Joy explains to us the dangers of a new breed of technologies, specifically: genetic engineering, nanotechnology and robotics. Joy warns that they could cause “knowledge enabled mass destruction”. They are worse than the older threats of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons (NBC) because of their relative ease to create once their secrets are unlocked, unlike NBC, which are generally only creatable by someone with as vast resources as a government.
For instance, 99% of the people on the planet would have a great deal of trouble getting their hands on weapons grade plutonium, The technology needed to make robots that can think, maybe even well enough to replace us, a newer breed of human as well as plants and animals that are already possible, or molecular electronics are closer than they may seem and when these discoveries are made, they’re very nature will make them become out of control very quickly since they are self-replicating.
If scientists don’t police themselves, or governments don’t put restrictions on them, then these new technologies may cause the extinction of humanity. His argument was so compelling, maybe because of his overdose of ethos and disturbing ideas, that it sort of self replicated, causing many responses.
by Justin Haas and Clarice Green