Evaluating Nanotech Dangers

Posted today at KurzweilAI.net, and available for discussion through their MindX forum:

Nanotechnology Dangers and Defenses
By Ray Kurzweil

To avoid dangers such as unrestrained nanobot replication, we need relinquishment at the right level and to place our highest priority on the continuing advance of defensive technologies, staying ahead of destructive technologies. An overall strategy should include a streamlined regulatory process, a global program of monitoring for unknown or evolving biological pathogens, temporary moratoriums, raising public awareness, international cooperation, software reconnaissance, and fostering values of liberty, tolerance, and respect for knowledge and diversity.

Molecular Manufacturing: Too Dangerous to Allow?
By Robert A. Freitas Jr.

Despite the risks of molecular manufacturing, such as global ecophagy, replication is not new. Engineered self-replication technologies are already in wide commercial use and can be made inherently safe. And defenses we've already developed against harmful biological replicators all have analogs in the mechanical world that should provide equally effective, or even superior, defenses.

Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog