INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM
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the nature of the World Wide Web. As we approach
2030,
virtual reality
will take place from inside, coming back to the nanobots. Again, this is
technology that we can touch and feel today.
We already have something called a neuron transistor, which is an
electrical device that can communicate in both directions with a neuron
without physically touching it.
It
doesn't have to have a wire stuck into
it; just by being in physical proximity to the neuron, it can detect the
neuron firing, it can cause the neuron to fire, and it can suppress the
neuron from firing-this is two-way communication between the neu–
ron and the electrical device. So, we send billions of neuron transistors
into the brain and they take up positions next to every nerve fiber com–
ing from all of the senses.
If
we want to be in real reality, these nanobots
sit there and do nothing and we operate normally.
If
we want to enter
virtual reality, the nanobots close down the flow of signals coming from
the real senses and replace them with the signals that would be appro–
priate for the virtual environment. And, when in virtual reality, when
you move your arm or your hand, or walk, the nanobots would sup–
press those signals from moving your real body, but would basically
compute to move your virtual body and you'd hear and see and feel the
appropriate things in the virtual environment.
These nanobots will be on a local area network, so you will be
plugged into the World Wide Web and will be able to go to a virtual
environment by yourself, or you can go and meet other real people and
have any kind of experience with anyone in these virtual environments.
The nanobots will also enhance our brains because they will communi–
cate wirelessly. They will be able to create new connections, break con–
nections, and create whole new networks. As we understand how the
brain works, we can multiply human memory a millionfold; we can
vastly expand human capability and cognitive functions.
One thing about the future that I think is important to understand is
that once non-biological entities can match human intelligence, they'll
necessarily soar past it, for a few reasons. For one thing, machines can
share their knowledge.
If
I spend years learning French, I can't just down–
load that knowledge to you-you've got to spend years learning it the
same painstaking way. But at least we can communicate slowly, some–
thing that other animals don't seem to do across generations. We have
this species-wide, cross-generational dialogue and knowledge base that's
being built up, and that's a unique aspect of the human species. But we
can't instantly download knowledge . Now where is that knowledge of
French in my brain? Well, actually, there isn't much. But if you take a
subject I know something about, it's a pattern of interneural connections
