K. Eric Drexler

engineer · 5 mentions across 1 reading

In this course

Drexler is foundational to speculative futurism about nanotechnology and molecular engineering, establishing the imaginative frame for how technological systems might achieve superhuman capabilities and reshape matter at fundamental scales. His *Engines of Creation* (1985) appears repeatedly in the course readings alongside Bostrom and Kurzweil as a canonical text in the genealogy of AI existential risk and posthuman speculation, anchoring discussions of how computational and material systems might escape human control. His work supplies the conceptual vocabulary for thinking about technological recursion and self-replication that threads through contemporary debates on AGI and superintelligence.

Mentioned in 1 reading

Nick Bostrom

ARE YOU LIVING IN A COMPUTER SIMULATION?

--- <sup>1</sup>: See e.g. K. E. Drexler, Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, London, Forth Estate, 1985; N. Bostrom, “How Long Before Superintelligence?” International Journal of Futures Studies, vol. 2, (1998); R. Kurzw…--- <sup>1</sup>: See e.g. K. E. Drexler, Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, London, Forth Estate, 1985; N. Bostrom, “How Long Before Superintelligence?” International Journal of Futures Studies, vol. 2, (1998); R. Kurzw…The amount of computing power needed to emulate a human mind can likewise be roughly estimated. One estimate, based on how computationally expensive it is to replicate the functionality of a piece of nervous tissue that we have already unde…

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Appears alongside

People mentioned in the same passages — sorted by co-occurrence weight.

Hans Moravec 2 Nick Bostrom 2 Seth Lloyd 2 Robert A. Freitas Jr. 2 Robin Hanson 2 Anders Sandberg 1 Hans-Joachim Bremermann 1 Jacob Bekenstein 1 Ray Kurzweil 1 Robert J. Bradbury 1