Sometimes the biggest disasters aren't noticed at all β no one's around to write horror stories.
Vernor VingeRead
Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that advancements in technology will soon lead to the development of superhuman intelligence, which could ultimately change or end human dominance.
Vernor Vinge's quote reflects a profound concern about the future trajectory of technological development, specifically in the realm of artificial intelligence. He predicts that within the next thirty years, we will possess the tools necessary to create intelligence that surpasses human capabilities. This advancement could signal the end of the human era, as entities with superhuman intelligence may outpace us in terms of decision-making, understanding, and control over our lives and society.
Themes
TechnologyIntelligenceFutureHuman EraSuperhuman
In practice
Example use cases
During a tech conference discussing the future of AI, this quote can serve as a cautionary note about the rapid advancements in technology.
More from Vernor Vinge
All quotes βWe will soon create intelligences greater than our own ... When this happens, human history will have reached a kind of singularity, an intellectual transition as impenetrable as the knotted space-time at the center of a black hole, and the world will pass far beyond our understanding.
Vernor VingeRead
Little fish risking everything for a piece of godhood...and not knowing heaven from hell, even when they find it.
Vernor VingeRead
The problem is not simply that the Singularity represents the passing of humankind from center stage, but that it contradicts our most deeply held notions of being.
Vernor VingeRead
Similar quotes
Measured in time of transport and communication, the whole round globe is now smaller than a small European country was a hundred years ago.
John Boyd OrrRead
I'm interested in Linux because of the technology, and Linux wasn't started as any kind of rebellion against the 'evil Microsoft empire.'
Linus TorvaldsRead
With us air people, the future of our nation is indissolubly bound up in the development of air power.
Billy MitchellRead
One thing about open source is that even the failures contribute to the next thing that comes up. Unlike a company that could spend a million dollars in two years and fail and there's nothing really to show for it, if you spend a million dollars on open source, you probably have something amazing that other people can build on.
Matt MullenwegRead
We have spent so much time worrying about a 'cyber Pearl Harbor,'' the attack that takes out the power grid, that we have focused far too little on the subtle manipulation of data that can mean that no election, medical record, or self-driving car can be truly trusted.
David E. SangerRead
I had two passions growing up - one was music, one was technology. I tried to play in a band for a while, but I was never talented enough to make it. And I started companies. One day came along and I decided to combine the two - and there was Spotify.
Daniel EkRead