Jerry Kaplan

Thanks to everyone for the terrific conversation! Have to run but I'll check back in later in case the discussion continues, so feel free to post... Jerry

Wow great question. The emergence of intelligent machines certainly raises questions about our own consciousness. I've read extensively on this subject (so you don't have to), and the plain truth is that we have no idea what consciousness is. There's a perfectly reasonable argument that it's some sort of illusion, or at least that the belief we have in its existence has some evolutionary...

Absolutely correct --- I cover this in lurid detail in my book. We're looking for risks in the wrong direction. While it's easy to spot a menacing cyborg, we aren't adapted to recognize when we're getting screwed by invisible algorithms. Like viruses, they can be invisible but deadly. Unless we find ways to identify and neutralize these risks, things will just seem to get inexplicably worse for...

The movie was terrific, but is about as realistic as the Star Trek transporter ... which is to say not at all. We may have deep relationships with robots, but it's a one way street. That's a very serious danger --- it may be possible to build 'bots' that hijack our emotions and persuade us to work against our own interests. There's a really cool TV series called "Black Mirror" that covers this...

Hi Product Hunt, I’m Jerry Kaplan – the old dude with the gray hair grinning in the picture. Here’s a little background. The boring bio is that I co-founded four Silicon Valley startups, two of which became publicly traded companies. My non-fiction novel “Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure” was named one of the top ten business books by Business Week. I’ve been profiled in The New York Times,...