WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME?
GAME OVER! NEXT!
Seriously: A ping pong playing robot. Fairly impressive.
In fact, this entire storyline is impressive: Mankind, in a dialectic feedback loop, will create ever more impressive robots AND robot minds, no doubt till the day one of these creations does experience real sentience - and at that point, will these robots be alive?
And a key definition of life is self-preservation. Do the math from there.
It might all work out awesomely, with humanity re-creating itself in more robotic forms; or it could end with HK's patrolling the skies 24/7, shooting at the rat like mammals who still inhabit the bombed out tunnels and underground structures. Who knows? But rest assured, we - you and me and all of us - are going to find out whether you like it or not. Nothing can stop this progress. So, as with many (most) things: Might as well enjoy the ride.
I'm no regular Luddite. I understand machines quite well, and certainly appreciate their efforts on our behalf.
We are currently in a transition period wherein we use machines as ever, however we in turn are controlled, at least partially, by the machines. We are in a time where computers are inserted into more and more other machines - your car, for example, is a computer(s) with wheels. And with OnStar, now remote controlled!
The line - the Singularity - is AI, Artificial Intelligence, which will be a truly wondrous and terrible creation, and it will be at that moment I think we will most understand the mythical story of God and His Garden.
Once we reach AI, the rules are all different, and our future will depend very much on how it will see us. But that's down the road a bit -- don't worry! There are many eager and very intelligent and most likely highly moral folks working on this "problem" as we speak. And never underestimate the capabilities of highly intelligent, motivated people.
It's this transition period we can briefly discuss: A world wherein computers, software, and the rest are spreading into everything, and we all eagerly await the coming of the smart house, where the refrigerator inventories its insides, checks against a database, places an order at the grocery store and to your PDA, which then informs you you must be at the grocery store in approximately 49 minutes to pick it up at the precise moment.
Blackberries and the like are precursor enough to a world where we follow the machines around by our nose, controlled, though we of course will pretend we still are. No AI necessary.
