Legendary comics author and novelist Warren Ellis joins me on The DisinfoCast for a conversation about the future that was, artificial intelligence, the Singularity, aliens (ancient and otherwise), the legacy of Hunter S. Thompson, porn and even a little bit about comic books. Tune in.
http://www.disinfo.com/2012/05/warren-ellis-on-the-disinfocast-with-matt-staggs/
Author Brian Christian will talk on the subject of his debut book The Most Human Human a superbly engaging re-evaluation of what it means to be human in the light of breathtaking advances in artificial intelligence.
Brian Christian is an Author and Poet. He holds a dual degree in computer science and philosophy and an MFA in poetry.
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/player.aspx?id=985
Today my guest on Singularity 1 on 1 is Vernor Vinge — the very person who coined the technological singularity as a term.
Currently Vernor Vinge is putting the final touches on the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. The new book is titled The Children of the Sky and is already available for pre-order on Amazon, though it is not expected to ship until October 2011.
Despite his busy schedule Prof. Vinge still managed to give us over an hour of his time and during our conversation I ask him to discuss issues such as: his childhood and early interest in science fiction; his desire to make sense of the universe; his definition of the technological singularity and the story behind the term; his now classic 1993 NASA paper; his favorite science fiction books and authors; major milestones on the way towards the singularity and our chances to survive such an unprecedented event.