Open-Ended vs. Closed-Minded Conceptions of Superintelligence
| | |

Open-Ended vs. Closed-Minded Conceptions of Superintelligence

This talk is part of the ‘Stepping Into the Future‘ conference. Abstract: Superintelligence, the next phase beyond today’s narrow AI and tomorrow’s AGI, almost intrinsically evades our attempts at detailed comprehension. Yet very different perspectives on superintelligence exist today and have concrete influence on thinking about matters ranging from AGI architectures to technology regulation.One paradigm…

Posthumanism and its Moral Imperatives – Pramod K. Nayar
| |

Posthumanism and its Moral Imperatives – Pramod K. Nayar

Synopsis: Octavia Butler’s fiction underscores heightened empathy as a possible feature of the future humans (who may be co-evolved with alien species, in Butler’s imagination). Yet, in Butler’s fiction, the morally enhanced beings ponder over the freedom they now possess. This talk, building on the view that ME requires multiple virtues (James Hughes), examines the linkage…

The End of Suffering – Genome Reform and the Future of Sentience – David Pearce
| | |

The End of Suffering – Genome Reform and the Future of Sentience – David Pearce

A talk by David Pearce for the Stepping into the Future conference 2022. Synopsis: No sentient being in the evolutionary history of life has enjoyed good health as defined by the World Health Organization. The founding constitution of the World Health Organization commits the international community to a daringly ambitious conception of health: “a state…

Life, Knowledge and Natural Selection – How Life (Scientifically) Designs its Future – Bill Hall
| |

Life, Knowledge and Natural Selection – How Life (Scientifically) Designs its Future – Bill Hall

Studies of the nature of life, evolutionary epistemology, anthropology and history of technology leads me reluctantly to the conclusion that Moore’s Law is taking us towards some kind of post-human singularity. The presentation explores fundamental aspects of life and knowledge, based on a fusion of Karl Popper’s (1972) evolutionary epistemology and Maturana and Varela’s (1980)…

The Shaky Foundations of Science: An Overview of the Big Issues – James Fodor
|

The Shaky Foundations of Science: An Overview of the Big Issues – James Fodor

Many people think about science in a fairly simplistic way: collect evidence, formulate a theory, test the theory. By this method, it is claimed, science can achieve objective, rational knowledge about the workings of reality. In this presentation I will question the validity of this understanding of science. I will consider some of the key…