Category Archives: Blogs' Archive

ABC News has an interesting article here about a clever little robot.  It’s not exactly going to pass the Turing Test because it doesn’t even look slightly human, nobody is ever going to be fooled, but that’s not the intent.  Hitchbot is a robot that’s going to hitchhike from Nova Scotia to Vancouver, having conversations with people who pick him (or ‘it’ I guess, more properly, but once we start interacting with these things, there is no doubt in my mind we will use gender based pronouns) up.  I wonder if they will have to literally pick him up, or if he has enough mobility and flexibility to get into the vehicles by himself, and sit down.  These are burning questions, which were not addressed in the article.

As he goes, he will live tweet the experience.  So, internet geeks will probably follow his route and hit the street when they find out he’s going to be passing through their area and he’ll probably have more luck than a regular hitchhiker.  I hope so.  “Two hours in this same stupid spot.  What is wrong with people” would make a very boring tweet.

One thing that I think is very cool about this project is that it’s being done by a couple of guys at the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design.  Robotics have advanced to the point that you don’t even need to be a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist to build one.  Artists are doing it.

It makes sense.  Once they’ve figured out how to get a robot to walk upstairs on human like legs, everybody can just copy that design.  You’ve got the computer to act as a brain, you just figure out what kind of a container you’re going to put it in. It’s very mix and match, like Mr. Potato Head.  I often wonder why housing doesn’t work on the same principle.

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I’m having a very stupid argument with some people on facebook.  9/11.  I’ve raised my theory (Dick Cheney, Marvin Bush, and Larry Silverstein for the insurance money).  One guy mentioned shoe bomber Richard Reid and the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole and asked if the government did those as well and when I pointed out that that was a straw man argument he went on an incoherent rant and then another girl, just a propos of nothing, said does anybody remember the Oklahoma City Bombing and straw man guy said yup, yup, I do, as if a point had been made.  The argument that really ticked me off, though, was the guy who said “Well, obviously you’re going to go ahead and believe what you believe regardless of what anybody else says.”

Well, of course I’m going to believe what I believe, dumbass, what am I supposed to do, believe what somebody else believes?  Show me some evidence, show me something that changes my mind, at least make a logical argument.  Moron.

This is an interesting read on the topic of the computer that has “passed” the Turing Test.   I put passed in quote marks because the computer program didn’t fool everybody that inter-reacted with it and also, by claiming to be a 13 year old Ukrainian boy, I think they were cheating a little bit.  It means people would overlook strange syntax, and tend to ascribe their doubts about the computer program’s humanity to their own lack of knowledge of 13 year old Ukrainian boys.

This driver is about to have his head ripped off

Still, if it fooled even 50% of the people, it’s the most advanced chatbot out there, and future models will totally ace the Turing Test.  Scary stuff.  Exciting stuff.

Anyway, I agree with 50% of this writer’s premise.  His thesis statement is: In essence, being human is fundamentally a moral category, not a biometric one – it is unlikely that artificial intelligence will ever surpass us on this score.  I agree with the first half of that sentence.  We may build computers that can multiply 72 digit numbers in their head instantaneously, that can recite all of Shakespeare’s plays verbatim, off the top of their (analogous) head, who can answer any question concisely and precisely, with backing examples and references to related materials, but they won’t give a damn if any given human being lives or dies, and will have no idea why they should.

Unless, of course, we start to program that compassion in.  Just like artificial intelligence, it will be artificial compassion, but I think the author is wrong in thinking it will never happen. Compassion is a human (and animal) behavior, which has evolved over billions of years, but it’s still just a question of chemicals and neural synapses.  We’re going to get there eventually, and the day when a computer can pass a Turing Test for compassion may not be as far in the future as the author thinks.

Remember Arnold Schwarzenegger tearing the head off the Johnny Cab robo-driver in Total Recall?  It was funny because pretty much anybody who has ever taken a cab in New York City has wanted to rip the driver’s head off at some point in the journey.  Either they talked too much or were too rude and abrupt, tried to cheat, or displayed some amazing bit of insensitivity.  It will not be difficult to program robo-drivers for cabs and busses who are more compassionate than their human counterparts.

Shop clerks, waiters and waitresses, receptionists, ditto.  There will be friendly robo-police officers walking the streets, who can give people correct directions without giving them attitude.  There will be teachers who never lose their temper, who answer the most incredibly boneheaded questions with sweet equanimity, and who can tell just by looking at a students face muscles whether they really need to go to the toilet or if they’re just trying to get out of the class.

