Re: once greedy 'entrepreneurs' and technically blind managers are removed from the equation
Actually a lot of technological progress has been made on the back of mistakes (e.g., stainless steel), or "nerdy" types challenging themselves to do something that initially has little or no commercial value. The greedy entrepreneurial greed element emerges later on.
The inherent problem with AI is that its "brains" have to be programmed in by a human, and therefore have the same limitations of "intelligence" that a human possesses. The only way I can see AI progressing is to have a homogenous fabric of genetic-like mechanisms that fight each other for survival, in a similar way to that used by the body to protect against unknown diseases (T-cells, antibodies, etc.). The problem still is that rules need to be imbued into the fabric to make anything happen. Unless the designers faithfully mimic genetic interactions completely and faithfully there will always be a human bias to the outcome of the model. The thing about genetics is that there is a great deal of latency in its mode of operation to enable evolution to take place. Any temptation to strip out those imperfections is to be resisted - because that constitutes a human generated rule.
If this conundrum can be solved the "programmer" then has more of an "animal husbandry" role to play in the proceedings, throwing in parameters (such as the starting point for Conway's "Life") and see what emerges at the far end.
