I have been reading about the history of the development of the electronic programmable computer recently. Even when you consider the development of Colossus which wasn’t acknowledged by the UK until the 70’s, the origin of the programmable electronic computer was around 1943. That means that computers are approximately seventy three years old. That is longer than I’ve been alive but in terms of maturity of the field, I think it is still early days.
We have learned a number of important principles of computing but there are plenty more to be discovered. It would be incredibly short sighted to think that we have discovered even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to algorithms. The age of distributed computing has barely started. Artificial Intelligence is still relegated to dank holes in the ground where it can be ignored.
That is except for such organizations as Google which continues the search for a plugin capable of producing the illusive artificial intelligence that we have been waiting for. We’ve waited since the late fifties straight through into the eighties. It seems that it was always going to be here in approximately five yours. Never have so many estimated so poorly.
We have had AI winters and AI springs. We have seen AIs in movies and television shows. We are told by some experts that AI emerged quietly in the 90’s. Ray Kurtzweil says it is due twenty years from now. I am running out of time. I need a Singularity sooner than later. Or at least functional immortality so that I can out wait the coming of AI.
Sweet dreams, don’t forget to tell the ones you love that you love them, and most important of all, be kind.