Institutions and countries like to flex their computer muscle regularly by building the newest and most powerful supercomputers. As I write this blog today Japan’s K Computer is the reigning champion, four times more powerful than its nearest competitor and faster than the next top five supercomputers combined. With all this computing capacity what kind
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When I was a younger man working in the world of information technology I was an avid reader of James Martin’s books on computers and telecommunications. Recently I came across one of his books of which a part is published online. Entitled, “The Meaning of the 21st Century,” it outlines 16 challenges that humanity faces
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Is the dehumanizing of our species our fate in the 21st century? Will humans become hybrids combining the machines they create with themselves? When will artificial intelligence surpass human intelligence? What are the implications of our pursuit in creating intelligent machines?
Robotics and automatons have always fascinated the human species. From capturing human likeness in sculpture to the creation of mechanical devices that simulated human movement and intelligence, we have always pursued the creation of humanoid-like machines. In the 21st century we are now beginning to see the emergence of what was only the product of science fiction in the past.
In the Terminator movies machine intelligence is pitted against humanity. Cyborgs venture into the past to eliminate key humans to assure the machines’ ultimate mastery of the world. Is humanity destined to be eclipsed by the machinery it invents? The ultimate expression of machine intelligence in popular science fiction is the intelligent robot, Data in
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The marriage of computers and manufacturing is rapidly moving us towards mass customization. Called fabbing, digital fabrication is becoming rapidly affordable and doable. We are not far away from the replicators of Star Trek here in the 21st century.
In this posting we look at the history of machines and the move to introduce a machine-computer interface.
The rise of intelligent computing machines is the focus of Part 4 of this series. We look at the role emotion and consciousness play in the creation of human-like artificial intelligence.
The search for the ultimate medium upon which to create artificial intelligence appears to be biological. Using the building blocks of life for computing makes a lot of sense. Biological computers are energy efficient, have little negative environmental impact, use materials that are plentiful, are powerful information processors and have the capability to self improve.
In Part 2 of this 4-part blog we look at the evolution of computers from the ENIAC to quantum and neuromorphic-chip based computing.
