Amsterdam: I studied at the University of the Singularity
The DeLaMar Theatre is not in the red light district of Amsterdam, but its glass facade bathed by red spots immediately think of the cabins lining some streets in the Venice of the North. This is what kitsch, luxurious decor chosen by the University of the Singularity to land on the Old Continent this fall.
Nothing is too strange probably this unclassifiable institution Silicon Valley, created by e Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis . The first computer from MIT and now director of engineering at Google, has popularized the concept of Singularity, which predicts a radical transformation of humanity by artificial intelligences in the decades to come. The second is a serial entrepreneur, originally from the XPrize Foundation, which recognizes inventions that could change the face of the world of space travel to low cost educational tablets.
"A gigantic artificial neocortex"
This European summit, in the image of its organizers, an explosive cocktail of business and high technology. All the ingredients for a major international business conference together with hundreds of participants, tie and accreditation neck, smiling hostesses, Breakfast richly furnished, bosses on the phone, inspirations videos, slides art, logos ubiquitous in the organization (a shield imitating Superman S) and his partner (Deloitte consulting giant) ...
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In the amphitheater, the teachers of this "university" non-academic dazzle view to a public who paid the tidy sum of 2000 euros to listen. Neil Jacobstein, a specialist in artificial intelligence, after drawing up an inventory of the latest research in the field, said: "It would not be unreasonable to create a gigantic artificial neocortex." For what purpose? To master the considerable body of scientific information produced now, no human brain is no longer able to aggregate.
The next speaker seems to be still quite capable. Brad Templeton, who participated ed to design the Google Car , proudly wears a white beard and belly of the scientist. It delivers a hundred words a minute his lesson, lecture, on autonomous vehicles. An innovation that could drastically reduce the 1.2 million annual deaths from road accidents in the world.
"Your robot body is beautiful" (Robin Williams)
Rob Nail takes his turn on stage. It is hard to believe that thirty to surfer is actually pulls CEO (CEO) of the Singularity University. Especially as he holds in his arms a robot "Nao" small humanoid with toy-like, designed by Aldebaran, a company franç comfortable . His course on robotics leads him to tell how he had attended last year at a party in Los Angeles, while actually in New York. The secret of this ubiquity? Beam Robot, a screen perched on a moving pedestal that can be remotely from a smartphone. The occasion of a meeting with the actor, who died this summer, Robin Williams, complimenting him for "his superb robot body." Franks laughter and nostalgia.
Just around Raymond McCauley, who holds the chair of biotechnology, which announces a new service. It begins with a Dutch scientific article, published in November 2014, on the impact of oral microbiome relationships, ie bacterial flora, an experience that has imposed its guinea pig kissing for hours. Conclusion? The microbiomes of participants entered in symbiosis, which could have a decisive effect on their health and mood.
Implanting an RFID chip at the lesson of Raymond McCauley, head of the Biotechnology Chair at the University of the Singularity. © Jeremy Andrew, for "The Point"
After this subtle starter, he invited on stage a Swedish and a Dutch biohacker piercer. The second team is a syringe, the first explains how he implements for years RFID chips, such as those found on our transport cards, while Raymond McCauley sits down and has his hand the two men which inject it a piece of metal of one centimeter under the skin between the thumb and forefinger. Shouts and applause. "The mark of the beast," he quips by wearing his still bleeding wound.
A new world "exciting but dangerous"
It did no less to electrify the room just before the long sermon Peter Diamandis, which closes this first day hands in prayer, multiplying the anaphora, like a televangelist. His message: "Aim for the moon." Proof of his career, made bluffs leading miraculous success, as the launch of the XPrize Foundation in 1996 in the absence of any funding.
He is currently developing, with several large fortunes r é united in Planetary Resources , the craziest of projects: capturing with drones near earth asteroids to exploit its resources. And embed all images of rockets and vibrant voice of John Fitzgerald Kennedy launching the Apollo program, "We have to do it, not because we can, but because it is hard."
Hard? Yes, because the lectures of the University of the Singularity have a Space Mountain side. After you have pushed the head in the stars, they immerse you in fear of a new world "exciting but dangerous." The second day we lend itself well to dream with designer Daan Roosegaarde, its smart highways and cycle paths of transcendent beauty. Then alarmed with the strategy consultant John Hagel economic devastation could cause these new technologies, reducing dust and large jobs.
Ethical Issues
Far from succumbing to a blissful enthusiasm, the "students" at each end of the course, trying to trap the "teachers" in raising ethical questions. Why not dedicate to this conference or even a chair in the SU? As explained by its global ambassador, Salim Ismail, "we discuss all the time, informally. It is very good that our conferences do people react. But that is not our role to comment on the issue This is the society and the State. "
Class, at least, seems fully satisfied with this balance. "It was refreshing, two very intense days," Judge exit Yann Glever, Director of Innovation at Deloitte France. "This will be updated on the latest technologies, interact with people from around the world, from the CEO to the start-up designer, rather than wasting time on the Internet. And even if they are sometimes too, they are aware of the ethical issues. Personally, I'm not going to introduce me as an RFID chip in the body. " We hear about it in five years?
