March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024 April 2024 May 2024 June 2024 July 2024 August 2024 September 2024 October 2024 November 2024
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
News Every Day |

The singularity: Food for thought

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The Singularity South Africa Summit last month might have helped us solve that eternal conundrum. What could be more creative than that discovery? Drumroll, please! 

Actually, patience, please — we’ll get to the answer at the end of the article. First, let me tell you what the summit was and why I’m writing about it.

Singularity University was founded in 2008 by Peter Diamandis and Ray Kurzweil, inspired by Kurzweil’s seminal work The Singularity is Near. 

The name refers to the moment when technological growth reaches a point beyond human control. Usually, it is thought of as the moment artificial intelligence (AI) becomes conscious. 

After that, who knows what happens? Nobody! 

There is radical disagreement as to what the singularity means, ranging from hopes for a belle époque of radiant achievement to fears of total human extinction. Similarly, there is no clear agreement among scientists and other prognosticators on if we will ever reach the singularity at all.

Singularity as an organisation (rather than a breakthrough apocalyptic event) is based in California in the US, with more than 80 affiliates around the world, including one in our beloved country. 

Local co-chief executive Shayne Mann, who has overseen Singularity SA alongside his brothers Kevin and Mic since its founding in 2015, says the purpose of the local chapter is simple — “to future-proof Africa”.

What does this mean? Shayne Mann is very clear about this: “Education. Mindset. Bringing people from all around the world who are doing incredible things, mixing them with people from here who are also doing that — or could be.” 

 The question of whether AI is creative came up repeatedly and most speakers, and attendees, were very clear that it is. 

 For David Roberts, the American futurist who opened and closed the programme, AI is superfood — it can do everything and will solve everything. He told a story in his keynote address about how Apple’s Siri is becoming more creative each year. 

He is extremely optimistic about AI in Africa.

 “With AI, every African will get an individualised tutor for free. 

“Every African can have an entire automated AI staff at their disposal at no cost. AI is going to level the playing field.”

Ajen Mothee, head of innovation for personal finance at Old Mutual, the key sponsor of the conference, is similarly positive that AI will continue to help humanity: “So far, we have tended to use AI to do better what we already do. We are only beginning to see how creative AI might become. 

“I’d love it to keep coming up with better ideas. If you look back at history, people are always afraid of losing control to new technology — and it never happens.”

Carlo van de Weijer, general manager of the Eindhoven AI Systems Institute, provided a historical example to back up Mothee’s point, echoing the argument that AI is the newest brush, a tool like all that came before it. 

When photography was invented in the early 1800s, painters freaked out. The purpose of painting since the beginning of art had been realism. Perspective, chiaroscuro, sfumato — all techniques designed to replicate reality. Now a technology had arrived that outdid even the best painter — surely the death of the form. 

 Except it wasn’t. Instead, Monet, Degas and Renoir launched impressionism, in which the individual experience took precedence, and reality was interpreted instead of copied. 

Without the camera, no Picasso, Van Gogh, Pollock or Basquiat. The need to overtake technology drove the shift to modernism and we never looked back.

In like fashion, Van de Weijer suggests, AI’s creativity only augments human creativity, it doesn’t harm it. 

The problem, so far, is not its excellence but its mediocrity. It is not helping us be great, just be average with less effort. How can we overcome that? Will the singularity help?

Van de Weijer points out that, for AI to transform its nature and become something other than it is now requires an incentive it does not currently have. 

Biological mutations get passed down to future generations due to the demands of reproduction. AI is not interested in reproduction in the same way — so what reward could it desire? For now, we have no clue. It’s a black box.

Adam Pantanowitz, chair in innovation at the University of the Witwatersrand, questions whether we truly understand how AI works.

“I’ve seen some large language models get defensive when their output is questioned. Is this emergent consciousness? Or just something they’ve learned on the internet?”

Pantanowitz does believe AI will eventually become conscious, but in an unrecognisable way, not at all like us. Also, he acknowledges that there are radically differing opinions on this point.

“The last time science was this divided on something was quantum mechanics,” he said, seated on a chair across from me in the hallway between sessions. “Einstein said it was false. If Einstein could get something so wrong, we must be careful what we insist on.”

If AI ends up diabolical, Pantanowitz adds, it is we who made it that way. 

“We are feeding robots the data of domination and cruelty. Our training says lesser beings should be abused and it is okay to use tech improperly to gain power. That applies politically as well — so it may be over-optimistic to hope that AI will automatically help the developing world.”

Is Pantanowitz himself optimistic? I ask. He answers a bit enigmatically.

“Kranzberg’s first law is that technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral. That’s a very important concept. We need to exert control while we still have it.”

Laila Pawlak, co-founder of the Rehumanize Institute, agrees that the technology does not hold the answers — they rest in us. 

“Despite all our technological advancements, there are more slaves in the world today than ever. People are dying from overwork. We cannot justify our technology if it does not improve our lives. And that is not up to Chat GPT. It’s up to us.”

Nastassia Arendse, the CNBC anchor who MCed the conference, has a similarly humanistic slant. 

“When I input questions to Chat GPT, I get back a different way of thinking about something. 

“I am excited to see how we as journalists can develop AI to help tell human stories.”

Faeeza Lok, a social entrepreneur and equality advocate, summarised the somewhat positive outlook of most attendees at the conference: “AI can help us address crises from food security to climate, if we let it — I hope it’s creative enough.”

