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Visions of the Future

Episode 1: The Intelligence Revolution

In this three-part series, leading theoretical physicist and futurist Dr Michio Kaku explores the cutting edge science of today, tomorrow, and beyond.

He argues that humankind is at a turning point in history. In this century, we are going to make the historic transition from the ‘Age of Discovery’ to the ‘Age of Mastery’, a period in which we will move from being passive observers of nature to its active choreographers.

This will give us not only unparalleled possibilities but also great responsibilities.

In the opening instalment, Kaku explains how artificial intelligence will revolutionise homes, workplaces and lifestyles, and how virtual worlds will become so realistic that they will rival the physical world. Robots with human-level intelligence may finally become a reality, and in the ultimate stage of mastery, we’ll even be able to merge our minds with machine intelligence.

For the first time on television, see how a severely depressed patient can be turned into a happy person at the push of a button – all thanks to the cross-pollination of neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

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  • moi aussi

    When I listen to these Futurists it is like listening to a cross between a used-car sales pitch and the voice over on a 1950s promotional video for Ford Motors — the ultimate in cheesy. Are they selling me a dream? It seems more like a bloody awful nightmare. I despise everything about this ‘vision’ for the future not least how dated it is with its bizarre emotional investment in unbridled ‘progress’ which belongs to the 1920s not the 2020s. The most lasting image? The disturbing interview with the woman who had been subjected to a brain implant to ‘cure’ depression. She did not look well to me with her false smile fixed on her face in a desperate attempt to convince herself and everyone else she was better. I fear she may be the victim of another in a long history of surgical solutions for mental health problems that backfired — like lobotomies or insulin comas or ECT. None of the people put forward as ‘pioneers’ in the brave new world seemed remotely attractive to me — I don’t mean physically, I mean attractive as people living a desirable life: the ‘shut ins’ living vicariously through World of Witchcraft or Second Life put forward as examples to emulate? Are you serious? Sad, very sad. To think that the resources of the earth are being consumed to fuel this sort of future? It makes it comforting to imagine that we will all die in the coming Ice Age / Global Warming and the cockroaches will inherit what we’ve left of the world. Good luck to ‘em. The insects seem honest and more worthy of a future than the jokers in this documentary.

    • Maestra Sierra

      Pulled the words so nicely out of my mind. Well said. :)

      Though I still like Megatrons’ quote to humanity…

      “What the HELL does your kind know about evolution? You pathetic bags of flesh… wandering around this tiny rock… thinking you’re in control… waiting for the next ice age to wipe you out.”

      ^_^

      … Anyways… I think we’re more likely to be wiped out by the machines we’ve created, whether it’s an actual extermination… like the Terminator movies… or through replacing human partners with that of robots… like in A.I….where we humans stop having physical contact with one another to the point of our population declining to nothing. Either way… the way our species is currently conducting itself is an embarrassment on this planet.

      • Heeb

        …..You’re both idiots.

  • Maestra Sierra

    If we’re such an intelligent species, than why is it there are still members within it that are starving and homeless? Seriously rather than making life convenient and easy for the few members of our species who are fat, lazy, over-privileged, selfish, spoil, and rich (aka elite pieces of sh!ts), we ought to use those resources and money to feed every member of our species. Eliminating poverty out of existence and possibly out of our vocabulary…NOW that’s evolutionary and amazing.

    Also the concept of having family dinners online is absurd.It’s not the same. Miles away? Really? Has your life being been so replaced by commercialization and materialism that you have to even disrupt your traditions and family life? True family life not this BS of being miles apart just for an extra zero on the pay check, which is all fake anyways.

    Another thing about this doc that upsets me is the part of the robots which is frightful, especially at the few clips of the robots that look like humans…creepie. O_O

    Such a quack documentary… makes one move to Amish county and get away from it all. >_> What happen to actual human bonding and connection? I read that the sense of touch has medicinal powers, just look at premature babies… it’s a fact that premature babies who are touched frequently grow faster and survive more than those who aren’t touched… elders who are held more and are in contact with other people live healthier lives than others who aren’t… people with disabilities are more likely to over come their disabilities, live more independently and live a better quality of life than those who aren’t touched… people who have developmental or intellectual disabilities develop better social skills when they are hugged or participate in games that involve finger play which involves the sense of touch, since it forces one to contact with another human being… and this is only what we know about the power of touch. Funny how futurists overlook this important fact of being sentient being. I don’t want to live their isolated, quarantine society. It’s too cold and heartless… a far worse society than what is available today. At least today we still have real connection and contact with other people. Yea a robot may take place some of those necessities but it’s still not a sentient being.