The Era of Terminators – In 2045, computers will rule humans!

In two decades, scientists will create a replacement for the vital organs, which will extend the life of humans to immortality. By 2045, artificial intelligence will do things that are unimaginable to human brain.

Everything became clear in 1996, when the world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost a match against "Deep Blue", a computer developed by IBM. In a thrilling finale, while it was one to one in wins and three draws, Kasparov made a mistake in the opening, and symbolically, in the name of humanity, lay down his arms before the superior enemy.

Chess analysts claimed that human is the favorite against the computer, because even though machine calculates combinations a hundred million times faster than human, humans are dominant in terms of strategy and intuition. And that, of course, applies not only to chess.

A man made the machine to make his life easier, but the question is just how long a man will be able to control the machine that is many times more powerful and more capable than he is. In undeveloped countries, where cell phones are still a luxury and the peak of technological progress is  a very strong bulb which makes it easier for workers to see when they are working, there is still no such threat. But scientist in Western Countries are already trying to predict when will the time come when computers will rule humans.

It is already difficult to imagine some thing from our life for which there still isn’t a machine that is doing it much easier and more efficiently. It is even possible to make love through the machine, but what is more startling in terms of future is the fact that computers are creating computers. Machines, therefore, are already becoming a civilization for themselves. The question is, will the machines, with the development of artificial intelligence, become able to make decisions like humans and start to multiply out of our control like in the scenario of the science-fiction movie “The Terminator". There are less and less of those who have doubts that the time of Terminators will indeed come, and the question that dominates now is when this will happen. 

Raymond Kurzweil, one of the world’s most renowned inventors and futurists, a man who had, for the last thirty years,  the most accurate predictions of technological advances, stunned the world and determined that year – 2045. This is the year when the so-called singularity will happen, which is a term coined by American scientists and stands for the moment when technological progress will break through all boundaries and when the machines will create a world that the human brain cannot even imagine. Scientifically, singularity is the era in which the intelligence will become "non-biological” and trillions of times more powerful than it is today. Singularity will create a civilization which is out of our biological capabilities, and which surpasses human creativity.

Bill Gates apparently also believes that this is not solely science fiction theory. He termed Raymond Kurzweil, one of the main proponents of this theory, as the most competent person when it comes to predicting the future of artificial intelligence. And Kurzweil claims that computers will develop artificial intelligence equal to humans in 20 years, and according to his predictions, by 2045 the amount of artificial intelligence will be billions of times greater than the total human biological intelligence on our planet.

Many computer experts agree that it is not a question whether the computers will rule the world but when will it happen, because technology is developing so rapidly that even now the power of computers doubles every year and a half.

The holder of artificial intelligence is a computer that has hardware and software. We have a similar thing in humans. Our body is the hardware, which is, conditionally speaking, empty, but had been sufficiently prepared to receive the basic informations. In a similar way, empty computer knows in the beginning how to open the CD door, how to power the cooler, and many other things. Those things work like human lungs, kidneys, heart… So, the computer is initially empty, but there are built-in sensors thanks to whom he can learn.

That this is a serious problem shows and the fact that in America a lot of people are already researching the problem of singularity.  Kurzweil  is one of the founders of Singularity University, which was established at NASA, and sponsored by Google. There is even Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence in San Francisco, where Peter Thiel works, former director of PayPal and one of the" early investors” in Facebook. So, this story also includes and the rulers of modern IT world.

We can only assume what kind of capabilities the computers will have in the coming decades. The problem with software programs is that they are already showing signs of unpredictability. The software programs are becoming unpredictable in the same way the human brain can be unpredictable. If you are a programmer then you have a better insight in this problem. If you create a program, abandon him and start working on him after some time, you can’t be sure what will happen if you change some line of code. Unfortunately, no one can claim that he is fully controlling the software system, that is, that he knows exactly what will the computer do at any time.

If the moment comes when a man will cease to be the creative element and when his function are given to the computers, then we can say that the end of humankind as we know it is certain. When computers start to think creatively, a man will lose all his function. We are already teaching computers to discern, to think. We ask them questions on which they are responding - "If something is like this, then this is the case”. Such questions are present more and more, and the computer, based on acquired knowledge, is beginning to discern what is best for him. That is already a phase in the development of an independent being. Today, computer is a defective being that lacks many things, but in time, he will certainly begin to learn because he already has cameras and import mechanisms, he is present on the internet, and it is only a matter of time when he will start to function independently. Computer is already helping humans to make a new computer. It is easy to create a 10 times better computer with the help of earlier generation of them. But what will happen when these 10 times better computers start to create even better ones?

