Nanotechnology is a term which refers to the Universal Assembler. This microscopic machine can make copies of itself and of anything else in a short amount of time. If the Universal Assembler were to get out of control in the environment, then the creation of the little machine could have a devastating effect on nature. Plants native to certain areas would become extinct, making way for "efficient" artificial plants. A similar situation could arise for animals which would not be able to survive with the creations of the Artificial Assembler. Once out of containment, it would be almost impossible to stop this self-replicating force and return the artificial replicators to a controlled environment. The nanotechnology dangers are predicted to be possible in less than 30 years from now.

A perverse possibility that could arise from developments in bioengineering would be the ability to develop designer pathogens. New viruses and diseases could be unleash-ed based on the ability to target certain genes in DNA composition. An unstable person could potentially have the ability to create one of these pathogens in order to exterminate those whom he has come to hate. Additionally, others may also be affected, and a cure could not be created in time to counteract the virus. Joy believes that this technological ability could be available in 20 years.

The last major area of concern for Mr. Joy lies in the area of artificial intelligence in robots. In an estimated 50 years, robots may have the power to overthrow the human race. By that time it might be possible for robots to have far faster computing speeds than humans, and clearly, robots are not nearly as fragile as human beings. While the concerns raised with regard to this technology are not as great right now because a robot requires a certain amount of intelligence input from humans, and modern day processing chips are not small enough to fit into a reasonably sized robot, Joy believes that we still can't ignore the possibilities this technology can potentially create.

"I am not a pessimist," Mr. Joy assures me. "I don't object to the positives that these technologies can perform. What I do object to is basically giving people the ability to make and do massively destructive things." Scientists need to be responsible and some of this information needs to have restrictions in place so that the general population does not have access to all aspects of these technologies. "The barriers have to be high enough so these people can't simply do a small round of research and surmount them," Mr. Joy added.