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Chapter 12.

Yes, I like contractions.

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Some day I figure that Humans will evolve themselves. Not in the form of DNA editing (which we certainly will get to in the next 20 years with the advancements of systems like CRISPR), but in the practice of faster brain functioning. We already have brain computer interfaces that interact with the paralyzed, so the advancement to these systems will eventually impact the standard computer users. It may not occur in my lifetime (the next 30 to 70 years), but this seems like the logical endpoint for human computing. We constantly bring computers closer and closer to our bodies, so the idea of an invasive (or possibly non-invasive) form of brain computing is an eventual destination for future human societies.

I suppose that it will start off as an easier way to interact with a PC. The use of thought instead of typing seems like the normal progression that these systems would give. As strange as the sight may be (effectively allowing us to become a race that telepathically communicates to save precious oxygen and in some regards feels like precognition) the advancements of computing are quite easy to estimate. The personal computer really did change everything, and so too did the smart phone. The interacting method of these machines will advance as we age forward, and the mouse and keyboard will seem to be a bit archaic.

Moving forward, I can only speculate what will truly happen once we achieve human level artificial intelligence (AGI). While the optimist in me believes that we could achieve a sense of super-intelligence that will allow us to solve most of humanities issues (death from age, war, famine, etc.), there also brings the pessimistic views that come in the form of the death to humanity as we know it. I can only ponder about the future based on the available data, so the speculative discussion topics that I bring up are truly just that: speculation.

Perhaps the most interesting benefit that artificial intelligence could provide (at least in my opinion) is in the advancement of space travel. The boundaries set could easily be pushed by advancement in this area, allowing humanity to spread itself across the cosmos. While I can only begin to imagine the possibilities that an advanced intelligence could offer, the benefits that this technology would offer (even within my lifetime) are certainly astronomical.

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