Remember the Weird Al parody song, “I lost on Jeopardy?” I was thinking about that song as humans lost to a computer this week on the TV show Jeopardy.
Humans may have lost more than we know.
And we may have gained something incomprehensible.
The idea has been around for some time. That we may build a computer or a program more intelligent than a human.
I have always thought so. If you cannot imagine a self-aware computer smarter than a human, you have a limited imagination.
That breakthrough may happen at any moment. It may have happened already. How would you know?
For more information on the implications, there is a decent 5 page introductory article to The Singularity, currently in Time Magazine, available online here.Like 9/11, you will always remember where you were when you first realized the Singularity was here.
Edit: So I post this entry, just as my “smartphone” beeps a message. Odd coincidence. Will we learn of the Singularity by phone?
Perhaps “Watson” was bored, waiting what must seem an eternity for the next Jeopardy question, and decided to mess with me.
