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Scientists Look at Promise, Peril of Technology. "Scientists meeting in Los Angeles say technology offers the hope of a better world, but presents hazards if mishandled.... [T]he University of Southern California and the journal'Science' convened a panel of scientific innovators to look at the promise and the perils of technology.--There'You've got to ask, do we now have the scientific literacy in the public to be able to have informed dialogues about what these issues are really going to mean to civilization, to mankind itself,' he said. 'If we don't have the right kind of scientific literacy, all scientific debate becomes ideological.' The panelists say promoting scientific literacy is a challenge but a necessary goal, as new technologies change our society.... Raymond Kurzweil is a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence....