The World in 2030

80 The World in 2030
‘The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask
the question such as “What shall I do tomorrow?”
and “What job shall I take?” ’ 154
I think Google is no less than an awakening global brain,
such as I imagined in my 2001 novel, ‘Emergence’ 155 (the
title refers to the phenomenon of consciousness ‘emerging’
from within a dense global network). And I don’t think
I am being fanciful. Google holds much of the world’s
information in its vast databases and it holds search histories
and the preferences of all the people who have ever used the
service. The knowledge of what the world’s internet-using
population wants, and in what territories of the world, is like
having the ultimate guide to the global Zeitgeist. Couple that
with rapidly developing computer intelligence and it is not
hard to see where the first signs of human-like intelligence in
a computer system are likely to be encountered.
How will we cope with machines that are as intelligent
or more intelligent than ourselves? Bill Hibbard, 156 Emeritus
Senior Scientist at the Space Science and Engineering Center
in Wisconsin, and the author of ‘Super-intelligent Machines’
suggests:
A critical event in the progress of science is imminent.
This is the physical explanation of consciousness
and demonstration by building a conscious
machine.
We will know it is conscious based on our emotional
connection with it. Shortly after that, we will build
machines much more intelligent than humans,