artificial intelligence

Michael Brooks in New Scientist:

Ari Sculman in New Atlantis:

You know, I don't like asteroids.  I don't know why. I just don't like them.

After a year of working behind the scenes, technology veteran Ray Kurzweil has taken his research on singularity to the next level. Kurzweil, along with NASA's Peter Diamandis and a team of other top technologists, will launch Singularity University for leaders from all backgrounds to study singularity -- the theory that artificial intelligence will someday surpass human intelligence.

Others joining Kurzweil and Diamandis are Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames, Dr. Robert Richards, cofounder of the International Space University, and Google's Dr. Michael Simpson.

IBM, in collaboration with five universities, announced plans Thursday to create computing systems that simulate and emulate the brain's abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition while rivaling its low power consumption and compact size. The goal is to solve the problem of information management.

With all the fuss about Wall Street lately, one fact has gone unobserved: The stock market has performed brilliantly as a form of artificial intelligence. That's right. The Dow Jones can see the future, and last month it tried to warn you.

Consider what happened on Monday, Sept. 29. A $700 billion bailout package was on the table in Congress, and many constituents were opposed to it, complaining that it would help fat cats on Wall Street but not mainstream America. The House of Representatives, where members are up for re-election in November, stopped the bill.