Let’s Ditch the Singularity and Focus on Multiplicity | by Ken Goldberg | Medium

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As Picasso once observed, “Computers are useless, all they can do is answer questions” He was right. We need humans to ask timely and important questions like, “Will machines make better decisions than humans?” Lately it seems everyone from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk is raising concerns about the “Singularity”: the point when machines will surpass us. But it’s not us versus the machines; it’s us and the machines. The best decisions will be made by diverse groups of humans working together with diverse groups of machines. Let’s call it the “Multiplicity”. This idea has a long history. Three hundred years ago Swiss clockmakers used the latest advances in mechanics to build automata to explore the shifting boundaries between humans and machines. Today we routinely trust machines like auto-pilots and pacemakers to make important decisions that require precision and speed. Multiple modules and voting are often used to reduce errors. The cutting edge of research now is on machines that can

Let’s Ditch the Singularity and Focus on Multiplicity Ken Goldberg 4 min read · Jan 21, 2015 -- 1 Listen Share Photo by Gjon Mili. As Picasso once observed, “Computers are useless, all they can do is answer questions” He was right. We need humans to ask timely and important questions like, “Will machines make better decisions than humans?” Lately it seems everyone from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk is raising concerns about the “Singularity”: the point when machines will surpass us. But it’s not us versus the machines; it’s us and the machines. The best decisions will be made by diverse groups

Let’s Ditch the Singularity and Focus on Multiplicity | by Ken Goldberg | Medium

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