1,500th Board Member
The Lifeboat Foundation celebrates the addition of our 1,500th advisory
board member. John O. McGinnis is George C. Dix Professor in
Constitutional Law at Northwestern University Law School.
John authored the important paper "Accelerating AI" available at
http://colloquy.law.northwestern.edu/ma...-ai.html
In this paper he describes why strong AI has a substantial possibility
of becoming a reality and then sketches the two threats that some
ascribe to AI. He shows that relinquishing or effectively regulating AI
in a world of competing sovereign states cannot respond effectively to
such threats, given that sovereign states can gain a military advantage
from AI, and that even within states, it would be very difficult to
prevent individuals from conducting research into AI. Moreover, he
suggests that AI-driven robots on the battlefield may actually lead to
less destruction, becoming a civilizing force in wars as well as an aid
to civilization in its fight against terrorism. Finally, he offers
reasons that friendly artificial intelligence can be developed to help
rather than harm humanity, thus eliminating the existential threat.
He concludes by showing that, in contrast to a regime of prohibition or
heavy regulation, a policy of government support for AI that follows
principles of friendliness is the best approach to artificial
intelligence. If friendly AI emerges, it may aid in preventing the
emergence of less friendly versions of strong AI, as well as distinguish
the real threats from the many potential benefits inherent in other
forms of accelerating technology.
The Lifeboat Foundation Advisory Board is broken up into 38 subboards
ranging from Human Trajectories to Particle Physics to Space Settlement
and has developed 26 programs ranging from a BioShield program to a
NanoShield Program to a SecurityPreserver Program. More information
about these programs is available at http://lifeboat.com/ex/programs.
The Lifeboat Foundation is developing a world-class think tank with a
rich cognitive diversity of philosophers, economists, biologists,
nanotechnologists, AI researchers, educators, policy experts, engineers,
lawyers, ethicists, futurists, neuroscientists, physicists, space
experts, and other top thinkers to help humanity survive existential
risks and possible misuse of increasingly powerful technologies,
including genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics/AI, as we
move towards the Singularity.
Unlike most organizations, whose advisory boards are too small to do
more than provide some advice, our think tank provides action as well as
words. Our board members have developed programs, created reports,
donated money, fueled our blog, created educational videos, joined our
staff, launched numerous forums, organized events, and provided input on
a range of issues from web design to grant proposals to ideas for new
areas that Lifeboat Foundation should be involved in.
Learn more at http://lifeboat.com/ex/board
Saving the World
Our James Blodgett will be giving a talk about "Saving the World" at the
Triple Nine Global General Gathering in Philadelphia September 2-5.
Learn more at http://ggg999.org/
DARPA/NASA 100 Year Starship Study Public Symposium
Our Gregory Benford, James Blodgett, Ian A. Crawford, Michael A.G.
Michaud, Jack Sarfatti, Robert J. Sawyer, and Dirk Schulze-Makuch will
be speaking at the DARPA/NASA 100 Year Starship Study Public Symposium
which will be held from September 30 through October 2 at the Hilton
Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
Learn more at http://www.100yss.org/
Blog
Anyone who writes at least one post on our blog between now and the
end of August will be entered into a drawing where one random winner
will have $250 donated to the charity of their choice. Our blog is at
http://lifeboat.com/blog
If you would like authorization to post to the official Lifeboat
Foundation blog, send an email to
So far, the following people have entered this drawing:
Odette Gregory with the post "This is a Rant" at
http://lifeboat.com/blog/2011/08/this-is-a-rant
James Felton Keith with the post "The Technological Catalyst behind the
Frequent Financial Market Capitulation" at
http://lifeboat.com/blog/2011/08/the-te...tulation
Naveen Jain with the post "Naveen Jain – Rethinking Sustainable
Philanthropy" at
http://lifeboat.com/blog/2011/07/naveen...anthropy
Alexander MacRae with the post
"The Nature of the Identity, with Reference to Androids" at
http://lifeboat.com/blog/2011/08/the-na...androids
Paul McGlothin with the post "Calorie Restriction: A Cell Signaling
Diet!" at
http://lifeboat.com/blog/2011/08/calori...ing-diet
Steve Nerlich with the post "Actually saving the Earth for a change" at
http://lifeboat.com/blog/2011/08/actual...a-change
George Perry with the post "TEDxAlamo – George Perry – Living with
Aging: Alzheimer's, the Disease of Our Time" at
http://lifeboat.com/blog/2011/08/tedxal...our-time
Otto E. Rössler with the post "How Can I Convince the World That It Is
Reasonable to Double Check?" at
http://lifeboat.com/blog/2011/08/how-ca...le-check
Jumo Lifeboat Foundation Page
Our Mayel de Borniol launches our Jumo Lifeboat Foundation page. Jumo is
a social network connecting individuals and organizations who want to
change the world with their time, money, and skills.
Learn more at http://www.jumo.com/lifeboat
Papers
Read "Nanorobotics Control Design for Nanomedicine" by our Adriano Cavalcanti at http://arrow.monash.edu.au/vital/access...THESIS01
Growing Membership
Recent donations/pledges we have received since the last newsletter:
Richard Kane: $85,
Sergio M.L. Tarrero: $85,
Philippe Van Nedervelde: $85,
Kenneth P. Weiss: $85,
Michael Breazeale: $25,
Rick Hubbard: $25,
Matthew L. McGuirl: $25,
Rebecca G. Turner: $25,
Anonymous: $10,
Ronald Amos: $10,
James Bracken: $10,
Rebecca R. Cooper: $10,
Thomas Dolphin: $10,
George Garrett: $10,
Charles Hawk: $10,
Alexander Macrae: $10,
Aaron Mayzes: $10,
Glenn A. Miller: $10,
Philip Morehead: $10,
Phil Nadeau: $10,
John N. Philipps (Jack): $10,
Frank D. Smith: $10,
and Maria Entraigues: $5.
Our Join Us page at https://lifeboat.com/ex/join.us now allows you to
pay for your membership anywhere from monthly to every ten years.
