OK heres a few things to get this thread expanding exponentially (geek moment alert).

 

A few years back while I was enjoying my student university days doing a Computing Systems Degree, I decided to switch on the TV late one night and ended up watching open univeristy, yeah I know some of those programs date back to the 80's for crying out loud. But there was one particular program that caught my attention, it was about AI, and this guy who was designing the underpinning programming to allow a group of robots to learn, and when I say learn I really do mean learn. After the first generation, the rest (although monitored and evolution tweeked here and there) was left to the machines. All they were given were basic rules (I believe Asimov's three laws, and a general idea that they were to improve themselves) after that they were left to develop themselves. Some were placed in a maze with the power plug on the outside, only those that worked out how to navigate the maze and reach the plug went to phase two. (Btw they also had an evolutionary style self design program) Next they were placed in a room on a high stool with the plug the other side on another high stool, they could only see the overhead rungs and thus designed several variations of themselves to get from one side to the other, the more productive being allowed to further the process until completion (just like in phase 1). I think they mentioned being on phase 100 or so at the time of filming.

 

Also, the new fussy logic circuits that enable the circuits to be effectively rewired by programming play a part, creating machines that although they aren't exactly "alive" in the way we know the term, they are scarily following in our own footsteps with they way they are developing, with humans playing the role of mother nature in the selective breeding process. I think they said that one of the "training" stages was to get the robots to recorgnise when they had a good design and to adapt it, when to scrap it and start again, and when to spot when something that although it failed this time, might be useful in a later design.

 

To say AI is coming, is almost the equivalent of saying back in the 1980's that personal computers will arrive, it not a matter of if, it's a matter of when, and looking back at the 1980's somewould say that the early home computers were already about, something tells me that in 50 years, looking back on the current time we will have similar discussions about whether AI was around already or not.

Oh and just one other thing, go read "Otherland" by Tad Williams, he had some interesting ideas about the direction things are going in.

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Im tryng to find the post where also someone spoke about sony I believe wokring on a 

"concept" of a matrix world, where you can have signals submitted to your brain to

 stimutlate the cells

 
Well this isn't from sony, but it certainly uses the brain and a microchip ... the first stages of the matrix have begun!

 

 

 

(p.s. its a bit of a long post, but worth it if your interested)

Max Planck Society is working on Bio-chip neural implants for paralyzed victims such as the late Christopher Reeves.  I don't think they have finished their research, but here is their site URL.

 

I don't think we'll ever get to the point where excersing will be performed by machines.  Unless of course we perfect nanotechnology.  Keeping our bodies in shape while lil robots run through our veins cleaning and maintaining systems our blood cells walk past.  Personally I can't wait.  Bring on the Machines! 01010101 01101111 11011001 00101101 ........