Brighton Cafe Scientifique – 18th November
Robots Won’t Rule
Blay Whitby, The School of Cognitive and Computing Science, University of
Sussex
Seen Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines? Worried that the scenario it
presents is closer to science fact than science fiction, and that Arnie and
his kind could be in more than a cinema near you soon?
Science fiction – and sometimes, even science itself – regales us with
dystopian visions of a future in which humanity is enslaved by intelligent
machines. But is this in fact an extremely implausible view of the future,
which owes more to the psychology of those who advance it than to any
realistic analysis of current and future technology?
Blay Whitby of the School of Cognitive and Computing Science at the
University of Sussex will discuss how intelligent machinery is a generally
benign technology, and explain why, in his opinion, it will be easy for
humanity to avoid a robot takeover.
Got a burning question to ask? Got a topic you want to suggest? Get along
to Cafe Scientifique – science for the sociable.
8pm, Sumo, Middle Street, Brighton
Please note that Sumo does not serve food, but there are several pubs on
Middle Street that do.
Forthcoming events
16th December: Harry Kroto (one of Sussex Uni’s two Nobel prize winners!)
talks Science, Society and Sustainability. Explaining why, in his opinion,
for a 50:50 chance of surviving the next century, each segment of society
must accept this issue as the most serious the world has ever confronted.
20th January: The Ethics of Artificial Consciousness. What are the ethical
implications of machines that are artificially conscious in the fullest
sense? Is unrestrained AC research as ethically suspect as unrestrained
research on cloning or genetically engineered 'designer' babies? Join Steve
Torrance, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sussex; and
Professor of Cognitive Science, at Middlesex University, to hear his views
and voice your own.
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