Breakpoint: The promises and perils of artificial intelligence

In sci-fi and horror movies, the “mad scientist” rarely begins as a villain. From Dr. Frankenstein to Spider-Man’s Doc Ock, they are often the victims of a combination of good intentions, unstoppable curiosity and more than a little hubris. Their plight is as familiar in real life as on screen, most recently with artificial intelligence.

According to the authors of “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto,” who heavily borrowed from fantasy-genre language to predict a high-tech future, “We believe Artificial Intelligence is our alchemy, our Philosopher’s Stone — we are literally making sand think. … We believe any deceleration of AI will cost lives. Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder.”

Ray Kurzweil is a scientist and futurist who for years now has predicted potential advancements in higher tech, as not just a helpful set of tools for humans to use but also as essential to post-human evolution.