Let's keep technology in check, please.

     Something often sought after is perfection: the ability to live longer (or forever), to never make mistakes, etc.  Because we are human beings, we are imperfect for the time being; the only way to reach perfection is through the use of technology.   However, that is not to say that technology isn't already merged with humans, because it is in many ways.  Technology currently serves to make our lives easier and more efficient.  However, according to Raymond Kurzweil, technology will eventually totally merge with humans to increase the longevity of our lives.  He believes computers will gain consciousness and exponentially grow to be much more intelligent than humans.
     I don't believe something like this should happen.  As mentioned in the article, "there might conceivably come a moment when they [computers] are capable of something comparable to human intelligence."  What is the necessity of this?  Technology should keep growing, even at its rapid exponential rate, but that does not mean that computers have to become consciously aware of things as humans are.  I don't mind if they are able to compute and solve problems faster than humans can, but there is just no need for computers to become conscious beings.  I believe that there is no purpose for them to inhabit the world as we do.  The trouble of ensuring that "that the AI is friendly" is unnecessary.
     Humans were put on the world naturally to reproduce and survive for as long as nature allowed.  If we use technology to increase our lifespans and halt the aging process completely, the purpose of life is erased totally.  I should mention the immense overcrowding (as if we already aren't overcrowded now) and shortage of resources that would likely occur.  If we literally become slaves to technology - if we rely solely on technology for the fundamentals of survival - then we lose our authenticity as humans, as Bernard insists in Chapter 6 of Brave New World.  Bernard wishes not to be "enslaved by my [his] conditioning."  From the start of their lives within the world of the novel, humans are in contact with technology incessantly.  With the assembly line, humans rely on technology to be born.  I agree with Bernard - we shouldn't let something that makes our lives easier take us over.  Let the technology do the thinking and the work, but don't give it a consciousness, otherwise it will start to get fed up with its duties to humanity.  

    We as a society rely on technology more and more each day, be it cell phones, cars, or the factories producing our food.  Technology is a useful aspect of life, but to let it grow to become something on the level of and above human consciousness is not very smart.  I can't help but be reminded of the cliche Hollywood films like "I, Robot" and "Rise of the Machines" in which technology becomes so smart and so strong that it formulates a plan to take over humanity.  However impossible it might seem, this is a very likely reality if we let people continue to play the role of a god.