Later,
mid-morning. You woke during the night and, as you could not return to sleep
you headed downstairs, cleaned out the litter box, then played around with the
smart TV until you got the hang of Netflix (further compliments from Kim and
Paul). You watched part of one of the newer Star Trek films, “Into the
Darkness,” tweaking the simulated 3D and other aspects, and discovered a whole
new world of media watching. You also watched a good production of the PBS BBC
show on Madeline, the code name for the woman spy, the last in Paris during
WWII, then back to bed to sleep. – Amorella
** **
Noor-un-Nisa
Inayat Khan . . . (2 January 1914 – 13
September 1944) was an Allied SOE agent during the Second World War who was
posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian decoration in the
United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations.
Also known as "Nora
Baker", "Madeleine", and "Jeanne-Marie Rennier," she
was of Indian and American origin. As an SOE agent during the Second World War,
she became the first female radio operator to be sent from Britain into
occupied France to aid the French Resistance.
Selected and edited from Wikipedia
** **
1018
hours. I first read of Nora as Madeleine in Stephenson’s A Man Called
Intrepid back in the 1970’s. I strongly urged my British lit students to
read the work. A few actually did. Overall, students were more eager readers in
those days. Such are the sacrifices war entails. Sometimes a wave of the Dead
from a Winter of wars flows heavily atop my lowly mind-like island and when it
flows beyond I feel a refreshing sign of Spring. Such as now.
Awkwardly expressed, boy, but understandable
in context. Indeed, I am aware of the perception as wave-like though from my
part it is more as a breeze in that the discernment has, like myself, no weight
attached. – Amorella
I
discovered this on BBC this morning.
** **
2 December
2014 Last updated
at 08:02 ET
Stephen
Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind
By Rory
Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent
Prof Stephen
Hawking, one of Britain's pre-eminent scientists, has said that efforts to
create thinking machines pose a threat to our very existence.
He told the
BBC: "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end
of the human race."
His warning
came in response to a question about a revamp of the technology he uses to
communicate, which involves a basic form of AI.
But others
are less gloomy about AI's prospects.
The
theoretical physicist, who has the motor neurone disease amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), is using a new system developed by Intel to speak.
Machine
learning experts from the British company Swiftkey were also involved in its
creation. Their technology, already employed as a smartphone keyboard app,
learns how the professor thinks and suggests the words he might want to use
next.
Prof Hawking says the primitive forms
of artificial intelligence developed so far have already proved very useful,
but he fears the consequences of creating something that can match or surpass humans.
"It
would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing
rate," he said.
"Humans,
who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be
superseded."
But others
are less pessimistic.
"I
believe we will remain in charge of the technology for a decently long time and
the potential of it to solve many of the world problems will be realised,"
said Rollo Carpenter, creator of Cleverbot.
Cleverbot's
software learns from its past conversations, and has gained high scores in the
Turing test, fooling a high proportion of people into believing they are
talking to a human.
Rise of the
robots
Mr Carpenter
says we are a long way from having the computing power or developing the
algorithms needed to achieve full artificial intelligence, but believes it will
come in the next few decades.
"We
cannot quite know what will happen if a machine exceeds our own intelligence,
so we can't know if we'll be infinitely helped by it, or ignored by it and
sidelined, or conceivably destroyed by it," he says.
But he is
betting that AI is going to be a positive force.
Prof Hawking
is not alone in fearing for the future.
In the short term, there are concerns
that clever machines capable of undertaking tasks done by humans until now will
swiftly destroy millions of jobs.
In the
longer term, the technology entrepreneur Elon Musk has warned that AI is
"our biggest existential threat".
Robotic
voice
In his BBC
interview, Prof Hawking also talks of the benefits and dangers of the internet.
He quotes
the director of GCHQ's warning about the net becoming the command centre for
terrorists: "More must be done by the internet companies to counter the
threat, but the difficulty is to do this without sacrificing freedom and
privacy."
He has, however, been an enthusiastic
early adopter of all kinds of communication technologies and is looking forward
to being able to write much faster with his new system.
But one
aspect of his own tech - his computer generated voice - has not changed in the
latest update.
Prof Hawking
concedes that it's slightly robotic, but insists he didn't want a more natural
voice.
"It has
become my trademark, and I wouldn't change it for a more natural voice with a
British accent," he said.
"I'm told that children who need
a computer voice, want one like mine."
Selected and edited from BBC News.
** **
My
first response to this article is a counter thought from my old ‘friend in the mind’
Isaac Asimov.
** **
The
Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The
Three Laws or Three Laws, also known as Shelnutt's Laws) are
a set of rules devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov. The rules
were introduced in his 1942 short story “Runaround”, although they had been
foreshadowed in a few earlier stories.
The Three Laws are:
1
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow
a human being to come to harm.
2
A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except
where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3 A
robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with the First or Second Law.
The original laws have been altered and elaborated on
by Asimov and other authors. Asimov himself made slight modifications to the
first three in various books and short stories to further develop how robots
would interact with humans and each other. In later fiction where robots had
taken responsibility for government of whole planets and human civilizations,
Asimov also added a fourth, or zeroth law, to precede the others:
0. A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow
humanity to come to harm.
Selected and edited from Wikipedia
** **
Later.
You are presently at Target off Fields
Ertel after running a series of errands. One more stop – Best Buy, the complete
Blu Ray Star Wars editions for eighty-four dollars.
Alas,
you waited about fifteen minutes while the clerks looked for one of two DVD
packs and found neither. So, you will wait until they restock or that you can
find a similar price close by at either a Target or Walmart. Carol wanted to
drive in to Potbelly’s for lunch and now you are waiting in the Macy’s south
side lot at Kenwood. – Amorella
1538
hours. We had a late lunch. I don’t know why I am so concerned getting the Blu
Ray DVD Star Wars Collection. I’m the only one who will probably watch it.
You have been contemplating ‘The Force’ Star
Wars style and have come to the further conclusion that ‘a human state of
Being’ is not a matter of force of any kind. ‘Being’ on/in various levels is a
conditional not a person, place or thing. It is not even a verb. – Amorella
2200
hours. We watched several TV shows tonight. I am ready for bed. It is something
nearing to be: an existentially transcendental conditional – a limited state of
being physically encapsulated in bio-chemical consciousness, an irritation and
wonder in being aware.
You realize you are being far too wordy and
as such you may be missing the simplest point of grammar within a series of
seeming consequence . . .. – Amorella
2232
hours. Why must the spider always exist before the web?
2249 hours. Amorella, I lack the grammar to spin a yarn that is not of my own making.
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