Singularity Summit 1

The Singularity Summit took place this weekend at the same time as the Libertarian Conference. Both complement each other, if like me, you are a libertarian and entertain the possibility of a Singularity. Next Big Future has an interesting summary of discussions: including Intel's plan to swamp the world with digital radios and progress in programmable matter, where they use local rules to combine and form a wrench.

One of the bigger debates that appears to have dominated the conference was whether the state should step in when robots proved to be smarter and more eficient than carbon-based lifeforms, leading to increased unemployment. James Hughes attacks those who argue that free individuals are more likely to adjust to this environment by calling for a minimal wage. Calling his opponents libertopians, Hughes invokes a current era of capitalism to keelhaul the future, though Marshall Brain's particularly vision is unlikely to be realised. I must admit I thought we were beyond one size fits all solutions to what may be a patchwork of local economic effects. So an unrealistic scenario resolved by a contemporary social democratc solution. Hmmm.