2021 RD Neil Gershenfeld

Neil Gershenfeld
Director, Center for Bits and Atoms

[afuzzykkitten]

Who's here from Lex's pod??

It seems to me that currently this concept only makes sense from an assembly standpoint in manufacturing... The amount of complexity that you would have to have in a facilitate the creation of an industrially beneficial robot that self-replicates with a source of raw materials is almost laughable. I think from a tech economic standpoint, this idea would inevitably reduce global trade down to the elements that we feed into these machines. I believe that would result in a world where manufacturing looks alot like what the tech giants are today: centralized and indirect control of the consumer.
I also see one huge flaw in that when we reach a point in manufacturing where you have robotics companies that provide systems to their customers that have the ability to create specific consumer products while simultaneously having the ability to create themselves, what is stopping the end user (manufacturing company) from developing and re-selling the exact same product they recieve from the robotics company? If I buy something that can self-replicate, I can now in theory with the given resources create as many of that same thing as I want and essentially usurp the buisness of the company that I bought the initial system from. I am very curious to hear other's perspectives on this hypothetical problem because I feel that I am not alone in this.

[aoeu]

No comments? Imagine converting Sahara dessert into fiberglass solar entry collectors and fiberglass based optical computers, you could have everyone having chatgpt 7 agents to help reduce poverty.