What do you think of Kurzweil? I've always gotten the impression he's an arrogant nut who likes to make extreme statements that aren't justified, but I've never read any of his books....
Yeah, I sometimes get that impression too... although likewise, I've never read any of his books so I have to reserve judgement. He might just be on the same nuttiness-level as Stephen Wolfram, which is not all that bad, but it's hard to judge these things without actually reading it.
Yudkowsky was not nutty at all. He is very careful about not making any outlandish claims. Personally, I think maybe the SIAI just chose the name "singularity" in order to up the potential for funding by drawing from Kurzweil's already dedicated fanbase. But I shouldn't really speculate much on this until I read his books. Some of the claims I've heard second-hand from Kurzweil I find totally outlandish, but maybe he has some good arguments for them, I don't know. I plan to read at least one of his books in the near future to find out.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-02-26 06:01 am (UTC)What do you think of Kurzweil? I've always gotten the impression he's an arrogant nut who likes to make extreme statements that aren't justified, but I've never read any of his books....
Yeah, I sometimes get that impression too... although likewise, I've never read any of his books so I have to reserve judgement. He might just be on the same nuttiness-level as Stephen Wolfram, which is not all that bad, but it's hard to judge these things without actually reading it.
Yudkowsky was not nutty at all. He is very careful about not making any outlandish claims. Personally, I think maybe the SIAI just chose the name "singularity" in order to up the potential for funding by drawing from Kurzweil's already dedicated fanbase. But I shouldn't really speculate much on this until I read his books. Some of the claims I've heard second-hand from Kurzweil I find totally outlandish, but maybe he has some good arguments for them, I don't know. I plan to read at least one of his books in the near future to find out.