Tag: Articial Intelligence

Just Plug Me In

My weekend begins with a call from a friend in Lebanon who needs to get out and asked if I could help…..I will do what I can but I am too far away to be much help.

Enough of life…..

I recently watch an episode of Dr. Who about a guy that could plug his brain into a computer and get info that is needed.  I thought then how long before that in not fiction but reality?

I then read a post that seem to confirm what I was asking……

The U.S. military is disclosing a super soldier project, revealing to have allocated funding of $65 million dollars for a program to develop a ‘Brain-Computer Interface’ that would allow participants to plug into a computer like the movie The Matrix. No this isn’t science fiction Neo, this is the future that the MIC wants for its soldiers.

Earlier last year in January, DARPA launched Neural Engineering System Design to research technology that could turn soldiers into cyborgs.

The military wants to use these programs to “give soldiers supersenses and boost brainpower.” Four teams will be responsible for increasing vision and two on hearing and speech. The military adds that this will help develop “new treatments for patients with sensory disorders.”

Source: DARPA Commits $65M to Brain Implant Program for Super Soldier Project

I am still in the process of confirming this….but I do not doubt that the government would sink to this level….do you?

All this money being spent to make war “better”….and so little spent looking for a way to make it unnecessary….I guess it is all about priorities, huh?

My day is going well….now just waiting for the time that I can sit among the grape vines and have some wine and a bit of Brie and crackers……

Hope your day is as enjoyable and I will be back tomorrow…see ya….chuq

Closing Thought–21Jun17

I, Robot!

Before I begin I would like to report that TS Cindy is dumping lots of rain and a bit of wind but nothing too bad…..the local rivers will flood in the next day or so but they leave their banks if some one flushes a toilet upstream….the garden is taking a beating it may not return……oh well…..such is the life in the tropics.

Onto more important things…….

Remember the 3 Laws of Robotics?

  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 orders given 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.

There has been many leaps forward in AI research……some thought it was about time for some “laws”…….so at a recent meeting of the minds some goals and values and principles were set forth……

1) Research Goal: The goal of AI research should be to create not undirected intelligence, but beneficial intelligence.

2) Research Funding: Investments in AI should be accompanied by funding for research on ensuring its beneficial use, including thorny questions in computer science, economics, law, ethics, and social studies, such as:

  • How can we make future AI systems highly robust, so that they do what we want without malfunctioning or getting hacked?
  • How can we grow our prosperity through automation while maintaining people’s resources and purpose?
  • How can we update our legal systems to be more fair and efficient, to keep pace with AI, and to manage the risks associated with AI?
  • What set of values should AI be aligned with, and what legal and ethical status should it have?

3) Science-Policy Link: There should be constructive and healthy exchange between AI researchers and policy-makers.

4) Research Culture: A culture of cooperation, trust, and transparency should be fostered among researchers and developers of AI.

5) Race Avoidance: Teams developing AI systems should actively cooperate to avoid corner-cutting on safety standards

Source: AI Principles – Future of Life Institute

Will this make the science better or just a way to shut critics up?

Maybe a special session should be called to discuss the ethics of AI….I am sure somewhere the subject of morality will rear its head.

BTW….any tech types that have a plan or an idea about this subject please share……

That is it from me for the day…..time for a snack and a beer….and watch it rain…..be well, be safe….chuq

War Without Fear

One of the characteristics of war that helps prevent more of them is the emotion of fear.

Fear of a war will help all parties to come to an agreement that could avoid the spilling of blood and the loss of life.

However these days war is fought more and more by drones and satellites and eventually with AI…where there could be little to no soldiers involved in the fray…..

“The nature of war is all about a collision of will, fear, uncertainty, and chance, Work said, summarizing Clausewitz. “You have to ask yourself, how does fear play out in a world when a lot of the action is taking place between unmanned systems?” Human fallibility is central to Clausewitz and to classic theories of war as far back as Sun Tzu. But if machines start making the decisions, unswayed by fear, rage, or pride, how does that change the fundamental calculus of conflict? “Uncertainty is going to be different now,” Work went on. While he didn’t use the utopian language of millennial Revolution in Military Affairs — whose promise to “lift the fog of war” with high-tech sensors failed utterly in Afghanistan and Iraq — Work did argue that computerized decision-making aids could help commanders see with greater clarity. “Clausewitz had a term called coup d’oeil,” Work said, essentially a great commander’s intuitive grasp of what was happening on the battlefield. It’s a quality Clausewitz and Napoleon considered innate, individual, impossible to replicate, but, Work said, “learning machines are going to give more and more commanders coup d’oeil.”

Source: War Without Fear: DepSecDef Work On How AI Changes Conflict « Breaking Defense – Defense industry news, analysis and commentary

We remove the emotion of fear and then wars will become more and more brutal and barbaric….if we let the machines do the thinking as well as the fighting then all is lost of our humanity.

Civilization will become nothing more than a word.

Is This How “Skynet” Begins

I am sure that everyone that reads this blog is familiar with the term “Skynet”…that computer that runs everything on earth and dispatches terminators to do the dirty work….well it had to have a beginning and I think one of the spin-offs covered that…but could there be a “real life” beginning?

