Well this is interesting

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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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Say WHAT?!

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If you’ve never seen Cagney dance and/or think of him as a gangster-type, you may be surprised by this:

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And his first professional acting job was as a chorus girl in a drag act.

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I know. I’ve read a lot about him. And there’s a great doco/interview of him on YT.

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I don’t watch “Stranger Things”, but some here do, don’cha?

https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article262466547.html?fbclid=IwAR39BQ3qxTAqui0EfgwQx2jDAhHusutbimq97DJkqsIf52sxF7VMVTHf70I

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I was wrong. Watching it again didn’t help. I can’t wait till Russell T Davies is back in charge of Dr Who.

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Building the Louvre.

Enlarge it and see what all the microscopic humans are doing.

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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.

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That picture somehow scares me.

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The idea they were married in the first place is scary.

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There’s a fine line between “Interesting” and “Vomit Inducing”

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But we don’t have a thread about inducing vomit!

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Well, go ahead. Start one!

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