ROBOTS 123
principle kicks in, and you no longer know where the electron is. Electricity will then leak out of the chip and the computer will shortcircuit. At that point, the computer revolution and Moore's law will hit
a dead end because of the laws of the quantum theory. (Some people
have claimed that the digital era is the "victory of bits over atoms." But
eventually, when we hit the limit of Moore's law, atoms may have their
revenge.)
Physicists are now working on the post-silicon technology that will
dominate the computer world after 2020, but so far with mixed results.
As we have seen, a variety of technologies are being studied that may
eventually replace silicon technology, including quantum computers,
DNA computers, optical computers, atomic computers, and so forth.
But each of them faces huge hurdles before it can take on the mantle
of silicon chips. Manipulating individual atoms and molecules is a
technology that is still in its infancy, so making billions of transistors
that are atomic in size is still beyond our ability.
But assume, for the moment, that physicists are capable of bridging the gap between silicon chips and, say, quantum computers. And
assume that some form of Moore's law continues into the post-silicon
era. Then artificial intelligence might become a true possibility. At that
point robots might master human logic and emotions and pass the
Turing test every time. Steven Spielberg explored this question in his
movie Artificial Intelligence: AI, where the first robot boy was created
that could exhibit emotions, and was hence suitable for adoption into
a human family.
This raises the question: could such robots be dangerous? The answer is likely yes. They could become dangerous once they have the
intelligence of a monkey, which is self-aware and can create its own
agenda. It may take many decades to reach such a point, so scientists
will have plenty of time to observe robots before they pose a threat. For
example, a special chip could be placed in their processors that could
prevent them from going on the rampage. Or they could have a selfdestruct or deactivation mechanism that would turn them off in case
of an emergency.
principle kicks in, and you no longer know where the electron is. Electricity will then leak out of the chip and the computer will shortcircuit. At that point, the computer revolution and Moore's law will hit
a dead end because of the laws of the quantum theory. (Some people
have claimed that the digital era is the "victory of bits over atoms." But
eventually, when we hit the limit of Moore's law, atoms may have their
revenge.)
Physicists are now working on the post-silicon technology that will
dominate the computer world after 2020, but so far with mixed results.
As we have seen, a variety of technologies are being studied that may
eventually replace silicon technology, including quantum computers,
DNA computers, optical computers, atomic computers, and so forth.
But each of them faces huge hurdles before it can take on the mantle
of silicon chips. Manipulating individual atoms and molecules is a
technology that is still in its infancy, so making billions of transistors
that are atomic in size is still beyond our ability.
But assume, for the moment, that physicists are capable of bridging the gap between silicon chips and, say, quantum computers. And
assume that some form of Moore's law continues into the post-silicon
era. Then artificial intelligence might become a true possibility. At that
point robots might master human logic and emotions and pass the
Turing test every time. Steven Spielberg explored this question in his
movie Artificial Intelligence: AI, where the first robot boy was created
that could exhibit emotions, and was hence suitable for adoption into
a human family.
This raises the question: could such robots be dangerous? The answer is likely yes. They could become dangerous once they have the
intelligence of a monkey, which is self-aware and can create its own
agenda. It may take many decades to reach such a point, so scientists
will have plenty of time to observe robots before they pose a threat. For
example, a special chip could be placed in their processors that could
prevent them from going on the rampage. Or they could have a selfdestruct or deactivation mechanism that would turn them off in case
of an emergency.