We are already teaching computers to have a self-preservation instinct. However, with the development of software and networks, it is just a matter of time when a man will become a reckless excess for them. Besides that, it is clear that even among programmers there are those who are transferring their own destructiveness on a computer program. It is hard to predict how will such program develop itself and behave in the future. People are already fighting wars with computers, and that makes us fear that, maybe, we will eventually have war between them and us.

Additional problem is that today's generation of children is increasingly replacing their real world with virtual world, and they are beginning to think with the brain of computer. The computers, in a way, are already ruling humans because they are organizing our life. They are organizing human work, and even leisure. People are becoming slaves of the Internet and are showing real signs of addiction. Can you just imagine what happens to a man when his data from the computer is erased?  He begins to panic; he doesn’t know what to do. So, it isn’t a question whether do computers will rule, but more important, how will we adapt to them. They are already, in a way, our masters. We can actually see that in the latest generations of our children, which, by the age of 3 or 4, already know how to operate with these gadgets. Everything is beginning to adapt to the computers, ranging from advertising on television, to new social networks that have completely absorbed us. In the last ten years, we have all used internet because it allows us to contact others in every part of the world in a matter of seconds, which is really amazing. Those who will have informations ,will rule the world. And the computes are in huge advantage over us. Computers have long ago entered into all spheres of social life, and it is difficult to predict what consequences will that produce in the future. The strength of individual social networks is quite incredible. Today, we can freely say that the three largest countries in the world are China, India and Facebook.

Human civilization is developing in such direction that it is a question of day when we will be surrounded with super-intelligent cyborgs. There is also a possibility that our biological intelligence will be able to "attach" itself to the artificial, which will allow us to extend our life with software, perhaps even to the limits of immortality.

With the development of artificial intelligence, the futurist are mostly dealing with the question of life extension. Kurzweil predicts that in 20 years, people will be able to become immortal. He claims that with the speed the science is developing, especially with the development of nanotechnology, the scientist may create the majority of vital organs in two decades. He illustrates that with the fact that we have already created the artificial pancreas and various nerve implant that are built into the damaged parts of the brain. His theory is also suggesting that nanobots, or microscopic robots, will be able to replace our blood cells.

"Ultimately, nanobots will replace blood cells and do their work thousands of times more effectively. Within 25 years we will be able to do an Olympic sprint for 15 minutes without taking a breath, or go scuba-diving for four hours without oxygen. Heart-attack victims – who haven't taken advantage of widely available bionic hearts – will calmly drive to the doctors for a minor operation as their blood bots keep them alive. Nanotechnology will extend our mental capacities to such an extent we will be able to write books within minutes. If we want to go into virtual-reality mode, nanobots will shut down brain signals and take us wherever we want to go” - says Kurzweil.

It could be possible that people, who think like this, just watched too much "Star Wars" when they were little. On the other hand, statistics say that there are already some 30,000 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease with neurological implants. Experiments with robots that drive cars are nearly done, and in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq additional 2000 robots fought along with soldiers.

The biggest problem is that there is only one way for human species to predict how far the artificial intelligence of computers will develop - to be smarter than them.

Raymond Kurzweil – The body of Woody Allen, the head of the Terminator

Raymond Kurzweil, the scientist who claims that in 2045 the artificial intelligence will rule humans, is one of the world's greatest inventors. He has 39 internationally recognized patents and 19 honorary doctoral titles. He invented the first text-to-speech machine that allows blind people to understand written text and his first customer was Stevie Wonder. Ten years ago, the former U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded him with the National Medal of Technology. He is the author of several books on artificial intelligence. American TIME magazine once wrote that in real life he is nonchalant figure who could pass as a younger brother of geeky Woody Allen.

Computer binary code is a "little child" in comparison to human cell

In the scientific world, there are and those who give grains of optimism for humanity. It is believed that there are things and processes in the human organism that computers will never be able to copy. Biologist Dennis Bray appeared last year at the Singularity Summit, and argued what cells can do that robots can’t. 


