Two decades ago, American innovator and futurist Ray Kurzweil in the seminal book Singularity is Near analysed the laws based on which technology had been developing at an exponential rate. Ray Kurzweil provided several predictions, one of which is that 2045 will bring about the appearance of singularity, which is the moment when, with the help of general artificial intelligence, humanity will overcome its physical and intellectual limitations.
Singularity was the topic of the first conference held as part of the new programme titled ‘Conversations about the Future’ held at the Institute of Physics Belgrade, on Tuesday, 12 November. The series ‘Conversations about the Future’ was based on Dr Aleksandar Belić’s idea, who was the organizer along with the Institute’s Department of Communication.
How accurate have Kurzweil’s predictions been and what is the tempo of artificial intelligence’s development? Is singularity really on the horizon? What are consequences and expectations and what are real possibilities? Speakers at the conference who discussed these questions work in several fields and include Dr Vid Štimac, an economist and programme manager in the United Nations Development Programme, Dr Tanja Vukov, a biologist from the Institute for Biological Research ‘Siniša Stanković’, Professor Slobodan Perović from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Belgrade and Miroslav Stevanović, doctor of political sciences and associate professor at the Union University.
The attendees of the conference were domestic researchers, thinkers and analysts from a number of institutions, including faculties and institutions of the University of Belgrade and Faculty of Sciences in Novi Sad and representatives of Lazar Komarčić Science Fiction Society and other organizations.
The exchange at the meeting was unusually lively, taking place in a pleasant and constructive atmosphere. Inspired by Dr Belić and the editorial staff’s presentations, other participants from the audience joined the conversation, expanding the inspiring and exciting discussion on the future progress of artificial intelligence and its consequences.
The program ‘Conversations about the Future’ dedicated to attractive, multidisciplinary topics is organized in an area at the Institute of Physics called Tavan (Attic), which is designed as a meeting place for researchers and thinkers from various parts of the academic community.
