Why the future doesn't need us

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Part of a series of articles on Molecular Nanotechnology

Molecular assembler Mechanosynthesis Molecular machine Productive nanosystems Nanorobotics K. Eric Drexler Engines of Creation Grey goo
See also Nanotechnology

"Why the future doesn't need us" is an article written by Bill Joy, Chief Scientist at Sun Microsystems. In this article, he argues (quoting the sub title) that "Our most powerful 21st-century technologies — robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech — are threatening to make humans an endangered species." The article was published in the April 2000 issue of Wired magazine. Joy warns:

"The experiences of the atomic scientists clearly show the need to take personal responsibility, the danger that things will move too fast, and the way in which a process can take on a life of its own. We can, as they did, create insurmountable problems in almost no time flat. We must do more thinking up front if we are not to be similarly surprised and shocked by the consequences of our inventions."

The essay has been compared by The Times to Albert Einstein's 1939 letter to then-US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning him of the possibility of the Nazis inventing the atomic bomb. While some critics have characterized Joy's stance as obscurantism or neo-Luddism, others share his concerns about the consequences of rapidly expanding technology.^[1]

The full text of the article is available online.

1 Criticisms
2 Aftermath
3 References
4 External links

Criticisms

In Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near, he questioned the regulation on potentially dangerous technology, asking "Should we tell the millions of people afflicted with cancer and other devastating conditions that we are canceling the development of all bioengineered treatments because there is a risk that these same technologies may someday be used for malevolent purposes?"

In the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Yearbook 2001 article titled A Response to Bill Joy and the Doom-and-Gloom Technofuturists, Bill Joy was criticized for having technological tunnel vision on his prediction, by failing to include social factors into his prediction.^[2]

Aftermath

After the publication of the article, Bill Joy suggested assessing technologies to gauge their implicit dangers, as well as having scientists refuse to work on technologies that have the potential to cause harm.

During 15th Anniversary issue of Wired Magazine, Lucas Graves's article reported that the Genetics, Nanotech, and Robotics technologies have not reached the level that would make Bill Joy's scenario come true.^[3]

References

^ Khushf, George (2004). "The Ethics of Nanotechnology: Vision and Values for a New Generation of Science and Engineering", in Emerging Technologies and Ethical Issues in Engineering, by National Academy of Engineering, pp. 31-32. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. ISBN 030909271X.
^ "A Response to Bill Joy and the Doom-and- Gloom Technofuturists".
^ 15th Anniversary: Why the Future Still Needs Us a While Longer