“Living cells are crammed full of molecules-especially proteins but also RNA molecules- that act as biochemical switches. Most are allosteric and modifiable- formally equivalent to transistors- and linked into extensive networks through diffusion limited binding events and biochemical reactions. Computational molecules perform tasks such as amplification, feedback inhibition, oscillation, coincidence detection, and memory storage. But although biological components act in ways that are comparable to those in electronic circuits, they are set apart by the huge number of different states they can adopt. Multiple biochemical processes create chemical modifications of protein molecules, further diversified by association with distinct structures at defined locations of a cell. The resulting combinatorial explosion of states endows living systems with an almost infinite capacity to store information regarding past and present conditions and a unique capacity to prepare for future events.”

read more...

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are at the door

End of the world is certain, but when will this happen, no one knows. Those who believe that the end is near, already see four clear signs: solar flares, self-destruction, mass death of birds and the Mayan calendar.

Prognoses of the end of the world and humanity are not new, they are mentioned practically since the beginning of civilization. Some are looking for the proof of this in the Old Testament books, in various prophecies, but also in the position of stars and planets. And when this fatal day comes, people who believe in that, will probably respond differently. Some will maybe decide to spend their last moments doing what they always wanted to do, but it will be nothing strange if a lot of cases of collective suicides occur. After all, we have such examples in all parts of the world.

However, the fact that nothing lasts forever is something that should worry all of us. Laymen and experts agree that the end of the world is certain, the only question is when will this happen. Judging by the events that have marked the last days of last year, gloomy predictions of scientists, and predictions that are recorded in the ancient prophecies, apocalypse is not far away! It may happen the next year already.

Here are four possible scenarios according to which the life on earth will disappear and "irrefutable" proofs that this will happen soon.

1. Sun will kill us

The Sun is the source of life on our planet, but it is also its potential murderer. In the book "Apocalypse 2012", Lawrence E. Joseph claims that storms and activities on the surface of the Sun are more intense in the last few years than in the past 11 million years, and the last time such thing happened, the last ice age melted. The peak of solar activity can be expected already next year, when the storms will be most intensive and most destructive. Solar flares, as these energy charges are called, could threaten the Earth's magnetic field that protects us from Sun’s radiation. Scientists say that we can already see holes in this magnetic field the size of California. These storms have appeared during the course of human history, but the danger now is much greater, because we ourselves have contributed to it! 

In fact, over the past decades, we have built, around the globe, an electrical high-voltage network that will attract the first strike.  Only one such storm could throw us back in the time before the discovery of electricity. People from the NASA call this storm a switch in the sky, because it is indeed something like that. It will be as if someone turned off every light on the Earth, and, despite huge investments, we will not be able to turn them on for at least next five years. And what consequences could that have, it is not hard to imagine.

The big problem of our planet are overloaded transformers, because more than half of them can not stand the amount of energy running through them. It is just a matter of time, or in other words, one stronger solar storm, for the entire power system to blow in to pieces! More shocking news is that all large power plants depend exclusively on one satellite which is long past its use. Namely, it is the ACE satellite, which is located in the gravitational well, and that is - point of Earth-Sun gravitational equilibrium. Its sole function is to warn, 15 to 45 minutes earlier,  about the arrival of magnetic storms, but these informations are rarely (practically never) used. Theoretically, every time the satellite sends a signal, we should turn off the electricity in the whole world, but each restarting of electricity would cost at least ten billion dollars.

On the other hand, although they are regularly attacking Earth, solar storms are usually ending at the North Pole, which is also the magnetic pole. In other words, because of the huge cost the only security measure we can use against the Sun's attack, which could go a little further than expected, consists of just four words –preying that it won’t! 

2. We will kill ourselves

There are thousand ways how we can kill ourselves, and to be honest, with every new day, we are more persistent and dedicated to that work. However, what can really exterminate us are scientific experiments with all manner of things. Supporters of conspiracy theories long believe that HIV is invented in a laboratory, just as Ebola or swine flu. According to them, mad cow disease is a secret experiment with the aim to turn human brains into mush, and to make them slaves without emotions and thought. What can we say about the development of nuclear and biological weapons that are developing faster than the means against their destructive force? Yet, what worries the most the conspiracy theorists is "tampering" with God's particle.

It is a scientific experiment that runs near the Swiss-French border, and which aims to create black holes in artificial conditions. The whole experiment is called “The hunt for the God particle”, and it comes down to causing collisions with the power of incredible 14 billion electron volts. Will this really create a black hole, and if it does, will this black hole suck us all in, is what scares the lay people throughout the world. After all, whatever we discover, or invent, there’s always a lunatic who will misuse it.

