6.2 Why The Future Does Not Need Us

WHY THE
FUTURE DOES
NOT NEED US
BILL JOY
WHY THE FUTURE DOES NOT NEED US
Bill Joy (1954 – )

is an American computer scientist who co-
founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and
served as chief scientist at the company until
2003. His now famous Wired magazine essay,
“Why the future doesn’t need us,” (2000) sets
forth his deep concerns over the
development of modern technologies
Joy traces his concern to a discussion he had with Ray

Kurzweil (involved in fields such as optical character
recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech
recognition technology, and electronic keyboard
instruments. ) at a conference in 1998. He had read
an early draft of Kurzweil’s The Age of Spiritual
Machines: When Computers Exceed Human
Intelligence and found it deeply disturbing.
Subsequently, he encountered arguments by the
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
Kaczynski argued that if machines do all of

society’s work, as they inevitably will, then
we can:
a) let the machines make all the decisions;
Or
b) maintain human control over the
machines.
If we choose “a” ,It is not that we would give

them control or that they would take control,
rather, we might become so dependent on
them that we would have to accept their
commands. Needless to say, Joy doesn’t like
this scenario. If we choose “b” then control
would be in the hands of an elite, and the
masses would be unnecessary.
In that case, the tiny elite: 1) would

exterminate the masses; 2) reduce their
birthrate so they slowly became extinct; or 3)
become benevolent shepherds to the masses.
In this last scenario, the elite would see to it

that all physical and psychological needs of
the masses are met, while at the same time
engineering the masses to sublimate their
drive for power.
In this case, the masses might be happy, but

they would not be free.
Joy finds these arguments both convincing and

troubling. About this time Joy read Hans Moravec’s
book Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent
Mind where he found predictions similar to
Kurzweil’s. Joy found himself especially concerned by
Moravec’s claim that technological superiors always
defeat technological inferiors, as well as his claim that
humans will become extinct as they merge with the
robots.
Joy’s worries focus on the transforming technologies of

the 21st century—genetics, nanotechnology, and
robotics (GNR). What is particularly problematic about
them is that they have the potential to self-replicate. This
makes them inherently more dangerous than 20th-
century technologies—nuclear, biological, and chemical
weapons—which were expensive to build and require
rare raw materials.
By contrast, 21st-century technologies allow for small groups or
individuals to bring about massive destruction. Joy accepts
that we will soon achieve the computing power necessary to
implement some of the scenarios envisioned by Kurzweil and
Moravec, but worries that we overestimate our design abilities.
Such hubris may lead to disaster.

And nanotechnology confronts the so-called
“gray goo” problem—self-replicating
nanobots out of control. In short, we may be
on the verge of killing ourselves!

Joy concludes that we ought to relinquish these
technologies before it’s too late. Yes, GNR may bring
happiness and immortality, but should we risk the
survival or the species for such goals? Joy thinks not.

Summary – Genetics, nanotechnology, and
robotics are too dangerous to pursue; we
should abandon them.


6.2 Why The Future Does Not Need Us

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WHY THE

Bill Joy (1954 – )

Joy traces his concern to a discussion he had with Ray

Kaczynski argued that if machines do all of

If we choose “a” ,It is not that we would give

In that case, the tiny elite: 1) would

In this last scenario, the elite would see to it

In this case, the masses might be happy, but

Joy finds these arguments both convincing and

Joy’s worries focus on the transforming technologies of

By contrast, 21st-century technologies allow for small groups or

individuals to bring about massive destruction. Joy accepts

that we will soon achieve the computing power necessary to

implement some of the scenarios envisioned by Kurzweil and

Moravec, but worries that we overestimate our design abilities.

Such hubris may lead to disaster.

And nanotechnology confronts the so-called

“gray goo” problem—self-replicating

nanobots out of control. In short, we may be

on the verge of killing ourselves!

Joy concludes that we ought to relinquish these

technologies before it’s too late. Yes, GNR may bring

happiness and immortality, but should we risk the

survival or the species for such goals? Joy thinks not.

Summary – Genetics, nanotechnology, and

robotics are too dangerous to pursue; we

should abandon them.

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