Future Shock, computers read your mind!

[udaman]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/31/60minutes/main4694713_page4.shtml

"Do you think one day, who knows how far into the future, there'll be a machine that'll be able to read very complex thought like 'I hate so-and-so'? Or you know, 'I love the ballet because…'?" Stahl asked.

"Definitely. Definitely," Just said. "And not in 20 years. I think in three, five years."

Was watching the repeat of the PBS Nova program last week, search for absolute zero, how sometime in the future (our lifetime) computers may be made as "quantum" computers from superconductors, Bose-Einstein condensate (that which can slow down laser light waves down to a snails pace, temporarily)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3501_zero.html

SETH LLOYD: At first glance, a quantum computer looks almost exactly the same. But quantum mechanics is weird, it's funky, okay? It's weird.
PETER SHOR (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Applied Mathematics): When you do quantum computing, you want to make this weirdness work for you.
SETH LLOYD: So, now let's look at our quantum bit, or "Q bit."
PETER SHOR: The Q bit can not only be a zero or a one, it can also both be a...
SETH LLOYD: ...zero and one at the same time.
PETER SHOR: At the same time.
SETH LLOYD: It's almost like a form of parallel computation, but in the parallel computer, one processor does this, one processor does that, so you have two processors doing this and that. In a quantum computer you have only one processor that's doing this and that at the same time.
PETER SHOR: And if you look at the mini-world's interpretation of a quantum computer, what happens is that your quantum computer is doing many, many computations all at the same time.
NARRATOR: Today, computers are limited in the amount of information they can handle, by the heat and number of the circuits.
Here, within a giant Dewar flask, lies a prototype quantum computer surrounded by its supercooled superconducting magnet.

In the future, quantum computing could be used to predict incredibly complex quantum interactions, such as how a new drug acts on faulty biochemistry; or to solve complex encryption problems, like decoding prime numbers that are the key to Internet credit card security.

Already, supercooled quantum devices are mapping the magnetic activity of the brain.

Often, the promised benefits from a scientific breakthrough take a long time to emerge. Many predicted that by this century, energy-saving superconducting power lines and maglev bullet trains would be crisscrossing the continents. Perhaps as world energy supplies decline, these technologies, once seen as too costly, will start to take off. This weird quantum world is part of a new frontier opened up by the descent towards absolute zero.

^^^I told jtr about his one last year, bet when he sees the buzzwords "maglev & superconducting" in the same sentence, he'll be watching the program online for sure :

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/


Both scary (ethical implications) and fascinating at the same time

Brave new world.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/quotes

HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL?
HAL: I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Bowman: Where the hell'd you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.

HAL: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

HAL: Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.
HAL: I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.
[HAL's shutdown]
HAL: I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.

 

[jtr1962]

I told jtr about his one last year, bet when he sees the buzzwords "maglev & superconducting" in the same sentence, he'll be watching the program online for sure :

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/zero/

I caught the repeat on my local PBS station about 2 weeks ago while I had the flu. It was broadcast in HD no less. Very interesting stuff to say the least.

And I think sometime in our lifetimes we may well be able to recover memories and do other fun things. Of course, there are ways it can be used negatively but on balance the good outweighs the bad. For example, it would be great if a simple brain scan can reliably determine if a suspect is guilty of a crime. Tons of money saved on a trial, and nobody ever has to serve on a jury again. But if we start sending sublimal advertising messages to buy something or vote for a person, well, that's misuse of the worst kind. Just like the Internet and every other technology which came before it, you'll have people ready to exploit it and you'll need to police its use.