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"Human Enhancement" (Wrye Sententia and Ramez Naan)
Optional Read-Ahead Materials: Views on and from the President's Council on Bioethics:
Other Reflections on The Ethics of Human Enhancement:
Cognitive Enhancement:
Genetic Engineering:
"Will the Nanotechnology Industry Prosper Like the Silicon/Software Industry?" (Ted Sabety)The purpose of this SIG is to consider this question: does Nanotechnology enjoy a similar situation to the political, economic and legal environment that silicon technology did that fostered such a revolutionary result in so short a time? Is the current and future environment sufficient? Is it better? If not, what should we do? Historical statistics and other data shall be presented to provide a factual context to the discussion. Consider how much Federal tax revenue in the 1960's funded things like advanced computer science, communications, space flight and electronics. In addition, monopolies (and quasi-monopolies) like AT&T and IBM had huge research budgets funding revolutionary creations. Yet the anti-trust legal environment forced AT&T and IBM to widely cross license their intellectual property: the most famous case of which is Bell Laboratories licensing Sony to make transistor radios. And the military, through DARPA, funded creation of the ARPAnet and TCP/IP to address defensive command and control issues during a nuclear war, but it was commercialized in 1993 as the Internet. So how does our current and future political, economic and legal climate for Nanotechnology compare? Are too many of the seminal advancements in Nanotechnology held by a few large corporations? Will the government or courts require that these seminal technologies be licensed? Will the thirst for economic return entice investors of early stage start-ups to seek acquisition by large corporations, thus increasing concentration? Will blocking patents foster cross-licensing or will such a process take too long to work out? What will the effect of publicly funded Nanotechnology on the business environment be? In sum, what kind of legal, policy and business context should we be promoting in tandem with the technology itself in order to foster investment, provide a return, and create a growing nanotechnology business eco-system as rich as that for silicon and software? "Molecular Dynamic Simulation of Nanomechanical Devices" (Josh Hall)Josh will discuss his recent work in making dynamic simulations of the molecular planetary gear and show the resulting movies. To read about this work in advance and see the simulations on your own machine, see "Accelerating Change & the Nano/Bio/Info/Cogno Convergence" (Philippe Van Nedervelde)Philippe will lead a group discussion on these topics. To prepare, see these webpages:
"Artificial Intelligence through Self-Modification" (Steve Omohundro)We are very close to building systems that are self-aware, can learn from their experiences, and can modify and improve every aspect of their behavior. This session will be a free-ranging discussion of the issues regarding this kind of system and applications to molecular nanotechnology. Some questions to be considered are:
"Dangers of Supercomputing" (Eliezer Yudkowsky)This Work Group will examine risks associated with sudden vast jumps in computing power. Dangers might include brute-forcing of Artificial Intelligence, or leakage of nanotechnological capabilities, but there may be other technological capabilities or possibilities resulting from increased computing power. As a Work Group product, we'll produce a list of potential dangers and some suggestions for controlling them. BREAKOUT SESSIONS—THREE TYPES: Discussion, Work Group, SIGSend in your topic ASAP, including preferred format.Formats:
Nanobusiness/Investing SIG (Brian Wang)This group is focused on creating and facilitating the creation of long-term molecular nanotechnology investment funds. Also focused upon tracking, rating and communicating about investment opportunities, MNT-related businesses, and research that are leading or could lead to molecular nanotechnology. NanoEducation SIG (Rosa Wang)The initial focus of this SIG will be to develop curriculum materials related to molecular nanotechnology, including a policy case study and technical study guide materials to accompany the textbook Nanosystems. Later, this group will focus on increasing student and teacher awareness of MNT. It may create, communicate, and recommend an MNT curriculum, provide guidance and encourage students, provide assistance and support for educators who want to form school MNT study programs, and create a self-serve system online for volunteers in remote locations. Nanomedicine SIG (Russell Whitaker)This group will promote the use of molecular nanotechnology to improve medicine. Those with medical disabilities or conditions or those with relatives with such conditions are especially encouraged to join and help lobby, investigate issues and hasten the development of nanomedicine. Robert Freitas, author of Nanomedicine Volumes I and II, will participate in this session. Free-ranging discussions and Work Groups are specifically formed at the Foresight Vision Weekend, but the SIGs will be ongoing. If you are interested in learning more, contact [email protected]. If you want to lead a session, please contact [email protected] Time is short, so rapid response would be appreciated.
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