AI with feeling: The future is robotic emotions on the way

Sirius founder envisions world of cyber clones, tech med »

The founder of Sirius satellite radio is eager for a future where many of our chores are handled by sentient robots

Oh but there’s so much more than just robots taking out the trash.. try this:

At the keynote, Rothblatt described how the inevitable emergence of cyber consciousness – when machines act with a sophistication and thought level equal to that of humans – will not be overnight but a more subtle evolution.
"Every company will try to out-Siri Siri until we have consciousness," she said, referring to the Apple/iOS application that works as a personal assistant and navigator. "It will be like water that rises and rises and rises and, before we know it, we’re in an ocean of cyber consciousness."

And then what?
Lots of choices are coming for humanity. Lots of choices will not have to be made—and actually a lot of misery and heartache may occur as advancements become cruel to people trying to live out out their lives.

Progress.. The future. It’s all good. Until it goes bad.. Until one of those thinking machines thinks too much..

And I wonder, sometime about 1000 years from now, will robots ponder ‘who created me? Why am I here? What happens when I turn off?”   We do. And we think. Or so we are told we think..

Rick Jervis in USA TODAY goes on to report:

Artificial intelligence and robotics have been key – and controversial – themes at this year’s SXSW. A slew of panel discussions and keynote speeches on the topic have drawn thousands of attendees, while films screening at the film festival portion of SXSW, such as Ex Machina and Creative Control, have addressed it in their plot lines.
The themes have also prompted protests outside the conference warning of an over-reliance on artificial intelligence to the detriment of humans. In one, a group of protestors held signs reading “Stop the Robots” while chanting “A-I Say Goodbye!”
Rothblatt said robots and humans don’t have to choose sides – such as in the plotlines seen in popular Hollywood movies – but will live in a peaceful co-existence that will make them virtually indistinguishable from one another.
"It’s not us versus cyberspace," she said. "We’re merging together."
She added: “We don’t want to create a new slave-versus-free motif. I’m all for merging everyone together. On the level of consciousness, we’re all one.”

We are all one.
Skin and bones. Gear and bytes.. We are the world.

We are the future..