If we disregard someone's paranoia and panic, the fact still remains that the fear of scientific inventions and their abuse is not unfounded. While the production of nuclear weapons requires a large plant that is easy to detect, biological weapons can be made without any problem in a small, hidden laboratory. And what can one sick mind do, its not hard to imagine.

 After the terrorist attacks in America and the destruction of the twin towers, in this part of the world the panic doesn’t stop at the thought of what Al Qaeda maid have at its  disposal, and what can acquire at anytime. According to one doomsday scenario, it all ends with an eruption of a mega volcano. If it is going to be like that, what are the chances that Al Qaeda already has a thermonuclear bomb that will wipe America from the map of the world in a split second?

3. Mass mortality of birds

Birds that fell dead from the sky at the end of last year, but also the mortality of entire animal species around the world, is a reliable sign, according to many, that apocalypse is at the door. To reiterate, at New Year's Eve, residents of Arkansas town were hit with a true rain of dead birds, which were pouring on the roofs of houses and cars. It is estimated that on this occasion at least five thousand red-winged blackbirds died.

Just days earlier, Arkansas River threw out tens of thousands of dead fish. A flock of 500 birds also fell in Baton Rouge, and the same has happened in Sweden and New Zealand. At the end of the first week of the New Year, near Kent in the UK, the sea washed up 40,000 dead crabs. Similar examples have been recorded and in other parts of the world.

Why do animals die en masse? Ancient prophecies are offering an answer. They say that animals will be the first who will feel the impending disaster and react in two ways: with mass suicide or natural death that science can not explain. 

Many supporters of conspiracy theories accuse the U.S. government (Its secret researches, to be exactly) even for these unusual cases. While some claim that Americans are testing a new biological weapon, others believe that it is a laser beam, a type that can cause heart attack and lead to immediate death. In all this mess, many tend to see and some other reasons, also not very encouraging. For example, many believe that the switch of the Earth's poles is well underway, and since birds are orienting by them, it is not entirely surprising that they are blindly flying into icy clouds or being entangled in electric cables.

Scientists themselves are stunned. They are trying to provide any kind of explanation, even one that will maybe cause disbelief or mockery. Thus, the biologists are explaining the death of fish with some kind of disease and blame cold for the death of crabs. Allegedly, such cases occurred even before, but now, due to New Year holidays, they were far more covered by the media. To stem mass hysteria, the U.S. authorities did not hesitate to find some truck driver who allegedly ran into a flock of birds on the road, and hit and injured most of them. If we are to believe the explanation of local authorities, New Year fireworks have caused mass mortality of birds in other three separate incidents. 

The logical question is why such phenomena wasn’t reported in other places where shooting at air is something like a tradition.

4. Mayans have predicted all

Judging by the ancient Mayan calendar, the end of the world will occur on December 21, 2012. However, whenever it comes to prophecy, there are at least two problems: first, will it really come true, and second, is it an authentic record or document or was it, as usual, amended or edited during the past time.

These ancient people inhabited the area of today's Guatemala, Honduras and Yucatan.  They were known as an advanced civilization of astronomers and scientists. They were obsessed with measuring time. They measured everything, sun phases, pregnancy, growth of crops and the like. They created twenty different calendars, and in one, they even measured the development of civilization and the planet by dividing it into periods.  Each period was 5125 years long, and when compared with the Gregorian calendar, it turns out that the period in which we live began in 3144 BC and ends exactly on December 21 next year.

 The Mayans depicted transition between periods as bloody and extremely difficult. After that comes a turn, when we enter into a new period, which is full of optimism and enlightenment. What is disturbing is the fact that this date, which is depressing by itself (it is a day with the longest night), is also the date when the Sun will found itself at the center of the Milky Way. Some scientists claim that this could cause a switch between magnetic poles on Earth, and this would definitely have tragic consequences on the life on our planet.

Americans have again tried to calm the public. Allegedly, according to the official NASA press release, issued last year, there is no scientific evidence that Mayan calendar is correct at all! According to them, the world will not end in 2012, because, at this point, we are not threaten by a collision with a meteorite, which, if existed, would already have been visible in the sky. In addition, the agency said that none of the relevant experts has found any cause of some potential disaster. Therefore, NASA knows that the end will not occur next year.

End of the world is certain, but when will this happen, no one knows.

read more...