My Laptop Has the Computational Power of a Mouse Brain

This chart is derived from claims made by Ray Kurzweil. Acceptance as fact is at the reader's discretion.
This chart is derived from claims made by Ray Kurzweil. Acceptance as fact is at the reader’s discretion.

According to this chart, my MacBook Air has the computational capacity of a mouse brain. Replicating the brain is a whole nother story, and we haven’t figured out a good way to do it.

In simpler neural systems like that of a mouse, instincts mostly determine the animal’s behavior. Instincts are genetically-coded neural structures, present in the absence of learning. For example, mice instinctively know how to breed without attending sex ed.

Why is it so difficult to replicate a hard-coded brain? I don’t know.

I dislike debates surrounding when and if artificial superintelligence will arrive. It’s like predicting the weather, or where the Dow will close. The answer for everybody is I DON’T KNOW, and if you pretend like you know then you’re either lying or delusional. The only evidence we have is past performance, and past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Here’s how I see it: Suppose there exists a future involving exponential superintelligence. Presumably those asymptotically-intelligent machines would at some point be able to invent a time machine. If the super intelligence is a merciful intelligence, shouldn’t it have traveled back in time and stopped me from eating that chili chicken burrito followed by half a bottle of Bailey’s??? Or if the intelligence is not merciful, shouldn’t it at least have come back and killed Ray Kurzweil to stop him from warning us that The Singularity is Near?

See Also:
The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence –wait but why

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