After a year of working behind the scenes, technology veteran Ray Kurzweil has taken his research on singularity to the next level. Kurzweil, along with NASA’s Peter Diamandis and a team of other top technologists, will launch Singularity University for leaders from all backgrounds to study singularity — the theory that artificial intelligence will someday surpass human intelligence.
Others joining Kurzweil and Diamandis are Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames, Dr. Robert Richards, cofounder of the International Space University, and Google’s Dr. Michael Simpson.
“Human society is nearing the precipice of a technological roller coaster that we aren’t ready to ride,” said Richards. “The Singularity University, a concept first introduced at ideaCity08, will help educate and prepare humanity’s future leaders for a world of accelerating technological change and the profound challenges it will bring to our social, legal and moral precepts.”
The school, modeled after the International Space University in France, will expose graduate students and top-level executives to cross-disciplinary subjects, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, IT and artificial intelligence. Courses will be offered in bioinformatics, genetics, law, health and several other topics.
Similar to how the ISU develops future leaders of world space, the focus behind Singularity University is to bring people together to consider solutions to real-world issues. At the group’s founding meeting Sept. 20 at the NASA Ames Research Center, the team was able to get Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to help with planning.
“ISU formed an incredibly important case study and model on which to build the SU concept,” Richards said. “Our SU key visionary and Chancellor Ray Kurzweil became a fan of ISU’s 3i approach … and this became the model needed to properly deal with the vast scope of the singularity concept.”
“The grand challenges facing humanity are driven most by growing population pressures on our societies…