"Sceptics long saw this as just an amusing theory, an intriguing piece of sci-fi speculation. Yet science generally and AI specifically are now advancing at such a breakneck pace that some people are speculating that the Singularity is real and is almost upon us. Be that as it may, galloping technological change is throwing up new ethical problems almost faster than we can write them down, let alone solve them."
"Gene editing technology has opened up the serious prospect of recreating some species long extinct, such as the dire wolf, the woolly mammoth and the dodo. Though as our contributor John Kennedy Philip points out, it would be not so much a rebirth of these species, but the creation of new strains of their modern cousins, lightly genetically tweaked to give them some of the characteristics of the long-lost breeds."
Technological change is accelerating and creating multiple simultaneous challenges. The Singularity is the hypothesized point where AI can recursively self-improve, triggering an incomprehensibly rapid spike in discovery and technological advance. Rapid advances in AI and other sciences are producing ethical problems faster than solutions can be developed. Gene-editing techniques now make it feasible to recreate traits of extinct species by lightly modifying modern relatives, effectively producing new strains rather than true resurrections. This raises questions about scientific motives, including whether such efforts reflect a desire to assume godlike powers. Society faces urgent choices about governance and ethical frameworks.
Read at Philosophynow
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