Does Anyone Know Where I Can Get A Tin-Foil Hat

In an article discussing a speech by Google co-founder Larry Page I discovered a rather shocking quote: "We have some people at Google (who) are really trying to build artificial intelligence and to do it on a large scale," Page said to a packed Hilton ballroom of scientists. "It's not as far off as people think."

Up next, Google builds SkyNet.

If my name was Sarah Connor, I'd be stocking up on ammunition and MREs right now while I had a chance.

On a serious note, the religious implications of AI are incredible. Will this prove or disprove Cartesian dualism? Is there a separate "consciousness" apart from the electrical and chemical processes we call the Mind?

Frankly, I had viewed much of the AI related discussion (re: Penrose, Dennett, Hofstadter) as being interesting, compelling, and even entertaining, but not particularly "relevant". Like Dijkstra said, "The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim." Particularly, for me, because I've always viewed AI as an all-or-nothing proposition.

Well, Larry Page seems to have just told us we're closer to "strong AI". I wonder how close?