Scientific Utopia

Scientific Utopia: I. Opening scientific communication

Existing norms for scientific communication are rooted in anachronistic practices of bygone eras, making them needlessly inefficient. We outline a path that moves away from the existing model of scientific communication to improve the efficiency in meeting the purpose of public science – knowledge accumulation. We call for six changes: (1) full embrace of digital communication, (2) open access ...

Defeat of aging - utopia or foreseeable scientific reality ?

If we ignore reductions of mortality in infancy and childbirth, life expectancy in the developed world has risen only by between one and two years per decade in the past century. This is an impressive acceleration relative to previous centuries. Curiously, while many demographers consider that the current rate of increase may be maintained in coming decades, none have explored in detail the pos...

Ambient Utopia

This chapter presents an analysis of the ambitions that lie behind the concept of Ambient Intelligence as it is presented by the advocates and researchers working in the field. In particular it looks at the ideas regarding the forms of natural and intuitive forms of interaction that are envisaged including agents and robots from a philosophical perspective. The views on interaction are analysed...

Engineering Utopia

The likely advent of AGI and the long-established trend of improving computational hardware promise a dual revolution in coming decades: machines which are both more intelligent and more numerous than human beings. This possibility raises substantial concern over the moral nature of such intelligent machines, and of the changes they will cause in society. Will we have the chance to determine th...

Utopia Rising