Comments on: Scientist Poised to Create the First Artificial Life

By: Jerad Kaliher

Jerad Kaliher — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 15:10:33 +0000

@Bob Downs, I completely agree with you. As a species we should have fundamental guidelines for how this research should be furthered. I’m talking about having a mandate that if artificial intelligence is every created with its own consciousness that it shouldn’t be installed in nanomachines.

By: Bob Downs

Bob Downs — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:57:24 +0000

every new thing has both pluses and minuses.

The invention of the knife allowed man to cut things
and was hugely beneficial. But it could also be used to kill other people.

You can make a long list of developments down through the ages and almost all had both good and bad applications.

As a previous poster wrote, there have to be proper
controls so that for example, some organism isn’t released into the atmosphere that totally eliminates the CO2 and thereby turns the planet into one big snowball.

By: Jerad Kaliher

Jerad Kaliher — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:54:55 +0000

@Bill, with the implication that something could go horrendously wrong, I agree. I just hope that we’re able to use science like this to our advantage.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:17:19 +0000

Kinda Spooky Ain’t It?

By: Jerad Kaliher

Jerad Kaliher — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:04:09 +0000

@Steve M, well it isn’t exactly like zapping a test tube and creating life. In that regard it is a little like cheating. It is manipulating already living cells into a species that has never existed.

This type of research does need an extremely controlled environment… I hope they are not scheming in their evil tower to release mutated beasts on the general population!

By: Steve M

Steve M — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:37:01 +0000

Wow what a fantastic innovation. With this we can truly create artificial life. There really does need to stringent tests and safeguards with this however. If let go without being fully tested then anything could occur

By: Jerad Kaliher

Jerad Kaliher — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:36:52 +0000

@lordmanilastone, that is the exact stance that I tend to take with radical new fronts like these. If this branch of science ended up creating a cure for disease, addiction and provided hope for human suffering, why wouldn’t we want to pursue it?

I can understand that with this particular topic that we may need to be a little cautious. I mean, after all, this could also be used for horrible means – including bio-weapons.

By: lordmanilastone

lordmanilastone — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 04:44:52 +0000

I am crazy too because I am concerned about that too. That would be pretty ominous. On the other hand, I like the idea that this thing provides fresh hope for people who have incurable diseases…^^