The speed and power of the average computer processor
is doubling every two and a half years.
If this rate of progression continues,
we could create a conscious, self-aware computer by the year 2045,
and this point in time is called the singularity,
which is the point when a computer becomes smarter than us.
In this talk I'll be focusing on the fact that this computer
could be conscious; so is this possible?
First of all, though we don't know what part of the brain is responsible
for consciousness and much less how it works,
we do know this much;
your brain is a computer.
It sends signals back and forth like wires,
it has different parts for doing different patterns of things,
and it has tiny parts call neurons,
that are very comparable to transistors in a computer.
There are parts for memory, computation, sensing, and more,
and they all communicate with each other.
So, for what we know, with enough money, research, and time
we could do this.
And if we could do this, couldn't aliens species do this, too?
Imagine a super-intelligent alien species.
This specie is thousands of years ahead of us,
in almost all aspects of technology.
It decides to create a full universe of simulation,
accurate down to the Planck length,
which is the smallest conceivable distance in the universe.
The reasons for doing something like this could vary,
but some possibilities are:
one, for a dying civilization.
To create a full universe simulation to test ways to do things
that could be risky and see their effects on the universe as a whole.
To experiment with different possible laws of physics,
and to see their effect on the universe as a whole,
or to just entertain a few individuals.
There's also a possibility that requires a less advanced society,
one that is just recently passed the 2045 singularity,
and they are just researching on a few people
in a controlled simulating environment for research and/or entertainment.
By now you might be thinking
that what I've been talking about is the main idea of this talk.
Ultimately, however, the big take-away I would like to leave you with tonight
is that dismissing ideas that seem unrealistic
does not help us solve the major problems in the world.
Think about it.
So many ideas that now have became mainstream knowledge,
like global warming, evolution, the existence of irrational numbers,
the big bang theory, the fact that the earth revolves around the sun,
that the universe is larger that just our solar system,
these were all originally considered stupid and/or unrealistic ideas.
Statistically, there's a better chance that they do exist but they're not,
but it's hard to prove or disprove.
So, remember: any idea, no matter how unrealistic,
isn't impossible,
and that sometimes, to solve the major problems in the world,
you need to come up with unrealistic ideas,
as those ideas could change the world, as we know it.
Thank you.
(Applause)