There has been some amazing leaps in AI research and it looks like the Penatgon is going to be the first to use it in search of “bad guys”…….

Turning hours of drone video into actionable intelligence is just the start for the fast-moving machine-learning team.

By year’s end, the Pentagon wants computers to be leading the hunt for Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, through turning countless hours of aerial surveillance video into actionable intelligence.

It’s part of Project Maven, a fast-moving effort launched last month by Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work to accelerate, improve, and put to wider use the military’s use of machine learning.

Source: The Pentagon’s New Algorithmic Warfare Cell Gets Its First Mission: Hunt ISIS – Defense One

Of course I am making light of the situation…but it is a good question when machines are starting to do a lot of our tasks and thinking for us…..

I still think that humans are better at making this decision than a machine….the machine can think faster but can it see the “not normal” that may arise from the intel?

I believe that a good analyst can see things that a machine will overlook as “not” important.

I know I am an old fart but I stand by my statement.

Is Artificial As Good As Real?

Another Sunday and I do not have anything important to do…..my better half and I will spend it doing what adults do (take that anyway you choose)…..

Speaking of things adult do……..

Yesterday I watched a movie entitled “Ex Machina”…basically a thriller with a sexual cyborg…..after watching the movie I got to thinking…what are the chances of a sex doll that is that life-like?  I am not talking about a blow-up model but rather one that is totally life-like…..can do all the things required of it…….

And don’t you know I had my questions answered for me……

In the brightly lit robotics workshop at Abyss Creations’ factory in San Marcos, California, a life-size humanoid was dangling from a stand, hooked between her shoulder blades. Her name was Harmony. She wore a white leotard, her chest was thrust forward and her French-manicured fingers were splayed across the tops of her slim thighs.

Harmony is a prototype, a robotic version of the company’s hyper-realistic silicone sex toy, the RealDoll. The Realbotix room where she was assembled was lined with varnished pine surfaces covered with wires and circuit boards, and a 3D printer whirred in the corner, spitting out tiny, intricate parts that will be inserted beneath her PVC skull. Her hazel eyes darted between me and her creator, Matt McMullen, as he described her accomplishments.

Source: The race to build the world’s first sex robot | Technology | The Guardian

“Her” name is Harmony and there is more about this “model”……

Her head, eyelids and lip movements are fairly crude and her conversation is even more limited.

But she is part of a new robotics revolution that is seeing artificial intelligence incorporated into an extremely human-like body.

Some think that it will revolutionise the way humans interact with robots while others believe that it represents the very worst in robotic advancement.

Source: A sex doll that can talk – but is it perfect Harmony? – BBC News

Is this the future of a sexual encounter?  Cut out the middle man altogether?

I am an old fart so this will be wasted on me….but you younger readers…….. the future is now.

Surely my readers have some thoughts on this turn of events……

A tune to go with the mood……

Have some fun and relaxation a new week starts tomorrow….I appreciate all the visits and new followers this past week…..you guys make this blog worthwhile….thank you  chuq

Closing Thought—06Mar17

AI Goes To War!

I am an old fart and as such I am by NO means  techno geek…Hell I still type with three fingers (LOL)…..I got my degree in international relations-Middle East and Conflict Management and since my days in the US Army and my two tours in Vietnam I have been an analyst of war and conflict…..

So when I read this piece about AI and warfare I was interested……honestly, I wish I was more tech savvy…but that boat has sailed for me, LOL

This is the summary of the paper……

  • Both military and commercial robots will in the future incorporate ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI) that could make them capable of undertaking tasks and missions on their own. In the military context, this gives rise to a debate as to whether such robots should be allowed to execute such missions, especially if there is a possibility that any human life could be at stake.
  • To better understand the issues at stake, this paper presents a framework explaining the current state of the art for AI, the strengths and weaknesses of the technology, and what the future likely holds. The framework demonstrates that while computers and AI can be superior to humans in some skill- and rule-based tasks, under situations that require judgment and knowledge, in the presence of significant uncertainty, humans are superior to computers.
  • In the complex discussion of if and how the development of autonomous weapons should be controlled, the rapidly expanding commercial market for both air and ground autonomous systems must be given full consideration. Banning an autonomous technology for military use may not be practical given that derivative or superior technologies could well be available in the commercial sector.
  • A metaphorical arms race is in progress in the commercial sphere of autonomous systems development, and this shift in R&D effort and expenditure from military to commercial settings is problematic. Military autonomous systems development has been slow and incremental at best, and pales in comparison with the advances made in commercial autonomous systems such as drones, and especially in driverless cars.
  • In a hotly competitive market for highly skilled roboticists and related engineers across the sectors most interested in AI, aerospace and defence, where funding is far outmatched by that of the commercial automotive or information and communication sectors, is less appealing to the most able personnel. As a result, the global defence industry is falling behind its commercial counterparts in terms of technology innovation, with the gap only widening as the best and brightest engineers move to the commercial sphere.

Source: 250117 AI weapons final for web – 2017-01-26-artificial-intelligence-future-warfare-cummings.pdf

Is this the future coming to call?

That brings my Monday to a close….have an evening my friends and I will see ya tomorrow…..peace out  chuq