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Louis Choquel

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Robotic Penguins Swim AND Fly

In case you missed it, this is where we are today: swimming AND flying penguins...
Check out the videos on newscientist.com

Posted by Louis Choquel on April 26, 2009 in Robotics, Science | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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The Art of Predicting Future Innovations

I just had a great time reading an article from 1968 on modernmechanix.com depicting with great details and a very large scope what the future would be 40 years from then, that is in 2008.

The predictions are incredibly accurate. A few details such as flying cars and underwater vacations or space toursim are wrong or just a little off, but what impresses me the most is that there are no sub-optimistic predictions in this article. I mean the writer doesn't predict for 2008 things which have already existed since the 70s. In that sense it is one of the best retro-prediction readings I know of.

Found via TechCrunch.

Posted by Louis Choquel on March 26, 2008 in Digital lifestyle, Science, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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One Thought on How to Face Rogue AIs

Just a comment I dropped on a recent post by Michael Anissimov's on his blog Accelerating Future:

Michael, you write smart articles and ask tough questions. And there are many smart people reading you and posting comments.

But you know as well as I do that no one has come up with a clear and definitive answer to these problems. How could we solve these mysteries? Maybe we're not smart enough to find the answers.
I was just thinking: maybe a little (early-stage) intelligence enhancement could help us grasp what's in store for us when the subsequent generations of huge intelligence enhancements arrive.

We believe that once humans build smarter-than-human intelligence, it will engage a positive feedback loop and enhance itself, probably at an accelerating or even explosive rhythm. But right before it happens it would be nice if that smarter-than-human intelligence could join us, participate at SIAI, LifeBoat Foundation & other places and help us get ready to face rogue AIs.

Posted by Louis Choquel on February 02, 2008 in Science, Singularity, Technology, Transhumanism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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The Simplest Turing Machine is Universal

I'm catching up on science and technology reading and here it is: the simplest Turing Machine is universal. Alex Smith, the 20 year old undergraduate from UK who proved it just received the 25 000$ prize. Bravo !

NB: the Turing Machine was invented by Alan Turing, same guy who saved us all from the Nazi by cracking Enigma and who proposed the Turing Test to establish if a machine has reached human-level intelligence.

Well this simple Turing Machine is only based on 2 states and 3 colors, as proposed by Stephen Wolfram in A New Kind of Science five years ago.

It's pretty impressive if you understand what it means: here is the article for you geeks out there.

Posted by Louis Choquel on December 16, 2007 in Science, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Future Evolution of Software, Computing, and Self-Improving AI

One for my most geeky readers: you think you've thought it all out already? Well sit back and watch this lecture by Stephen Omohundro at Stanford a few days ago. He explains clearly how and why designing software that writes software with rational economics goal systems is the way to self-improving systems.


It's funny how we, engineers, will probably get replaced by machines in our daily jobs too.

Found via the SIAI blog which also links to audio, slides and a transcript.

Posted by Louis Choquel on November 11, 2007 in Science, Singularity, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Thinking Meat is What We Are

I just read this after finding it via an old article by Michael Anissimov. It's a short (very short actually) story by Terry Bisson - a couple of minutes to read, very funny and thought provoking:

THEY'RE MADE OUT OF MEAT

Posted by Louis Choquel on October 27, 2007 in Science, Transhumanism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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What is Intelligence?

Michael Anissimov has a pretty intelligent answer.

Posted by Louis Choquel on October 13, 2007 in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Life 2.0 - Craig Venter on the Verge of Creating Artificial Life

Yep, that's right, ARTIFICIAL LIFE. And it's not about a new implementation of a life simulation game: we are talking about an artificially engineered chromosome to become a living being, after being injected into a bacterial cell. That is wet artificial life.

Just read it in The Guardian, via KurzweilAI.net.

This claim is made by Craig Venter, one of the guys behind the sequencing of the humane genome. And he plans to patent his own invented life form under the name Mycoplasma Laboratorium.

What will this be used to? Well, you name it. How about generating fuel? or just cleaning up the atmosphere? Hum, seems like some marketing polish. I'm sure he's in it for fun, fame and glory!

If you ask me, it's not long before some start-up offers to upload your chosen DNA sequence and get delivered the resulting life form to your door step. Let's call it Life 2.0.

Were you to get access to a beta invite, what would you create if you could design your custom life form?

Posted by Louis Choquel on October 09, 2007 in Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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The Next 25 Years of Video Games

Why should you care about improving technologies?

If curing cancer and solving world hunger doesn't cut it for you, read this deep article by David Wong and Steve Woyach:

The Next 25 Years of Video Games

Posted by Louis Choquel on October 08, 2007 in Digital lifestyle, Robotics, Science, Singularity, Technology, Transhumanism | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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Transhumanism, AI, Nanotechnology and Existential Risk

Here is a blog you must read if you want to understand the future of technology and why it matters:

Accelerating Future - by Michael Anissimov

I'm wondering why I haven't added it to my blog-roll earlier - the answer is that I was so captivated by this reading that I forgot I even had a blog-roll.

So I just added it now after reading this great article about Technological Transcension. Just be smart enough to understand that his ideas are backed by many great thinkers and he's right: people need to understand that this is coming and we should get ready for it, for the good and for the bad.

Posted by Louis Choquel on October 07, 2007 in Science, Singularity, Technology, Transhumanism | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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