Bill Joy argues that advancements in genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics pose existential threats to humanity, suggesting machines may surpass human intelligence and lead to unpredictable consequences. Critics of Joy, including John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid, contend that he overlooks social factors and fosters a technophobic perspective. The document emphasizes the need for multifaceted discussions among stakeholders to address the safeguards necessary against the risks associated with technological advancements.

1. CHAPTER VI
Why does the future not need us?

2. William Nelson Joy’s (2000)
• Article: Why the future doesn’t need us?
• Experience will be discussed to see whether it
strengthens and enlightens the human person
functioning in society or not.
Why does the future not need us?

3. Bill Joy
• Chief scientist and corporate executive officer of Sun
Microsystems
• He contended that our most powerful 21st
-century
technologies – genetics, nanotech and robotics (GNR)
– are threatening to make humans an endangered
species.
Why does the future not need us?

4. Bill Joy
• Argued that robotics, genetic engineering, and
nanotechnology pose much greater threats than
technological developments that have come before.
• He also stated that if machines are given the capacity
to decide on their own, it will be impossible to predict
how they might behave in the future.
Why does the future not need us?

5. Bill Joy
• Voiced out his apprehension about the rapid increase of
computer power.
• He was also concerned that computers will eventually
become more intelligent than humans, thus ushering
societies into dystopian visions, such as robot
rebellions.
Why does the future not need us?

6. Theodore Kaczynski
• Book: Unabomber Manifesto
• Described that the unintended consequences of the
design and use of technology are clearly related to
Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong, will go
wrong.”
Why does the future not need us?

7. Theodore Kaczynski
• Overreliance on antibiotics led to the great paradox or
emerging antibiotic-resistant strains of dangerous
bacteria.
• Example: The introduction of
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) to combat
malarial mosquitoes, for instance, only gave rise to
material parasites with multi-drug-resistant genes.
Why does the future not need us?

8. Bill Joy
• Critics dismissed Joy’s article for deliberately presenting
information in an imprecise manner that obscure the
larger picture or state of things.
Why does the future not need us?

9. John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid(2001),
• Article: Response to Bill Joy and the Doom-and-Gloom
Technofuturists,
• Criticized Joy’s failure to consider social factors and
only deliberately focused on one part of the larger
picture. Others go as far as accusing Joy of being neo-
Luddite, someone who reject new technologies and
shows technophobic learnings.
Why does the future not need us?

10. As a material (Joy Article)
• Tackles the unpleasant and uncomfortable possibilities that a
senseless approach to scientific and technological advancements
may bring.
• It makes thinking about the roles and obligations of every
stakeholder a necessary component of scientific and
technological advancement.
• In this case, it is pre-eminently necessary that the scientific
community, governments and businesses engage in a
discussion to determine the safeguards of humans against the
potential dangers of science and technology.
Why does the future not need us?

11. Seatwork:
Direction: Look at the picture. Do you think that there will come a
time in the future that will no longer need humans? Write your
brief opinion on a long coupon bond. (20 pts)