Lifeboat Foundation

A dual use research of concern (DURC) refers to research in the life sciences that, while intended for public benefit, could also be repurposed to cause public harm. One prominent example is that of disease and contagion research (can improve disease control, but can also be used to spread disease more effectively, either accidentally or maliciously). I will argue here that DURC can and should be applicable to any technology that has a potential dual use such as this.

Approximately 66 million years ago, a 10 km sized body struck Earth, and was likely one of the main contributors to the extinction of many species at the time. Bodies the size of 5 km or larger impact Earth on average every 20 million years (one might say we are overdue for one, but then one wouldn’t understand statistics). Asteroids 1 km or larger impact Earth every 500,000 years on average. Smaller bodies which can still do considerable local damage occur much more frequently (10 m wide bodies impact Earth on average every 10 years). It seems reasonable to say that only the first category (~5 km) pose an existential threat, however many others pose major catastrophic threats*.

Given the likelihood of an asteroid impact (I use the word asteroid instead of asteroid and/or comet from here for sake of brevity), some argue that further improving detection and deflection technology are critical. Matheny (2007) estimates that, even if asteroid extinction events are improbable, due to the loss of future human generations if one were to occur, asteroid detection/deflection research and development could save a human life-year for $2.50 (US). Asteroid impact mitigation is not thought to be the most pressing existential threat (e.g. artificial intelligence or global pandemics), and yet it already seems to have better return on investment than the best now-centric human charities (though not non-human charities – I am largely ignoring non-humans here for simplicity and sake of argument).

Continue reading “Asteroids and comets as space weapons” »

THE two superpowers of artificial intelligence (AI) are America and China. Their tech giants have collected the most data, attracted the best talent and boast the biggest computing clouds—the main ingredients needed to develop AI services from facial recognition to self-driving cars. Their dominance deeply worries the European Union, the world’s second-largest economic power (see article). It is busily concocting plans to close the gap.

That Europe wants to foster its own AI industry is understandable. Artificial intelligence is much more than another Silicon Valley buzzword—more, even, than seminal products like the smartphone. It is better seen as a resource, a bit like electricity, that will touch every part of the economy and society. Plenty of people fret that, without its own cutting-edge research and AI champions, big digital platforms based abroad will siphon off profits and jobs and leave the EU a lot poorer. The technology also looms large in military planning. China’s big bet on AI is partly a bet on autonomous weapons; America is likely to follow the same path. Given the doubt over whether America will always be willing to come to Europe’s defence, some see spending on AI as a matter of national security.

From robot doctors to recognising depression.

Japan’s space agency just made history by landing robots on an asteroid.

Quantum computing ‘will enable us to predict and improve chemical reactions, new materials and their properties, as well as provide new understandings of spacetime and the emergence of our universe,’ the White House said.

Google, IBM, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and other key U.S. companies are set to attend a White House quantum computing meeting to be held on Monday, Reuters reports.

A groundbreaking technology still in its infancy, quantum computing could have a major impact on transportation, healthcare, communications, weather forecasting, artificial intelligence, and other areas. Quantum computing could, experts claim, revolutionize our society.

Continue reading “Google, JPMorgan Chase & Co, IBM, Other Key Companies To Attend White House Quantum Computing Meeting” »

https://youtu.be/TbjQGooiJNs

James Hughes : “Great convo with Yuval Harari, touching on algorithmic governance, the perils of being a big thinker when democracy is under attack, the need for transnational governance, the threats of automation to the developing world, the practical details of UBI, and a lot more.”

In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about his new book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. They discuss the importance of meditation for his intellectual life, the primacy of stories, the need to revise our fundamental assumptions about human civilization, the threats to liberal democracy, a world without work, universal basic income, the virtues of nationalism, the implications of AI and automation, and other topics.

Continue reading “Waking Up with Sam Harris — #138 — The Edge of Humanity (with Yuval Noah Harari)” »

News Brief: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency today launched a robotic cargo ship to the International Space Station, filled with more than five tons of supplies, equipment and experiments. Liftoff of Japan’s H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center came at 2:52 a.m. JST Sept. 23 (10:52 a.m. PT Sept. 22). Minutes later, the HTV-7 cargo carrier (also known as Kounotori-7) separated from the rocket, heading for a Thursday rendezvous with the space station. Among the cylindrical craft’s payloads are new hardware to upgrade the station’s electrical power system, an experiment to study protein crystal growth at low temperatures, a life-sciences glovebox and an experimental sample return capsule.

Hayabusa-2:! Japan’s space agency (JAXA) has made history by successfully landing two robotic explorers on the surface of an asteroid. The two small “rovers”, which were despatched from the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft on Friday, will move around the 1km-wide space rock known as Ryugu. The asteroid’s low gravity means they can hop across it, capturing temperatures and images of the surface. “Both rovers are in good condition,” the agency confirmed on Saturday…here: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45598156

Pictures have emerged from the surface of an asteroid after Japan landed two robotic rovers on it.

Should we trust technology experts? We live in times of incredible innovations and impressive complexity. The last 30 years of technological development overturned our society, and the next 30 will likely reshape the foundations of what it means to be human. Machines have been the wealth engines of our industrial modernity, while data control and artificial intelligence will structure the power battlefields of this century.

It’s not hard then to understand why technologists, computer scientists, engineers, tech-entrepreneurs, IT experts, data analysts, etc — dress the status of champions in our age. They are shipping us into the wonders of Web 3.0, Industry 4.0, 5G communications, the blockchain transition, the G (eneticengineering). R (obotics). AI. N (anotechnologies) Revolution…and another thousand of cryptic acronyms forbidden to ordinary mortals.

We are flooded with tech-narratives. Let’s start by playing with our imaginations. What does naturally come to your mind if I say:

Continue reading “Reverse-Engineering Technologists’ Brains” »