If only I had the money (and the time!) Singularity summit on Artificial Intelligence

I'm not convinced about the particular approach to 'singularity' that Kurzweil presents - however, as I've previously posted on this blog I am completely convinced that people have become dependent upon their technology for most daily tasks... That technology may be a pen to write a note, or a car to get to work, or a kettle to boil water for your morning coffee (not to mention the use of your bank card to draw money and your broadband connection and computer to communicate)....

Heck, this would be a GREAT conference to attend. I hope they put some videos on youtube, or at least make the conference papers available in electronic format. (from boingboing)

Singularity Summit 2008: Opportunity, Risk, Leadership takes place October 25 at the Montgomery Theater in San Jose, CA, the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence announced today. Now in its third year, the Singularity Summit gathers the smartest people around to explore one of the biggest ideas of our time: the Singularity.

Keynotes will include Ray Kurzweil, updating his predictions in The Singularity is Near, and Intel CTO Justin Rattner, who will examine the Singularity's plausibility. At the Intel Developer Forum on August 21, 2008, he spoke about why he thinks the gap between humans and machines will close by 2050. "Rather than look back, we're going to look forward 40 years," said Rattner. "It's in that future where many people think that machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence."

The first Singularity Summit was held at Stanford in 2006 to further understanding and discussion about the Singularity concept and the future of human technological progress. It was founded as a venue for leading thinkers to explore the subject, whether scientist, enthusiast, or skeptic.

The Singularity Summit 2008 (Thanks, Tyler!)