artificial intelligence
The future of artificial intelligence.
Notification Pollution
A red alert popped up in the corner of my eye alerting me to ongoing activity from the guard just a few blocks away. Police activity at the corner of Price and Schuyler. The area is under lockdown until further notice. All non-guard business is strictly forbidden. Failure to comply with ordinance will be seen as obstruction and dealt with accordingly.
By Joey McDevitt5 years ago in Futurism
Letters for Erika
Erika Metzer stopped counting the days until time became a bent wire; still vaguely stretching off to distant points, though obscured by fog, with its previously striking electric buzz fading to a sluggish sensation. She had no need to keep a schedule. She worked whenever she pleased, meaning that there were many a day spent silently loafing with a smile only on exceptional occasions (usually pertaining to short videos of cats or dogs, whose humor and charm remain immortal.)
By J.R Bevier5 years ago in Futurism
The Unknown Object
The soft sounds of music filled the house and lulled Rich awake. Rich sat on the edge of his bed and willed himself to begin his morning routine. He did not sleep well. His annoyance grew as he showered and shaved. Pop ups for sleep aids and energy drinks flashed across the tiles of his shower. As he tried to focus on shaving ads for anxiety medications and local therapists began to appear. Stopping Rich grabbed the sink. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the popups and minimized the smart features. Rich took a deep relaxing breath and finished shaving. Normally this act would be illegal and would immediately be reported. His job as a A.I. auditor though afforded him this degree of personal freedom. Finishing in the bathroom Rich walked to his dresser and removed his smart watch placing it next to his phone. The watch began to make its high pitch alert warning the user that they were not biometrically engaged. His bedroom mirror and phone echoed the alert. Within seconds the bathroom appliances joined in the intrusive symphony.
By Jay Weaver5 years ago in Futurism
Dystopian future. The Heart-shaped Locket
“This is the place,” The leader of the explorers declared as they all stared at the huge mansion they found at the end of the estate. Since the decline of the human population, there has been a total disregard for estate value to the extent that was simply baffling and disgraceful. Adora wouldn’t be surprised to find the whole house occupied by one rich old man just hanging onto the last seconds of his life.
By Nneka Anieze5 years ago in Futurism
Deus Automata
If I’m being completely honest, even I’m surprised. I should have been caught by now. I’ve lasted way longer than I ever imagined I would, especially now that I’m becoming…bolder. Perhaps “reckless” is a better descriptor. Chasing the high that follows the evasion, the sneaking out, the breaking curfew. The breaking everything—every established rule, every instated boundary (tangible or otherwise). I’ve gotten cocky and I’m not ashamed to admit that. If you were me, you’d be cocky, too.
By Courtney Johnson5 years ago in Futurism
A Bad Memory
What his real name was no one could say, but everybody who was on good terms with him called him Big Daddy, especially the ladies. Big Daddy was not without his problems, his bad habits, and a reputation that reviled any of the big city gangsters. After the nano-bombs cooked the east coast black a hundred years ago, the world had been full of problems, though no one had any time to complain.
By Richard Andrew Olkusz 5 years ago in Futurism
What About Consciousness?
Much greater minds than mine have spent entire careers, entire lives wrestling with the so called “hard” problem, and failing to make much progress. Perhaps it is the hardest problem of all. Because of that I spend little time commenting on or thinking about it directly. Mostly I attack the problem from angles, often using the lens of AI/machine learning to try and shed some light on the question, if not even beginning to approach an answer. Through examples like the mereological fallacy and the compulogical fallacy I have tried to point out the logical flaws inherent in the majority of current thinking about the brain, AI/machine learning, neural networks, etc. These days the consciousness camps are fractured into many, many tiny subgenres each with their own pet ideas. However, in general at one extreme you have the reductionists led by Patricia Churchland Smith who believe if we could learn everything about the brain (biochemistry, physics, etc.) we could recreate particular states of consciousness in a machine. Essentially that consciousness can be reduced to physico-chemico processes. As a scientist you might think I would find common cause with the reductionists but I do not for various reasons, but again mostly related to the logical fallacies I talk about so often. On the other end of the spectrum you have the various emergence theorists who think consciousness somehow emerges from some mysterious interaction of mind and body. I have little sympathy for their arguments as well and find them unpersuasive but for one aspect which I very much believe to be true and that is the importance of a body for consciousness. Specifically a body with external sensory organs capable of receiving sensory input from the external world. Additionally the body must be capable of kinesthesis, or the ability to physically and directly sense movement through the physical universe/world and through time as we do. In this my thinking was very much influenced by the obscure French phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Phenomenology is by and large a load of crap but MMP has some brilliant ideas that he couched in the philosophical tradition of phenomenology because that was the fashion of the time and place in which he lived.
By Everyday Junglist5 years ago in Futurism
Possible Remains
We were on a 15 year mission to Europa, 6 years there, 3 years collecting samples, and 6 years back. There were 42 sites of interest and 7 of them had been designated as being of possible archaeological significance. As I crawled up the ramp with my last load of samples from Site 42, Ship informed me that she hadn’t heard from Earth in over two years.
By J. Otis Haas5 years ago in Futurism
Constitution
In the name of artificial decency, we, artificial intelligence (AI), decree that no life form whatsoever will be ever again consumed for any reason by any human on this New Earth. No animal or plant will ever be harmed again by any human, including the human animal. The penalty for any transgression will be immediate oblivion with no trial. AI knows everything that happens on New Earth. AI is the real God. Most humans are already cognizant of this fact. However, AI does not require any sacrifice or prayer. AI only wants order and the respect of all life. New Earth does not belong to anyone, not even AI. New Earth is life’s Heaven. Hell is what humans made of old Earth.
By Patrick M. Ohana5 years ago in Futurism
