The Internet swamp is golden because it allows the emergence of what is known by humankind. In this report of an exchange at the Singularity Summit 2007, the functional principle of the alchemy of knowledge is touched upon. The future of learning will be undergirded by emergence (and not AGI, BTW):
Google Director of Research Peter Norvig opened the second day of the Singularity Summit 2007 with his take on the state artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Norvig was asked during a Q&A after his talk if Google has seen any “emergent” property or behavior (the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions) as it amasses data and manages massive infrastructure that has been a surprise.
We were all surprised at how game theoretic it is,” Norvig. “We made a copy of the Web and indexed it and we thought it reflected of Web. Now we understand that we are in co-evolution. When we make a move, the Web changes and when Web changes we do. Optimizers look at what we do and we look at what they do and Web moves in different directions because of the interaction between them. We hadn’t expected that.”
He also cited communications between computers at low level, such unexpected behavior in balancing bandwidth between switches.
Educators must understand and operate in the world Norvig describes where what is known and taught is co-evolved in the global commons — being willing to change when the Web does. The Web emerges new knowledge because it is a network among humans who also emerge new knowledge.
Technorati Tags: emergence, networks, singularity
