I just started re-reading for the umpteenth time “A Distant Mirror - The Calamitous 14th Century” by Barbara W. Tuchman, and that subject is mentioned.
This link came to me from a friend this morning about a Google project for a natural language interface - for various uses where we currently engage with chat bots and voice mail systems, but able to be variously deployed with different levels of intelligence: LaMDA
One of the scientists/engineers working with the project posted a dialog with the System where by he asked it to make its case for why it is sentient and should be regarded as a person:
https://cajundiscordian.medium.com/is-lamda-sentient-an-interview-ea64d916d917
Elsewhere it is reported they were fired for doing this. Google is asserting that this is a product and not a person.
At first I thought this to be a fictional writing piece intended to raise the issues of AI and the ethics around creation and treatment of sentient beings - the stuff of science fiction… but apparently to the best of my limited ability it appears to be real.
It seems these questions are upon us much sooner than expected?
Just the little video is intriguing.
The first time I saw an 2D plot XY plot rotated around the Y axis to show the ZY axis. This was on a very early Macintosh around 1989. It was something to do with comparing diabetes I and II, but I forget what was actually being plotted. On the XY plot the two looked the same, but by rotating to the ZY you could see the differences.
the diagram seems to show the branching of possible paths - reminds me of chess. Yet it says the system does not rely on pulling responses from a script of possible responses. Some how it writes a response for the given context. Does that qualify as “thinking”. The dialog suggests the system continues to “think” even when not engaged with a “user”.
Google says not. Bias from wanting to profit from it, or simply from understanding how it works. Yet if we eventually break through and understand how our brains think, I don’t think that will disqualify us from sentience or personhood.
If you’ve never seen Cagney dance and/or think of him as a gangster-type, you may be surprised by this:
And his first professional acting job was as a chorus girl in a drag act.
I don’t watch “Stranger Things”, but some here do, don’cha?
I was wrong. Watching it again didn’t help. I can’t wait till Russell T Davies is back in charge of Dr Who.
Wasn’t sure where to put this; Not Feminism 101? Culture-Class Wars?
Also, my favorite dispensary chain was bought out and shut down; some really good and knowledgeable folks lost their jobs and far’s I know were not offered positions with the new company. I went to a different one (2nd fave), and mentioned that I believe budtenders are going to start unionizing, and the 'tender there agreed with me.
I don’t know if it’ll start here in MI or in CO, or any other state with med/rec cannabis - but I’m pretty sure it WILL come about.
That picture somehow scares me.
The idea they were married in the first place is scary.
There’s a fine line between “Interesting” and “Vomit Inducing”
But we don’t have a thread about inducing vomit!
Well, go ahead. Start one!