Tim Mulgan (Auckland): Moral Philosophy, Superintelligence, and the Singularity
The Singularity is a possible future resulting from rapidly accelerating technological progress and dominated by superintelligent machines. A hot topic in popular culture, science fiction, and academia, the Singularity has received little attention from philosophers, and virtually none from moral philosophers. This is a mistake for two reasons. First, the Singularity raises many intriguing and important moral challenges – as does any credible future that differs so radically from the present. Second, while moral philosophers cannot contribute to debates about the likelihood of the Singularity, they do have much to say about what the Singularity might be like, and whether we should welcome or fear it.
My goal in this paper is to put the Singularity on the agenda of moral philosophers, and to put moral philosophy on the agenda of Singularitarians.
Location
Coombs Seminar Room D