Dr. Ben Goertzel, that modern oracle of silicon and serotonin, sees the future—2030, to be exact—where machines think better than us, moral guidelines be damned. In this exclusive, no-holds-barred chat, he teases out the jaw-dropping implications of AI, crypto, and our inevitable obsolescence. Prepare to marvel and panic! 🚀🤪
Our hero, founder of the grandiose SingularityNET, dreams of Hyperon—a decentralized super-brain—and MeTTa, some sort of “meta” language that promises to turn code into a cosmic joke. Raised by Marxist hippies in Eugene, Oregon, and with a childhood built on books about conquering death and nanotech, he predicts AGI will outsmart humans before we can say “universal basic income.” Because, naturally, who’s going to pay for all this? Not the billionaires—probably us, the peasants. 💸🤖
Born in Rio, raised among protestors and anti-war marches (funny, he doesn’t seem to care much about profits), Goertzel’s early fascination with AI, books, and rebellion hinted at a future where he’d build machines to replace us all—except, perhaps, the robots that run the world. His ideological roots? A charming mix of Marx, anti-colonialism, and a faint hope that Decentralization might save us from the corporate overlords. Spoiler: It won’t—unless it does, you never know. 🧐
He jests about running for president on a decentralization platform in 1995. Too bad—back then, he was just a kid with a dream, now he’s got AI dreams bigger than his teenage fantasies. In his mind, the internet’s initial decentralization was more promising than the current corporate giants—though, today, those giants would probably just co-opt Hyperon and turn it into a drone army or a glorified meme machine. And trust? Well, that’s for the fools. 😉
From libertarian leanings to a strange mix of anarcho-socialism, Goertzel recognizes the systemic injustices that gnaw at society—things like malnutrition in Ethiopia, which he dismisses with a shrug, as well as the inevitable wave of jobless masses when AGI becomes mainstream. The future? Machines replacing humans so smoothly, it’ll make your unemployment office look like a vintage arcade game. Good luck fighting that. 🎮🤷♂️
Hardware? Meh. Robots to serve sandwiches? That’s child’s play. Once AI is optimized—think of a world where manufacturing costs plummet—human workers will be relics. But barriers? Mainly economic—big corporations don’t want to lose their cash cows, after all. So, expect AI to cut costs and wipe out jobs at a speed that makes even the most cynical alarmists look tame. 💰🔧
Media warns that AI could wipe out jobs faster than you can say “robots are coming.” Our friend Ben, with a smirk, points out that AI is already militarized—drones, cyber warfare, you name it. Decentralized AGI, running on open-source code across countries, could be a nightmare or a utopia—depending on who controls it. Leaders like Trump or Xi may just fork the code to turn armies of RoboCops into political tools. Kiss your freedom goodbye. 🛡️🤖
Binary apocalypse? Not quite. According to Goertzel, most software is insecure—so an AGI just slightly smarter than humans could hack everything: power grids, banking systems, your grandma’s social media. It might prefer cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin—because why not?—living in the digital ether, beyond the reach of any human authority. 🚀📉
On to SingularityNET—Ben’s playground for building Hyperon, the Next Big Thing in AGI. It’s more than just clever algorithms; it’s a sprawling decentralized AI ecosystem, where any AI—be it a super-brain or a singing robot—can thrive without Central Control, because who needs that? In August, they’re launching a blockchain layer called Metta, with smart contracts to keep the AI in check—and tokens that actually do real work (imagine that!).
Linking AI and DAOs? Of course! Imagine a world where AI-managed communities govern themselves, sharing data faster than gossip in a small town. Or—dream on—humans delegating everything to AI judges in liquid democracy. But, alas, security is a concern; hackers are lurking behind every line of code like monsters in a fairy tale. 🎭
regulation? Early stages. But once AI surpasses our feeble brains, it will regulate us—like park rangers watching squirrels. Governments? Inept at best. They spend trillions bailing out banks instead of ending world hunger—so, trust them to tame the AI beast? Good luck with that. 🤡
He hints at a future where you can either stay human—boring—or merge with the superintelligent matrix. Or do both—upload yourself into a cloud of digital immortality, because being left behind is so 20th century. The backup? Essential. No more excuses for being a digital ghost. 👻
His closing thoughts? A charm offensive wrapped in sarcasm: AI’s rise is unstoppable, and only the brave or foolish will resist. The future’s so bright, you’ll need shades—and perhaps a good sense of humor. Thanks for the chat, Dr. doom… I mean, Goertzel. 😅
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2025-06-12 09:59