As this world of algorithms and high speed wireless internet becomes ubiquitous, what are the implications for the future? They are many, especially considering that the smart phone in your pocket is a million times more efficient in processing than computers were twenty five years ago. Imagine in the next twenty five years the implantable microprocessor in blood cells or the brain. Maybe imagine isn't the word but waiting. This seems to me to be the inevitable march of human progress and evolution.
Computer algorithms are capable of mimicing the process of natural evolution's mutations, selections, and inheiritance. Now nobody commented on my last two posts about genetic engineering, and I am EXTREMELY curious what people think about it. Anywho, algorithms can also be used to track your "social capital", basically what networks you are connected to and how many people you reach through your networks is known by algorithmic websites such as http://klout.com/home and http://www.peerindex.com/. Some hotels have even researched the guests "Klout" and give them VIP treatment in hopes for a return of that individual publicizing how well they were treated on their social networking sites. Sort of like a Social capital currency if you will.
When it comes to algorithms making decisions or at least guiding them, it is, as I see it, and unstoppable force that will continue to reduce competition to milliseconds and nanoseconds (if those even exist lol!) As far as I see it either jump on the bandwagon or throw your communications device out the window and go back to writing letters that take days to deliver. The world is getting smaller because of the reduction of time it takes communications to travel. I guess time really is money as Slavin points out so well with the mega algorithmic sky scrapers that have the millisecond advantages on trading and info due to their placement on the now "motherboard' like cities.
Here is a video interview of Ray Kurzweil, a very intelligent man who has made some startlingly accurate predictions.
Please take the time to view this, Thanks for reading!
P.S. -don't mind the dutch : )
Alright, genetic engineering...
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see it being commodified. As soon as somebody figures out how to modify a fetus or whatever it's called right after conception (or even choose a specific sperm with desirable traits and pair it with an egg with desirable traits?), then parents everywhere are going to covet the idea of a "wonder-baby." They will pay top dollar to make it happen. People pay tens of thousands of dollars just to adopt; if simply having a child of your own is so desirable, imagine how much more desirable having a guaranteed wonder-child will be.
As far as patenting goes, maybe the technology that modifies sperm and egg or singles out the best sperm/egg combo could be patented, or whatever doctor figures it out will keep the procedure top-secret and not tell anybody about it (to corner the market and make even more money).
Then, I can see this spiraling out of control in a Frankenstein-esque way, when the doctor who creates the wonder-baby will covet the baby, and want some say in their life, but for one person to actually own another person (or have stock in that person..?), the laws about such things would have to change.
I sincerely hope none of the above ever happens, because I personally find it super creepy. But like Kurzweil said, technology advances far faster than we can imagine, so who knows...
P.S. My verification word for the past comment was "genes."
ReplyDeleteGoogle's algorithm strikes again.