Is it too early to reference Skynet and Terminator?
My answer to this question is that dynamite and machine have good use and bad use. There were also good reason to fear the bad use of them. But mankind manage to keep the balance largely in favor of the good use. I'll not prone obscurantism or the ostrich attitude regarding the risks of this new technologies. But we will have to manage that type of problem. It's easier when we have a little time left in front of us before things get out of control. I beleive that artificial intelligence reproducing the brain capabilities is just behind the corner. So we are in a race that I hope the good people and use will win.
Why?
This is like DNA. All the puzzle pieces (molecules) were known but what was missing is how these pieces fit together. It was a aha moment that made the difference between before and after.
For the explanation on how the cortical neural network works the aha moment is the only missing step. All the puzzle pieces are known (of coures in the hypothesis that only bioelectrical mechanisms are in play).
I don't think there's a single correct thing about anything in this sentence, it's also a little bit conspiracy crazed.
I don't see what could be "conspiracy crazed" in my comment. It looks like you believe that if someone knew how it worked, the whole world would immediatly know it as well. This might be a shock for you but this world is not sesame street.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/k9/the_logical_fallacy_of_generaliza...
A delivery drone that crashes into your car due to a software bug wasn't turning sapient and trying to kill you. You just ran off a bridge and died anyway.
People crash into each other on the road all the time. I'd trust a machine much more than a human any day.
Some project that a three-man company hacked together in five months and are now selling without requisite safety measures and testing? Yikes!