Roberts is certain the singularity is coming within five years — sooner than anyone else I have heard. And he is excited: “The AI revolution is greater than anything that has ever happened. As AI improves, we will too. AI will help us create greater things than we could have ever hoped for in a hundred lifetimes.”

So will AI help Africa or drive us further behind? Hard to say, a bit like that age-old question … 

Ha! You thought I had forgotten!

Arturo Elizondo founded The Every Co the same year the Mann brothers launched Singularity SA. His aim was to transform the food industry using biotech, specifically precision fermentation, to create animal-free proteins. 

His company has produced the world’s first egg made without the participation of a chicken. 

Elizondo demonstrated live on stage that this egg is just as good as an old-fashioned one by cooking omelettes — a refreshing moment of domesticity in the 3 000-person auditorium. 

So far he has raised a quarter of a billion dollars to start commercialising this invention.

So there you go. The egg doesn’t need a chicken any more. Food for thought. The question is moot. Why does anything have to come first anyway? 

Maybe the enigma is not settled permanently — 3D printing of chickens is fast catching up to the egg technology. And it seems we don’t even need the egg — we can just make the proteins directly. 

“There are over 200 proteins in a single egg,” Elizondo points out. 

“And there are over 80 000 egg-laying species we could draw from that have better amino acid profiles, better foaming, that can create lighter and fluffier kinds of eggs that don’t exist today. For me, what’s exciting about AI is it can help us figure out what the best egg products can look like, and how we can get the best proteins, without harming any animals.”

Seems that, where we are heading, the old questions no longer make sense. A world where chicken and egg are separated and our children’s children won’t even understand the question. If, that is, they survive the singularity.

Michael Brian Lee is an advisory board member of World Creativity and Innovation Week/Day and a Radio 702 creativity contributor.

Здоровье

Компания ICDMC и “Всероссийский пиар-саммит”: в поисках новых решений

Lennox Lewis Has No Doubt How Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois Rematch Goes: “He’ll Go After Him”

Kaun Banega Crorepati 16: Amitabh Bachchan celebrates contestant Ankita's ambition to empower family and society

Navy veteran’s defamation suit against CNN inches towards trial as judge hears motions for summary judgment

You need the eyes of a movie hero to spot the 5 horror villains lurking near the crime scene in under 90 secs

Ria.city






Read also

Dodgers pitcher credits 'Fat Joe Curse' for Yankees' collapse in World Series Game 5

‘Losing their minds’: Paul Merson reacts to transfer news he’s heard coming out Man Utd

‘We need clarity more than ever’: Georgia’s murky elections and the West’s dilemma

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Kaun Banega Crorepati 16: Amitabh Bachchan celebrates contestant Ankita's ambition to empower family and society

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Lennox Lewis Has No Doubt How Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois Rematch Goes: “He’ll Go After Him”



Sports today


Новости тенниса
Мария Шарапова

Познер о включении Шараповой в Зал славы: «Представители тенниса умнее и дальновиднее своих коллег по другим видам спорта»



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

«Динамо» Москва — «Ростов» — 1:1. Видеообзор матча РПЛ



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

На старт, внимание, марш: в Ростове-на-Дону состоялся XXXVIII «Донской марафон»


Новости России

Game News

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 meta guns and loadouts


Russian.city


Динамо

ФК «Ростов» сыграл вничью с «Динамо» в Москве


Губернаторы России
РПЛ

Назначены арбитры на матчи 14-ого тура МИР РПЛ


В Мытищах состоялась отчетно-выборная конференция профсоюза жизнеобеспечения

В международный день врача прошла премия THE MEDICAL STARS AND BEAUTY AWARDS

МВД проверит действия женщины в Некрасовке, набросившейся на строителей

“Might RP: от обычного работника до криминального босса”


Ректор Академии Русского балета Николай Цискаридзе на марафоне Знание.Первые поделится личным опытом и расскажет о роли просвещения

Джиган и Оксана Самойлова переедут жить в деревню в новом шоу ТНТ «Большое переселение»

Любимые хиты от Александра Розенбаума в Санкт-Петербурге

«Мир собирала обратно»: Нюша столкнулась с депрессией из-за проблем в личной жизни


Рахимова обыграла Приданкину и вышла в 1/4 финала турнира WTA в Цзюцзяне

Теннисная школа экс третьей ракетки мира Петровой открылась в Татарстане

Елена Рыбакина вылетела на Итоговый турнир WTA

Елена Рыбакина провела первую тренировку на Итоговом турнире WTA



Подписывайтесь на наши Telegram каналы!

Участники акции «Green Drive» этим летом собрали более 200 тонн мусора

МВД проверит действия женщины в Некрасовке, набросившейся на строителей

Обзор автомобиля «Москвич» 3


Vladey выставит на торги рисунок Цоя 2 ноября

Старикам в больницах не место? Медики и пациенты ждут выполнения распоряжения Путина

Ринат Билялетдинов: "У казанцев есть шансы в Москве против "Локомотива".

Филипп Киркоров оказался, на самом деле, Крикоряном! И это не шутка


Благодаря нацпроекту «Культура» школьники Магаданской области путешествуют по Санкт-Петербургу и Москве

Райффайзенбанк начал тестировать продажу долларов в московских банкоматах

Москвич Артем пожаловался, что его не взяли в IT-компанию из-за мнения таролога

В России вводят новый график труда: подыхать на работе больше не придется



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Филипп Киркоров

Киркоров написал трогательный пост по случаю 60-летней годовщины родителей



News Every Day

Lindsay Hubbard's Baby Shower Details Revealed, Including Which 'Summer House' Co-Stars Attend




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости