily life...

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