Anthony Cuthbertson

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“Within 15 Years Technology Will Exist That Will Allow Human Brains To Be Connected Directly To The Internet”

June 4, 2015 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Ray Kurzweil, that brilliant guy, has been correct in many of his technological predictions and very wrong in others. An example of the latter: 2009 came and went and computers hadn’t disappeared because information was being written directly onto our retinae by special glasses. 

The technologist now prognosticates that in fifteen years, our brains will be connected to the cloud, able to call upon any of the vast (and growing) trove of information. From Anthony Cuthbertson at International Business Times:

Artificial intelligence pioneer Ray Kurzweil has predicted that within 15 years technology will exist that will allow human brains to be connected directly to the internet.

Speaking at the Exponential Finance conference in New York on Wednesday (3 June), Kurzweil hypothesised that nanobots made from DNA strands could be used to transform humans into hybrids 

“Our thinking then will be a hybrid of biological and non-biological thinking,” Kurzweil said. “We’re going to gradually merge and enhance ourselves. In my view, that’s the nature of being human – we transcend our limitations.”

“We’ll be able to extend (our limitations) and think in the cloud. We’re going to put gateways to the cloud in our brains.”

Connecting brains to the internet or a cloud computer network will allow for advanced thinking, Kurzweil predicts, and by the late 2030s human thought could be predominantly non-biological.

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“The Idea Of Everyone Being Connected To Everything All The Time Might Sound Like A Dystopian Nightmare”

May 15, 2015 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

From the early attempt to quantify community in the The Woodlands to the sensor-centric, next-level Songdo, smart cities are an accepted (if vaguely defined) aspect of urban experimentation. But only one state, Singapore, is attempting to be a “smart nation.” It never truly was Disneyland with a death penalty, as William Gibson dubbed it in 1993, but it is a city-state saturated with smartphones, seemingly comfortable with surveillance. This ease with connectivity and quantification is one reason why the island nation feels it can transform itself into a techno-topia free of traffic jams and other such urban annoyances. From Anthony Cuthbertson at International Business Times:

The idea of everyone being connected to everything all the time might sound like a dystopian nightmare for some, but {Infocomm Development Authority head Steve] Leonard and [Prime Minister Lee] Hsien Loong believe it is key to creating a healthy and happy society.

Whether or not the citizens of Singapore have much of a say in the matter is another question. The country’s autocratic style of government has faced criticism in the past for stifling freedom, however it has also been recognised for overseeing Singapore’s remarkable economic growth over the last 50 years. If the ambitious smart nation vision is ever to be realised, it will play a key role. 

“Our advantage is that we are compact, we have a single level of government, we can decide efficiently, we can scale up successful experiments and pilots without any delay,” Lee said in a speech in April.

“Also we are able to take a long term view and see through big transformations to the end until they bear fruit for our citizens.”

There are legitimate issues that Singaporeans might have when faced with the prospect of living in Lee’s new nation, most notably those of privacy and security. For Leonard, this is the biggest challenge currently faced. 

When asked what the biggest hurdle is in implementing new technologies, it isn’t laws or regulation, it’s mindset.•

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“The Robot Astronaut Was Able To ‘Observe’ Certain Operations”

March 24, 2015 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Our friends are already electric, but is the current arrangement just prelude?

When you consider the place in our pockets–in our hearts–for our smartphones with all their endless content, is it any stretch to see robots as our pals? The alliance may start in space, but it will eventually touch down. Even if the robots can’t truly see us, they can watch us, and such a simulacrum may bring satisfaction. From Anthony Cuthbertson at IBM Times:

The Kibo Robot Project, set up in Japan around three years ago, is hoping that its robots can be used to better understand the relationship between robots and humans, with the eventual aim of providing complete companions for humans living increasingly isolated lives. …

The Kibo Robot Project originally formed from a collaboration between the University of Tokyo, Toyota, Robo Garage and Dentsu.

As a result, two identical humanoid robots – Kirobo and Mirata – were developed, each featuring voice and facial recognition, as well as natural language processing to allow them to understand and communicate with humans.

After a period of tests and experiments, one of the robots was sent up to join Japanese astronaut Wakata Koichi aboard the ISS.

While aboard the ISS, the robot astronaut was able to “observe” certain operations, however its functionality meant that its role as a companion was limited to short conversations with Wakata. As artificial intelligence technology advances it is hoped that robots such as these could be used on more long-term space missions.

“A robot would be utilised more in long-distance missions like on a journey to Mars,” Nishijima said. “It would be used to support the astronauts because sometimes a loss of signal occurs, and in that case the astronaut needs to have a companion or friend to talk to.”•

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“Citizens Living There Will Basically Not Have An Electricity Bill”

February 27, 2015 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

The parallel story to yesterday’s post about an actual Hyperloop being constructed in California is that its setting is to be the utopic insta-city known as Quay Valley. Edens often end up biting, but perhaps some sustainable strategies will emerge from the planned development regardless of its outcome. From Anthony Cuthbertson at International Business Times:

In 2016, construction is to begin on one of the most ambitious engineering projects ever undertaken.

Ground will be broken on Quay Valley, a brand new city midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco that aims to be 100% solar-powered, entirely self-sustaining and connected by Hyperloop – the world’s most advanced transportation network.

Developed on 7,500 acres of private land straddling California’s Interstate 5 Freeway, Quay Valley is the brainchild of GROW Holdings (Green Renewable Organic and Water), who aspire to achieve what it calls “New Ruralism”. 

This utopic vision for future living is described by GROW as “a model town for the 21st century” that can achieve complete sustainability using the latest technology in water preservation, renewable energy and organic farming.

“Citizens living there will basically not have an electricity bill,” Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies [HTT], told IBTimes UK.•

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