It won’t be hard.  Compassion may be the difference between humans and machines but, honestly, we’re not all that great at it.

I know a teacher should not speak badly of their students, even outside of class, but I am extremely confident that none of the little ignoramuses will read this.  They do not have enough English to find my blog, nor enough English to read it, and if they did they still wouldn’t have enough curiosity to bother because their little peanut brains do not extend beyond their 12 year old world.  They know a handful of current pop stars, sports figures, and actors, but most of them have probably never read a book which didn’t have pictures in it, and do not have the wit to ask a question when they do not know the answer.  If they ever find themselves in a country where they do not speak the native language, i.e. anywhere outside of the Czech Republic, they will probably piss their pants because they don’t know how to ask directions to the toilet.

Today was my last day with my two 7th grade classes.  I am almost certain I will not be asked back next year. I think the school has been as dissatisfied with me as I have been with the school, so last means last.  They will have a different English teacher in 8th grade and, whoever it is, they have my sympathy.

I wasn’t sure what I would do with them today, I just knew I would like to have a class without conflict, without much screaming and yelling, and to end the year on some kind of a positive note.  I almost succeeded in fulfilling the first two criteria.

I walked to school, it was a lovely summer day, and I arrived in a fairly optimistic mood.  Got to the classroom and, not only were the students not there, but one wall was completely torn out.  Some kind of reconstruction that couldn’t even wait for school to end.  That’s not the students’ fault, but one thing that has pissed me off about the school (and all other Czech public schools where I have taught) is that I never, ever get informed about shit like that in advance.

So, I found out what room they were in and went there, just before the bell.  I opened by saying “Today is the last day.  What would you like to do?”  Several of them said “nothing”, which was fine by me, so I closed the door, took a seat and said “Fine.  I’ll be here, you can ask me any questions you like, or do whatever you want.”

They were surprised, but once they got over their shock, perfectly content to spend the rest of the hour playing with their electronic devices, talking in Czech, and ignoring me entirely.  It was sad but not bad.  I read a bit, and did some proofreading for my wife.  When the bell rang, they left.  One or two of them said good-bye, over their shoulders.

Well, what I’d done for that class, I figured I might as well do for the 2nd class.  “No violence,” I said.  “No destruction of property and please keep the noise level down so that no other teachers feel the need to intervene.”  A low enough standard, you would think.  You would think, as long as you don’t know these little shitheads.

Still, I finished the proofreading and only shouted at them once or twice.

There was a bit of a redemption at the end, but not from that group.  3 kids from the 6th grade class, who had come up to me on Monday and begged me to raise their grade to a 1 ( good kids, but their level of English warranted a 3 at best), came to check and see what grade I had given them.  I had, in fact, succumbed to their request, because at least they asked.  At least they cared a little bit.

So, I told them so, and one gave me a great big, spontaneous hug. That was nice.

Friday I’ll have my last class with the 5th graders, and then I hope to never set foot in that school again.

My son asked me a couple of days ago why I write a blog every day and I had to think about it for a moment.  I’ve been doing it for long enough now – over 2 years – that part of it is just habit.  I could no more not write a blog than I could go a day without coffee, or TV, or facebook.

I suppose I could go for a couple of days without TV if I had to.  If I never watch another cop show for the rest of my life I wouldn’t be bothered, and History channel has way too many shows about people buying and selling junk, or doing stupid jobs, or working on cars.  Watching people talk about cars on TV is every bit as boring as listening to people talk about cars in real life.

Anyway, the original reason is because I like to write.  I want to be a writer, and writing a blog is good practice, it is a way of pumping out the words and hopefully it will eventually come so natural that I can sit down and type out a 400 page novel without even thinking about it, and that would probably be a lot better than something I did think about, because once I start thinking about stuff, the word flow slows down, the stream of consciousness starts to ice up.

As the discerning reader may have picked up by this point, I don’t have a real topic to write about tonight.

Glad to hear that Michael Schumacher is out of his coma.  6 months is a long time and most people who are in a coma for 6 months do not come out of it, but I guess medical science is advancing and apparently, it has been a controlled coma for a couple of months now.

I’m not a fan, I think Formula 1 is about the most boring sport on the planet, more so even than golf or snooker, if you want to watch a bunch of cars driving by, just stand by the side of the road and watch, anywhere in the world, it’s the same view.  But, he seems like a decent sort and I’m glad he’s alive.

I streamlined my facebook page greatly today, and didn’t need to defriend anybody.  I just blocked Zimbio, because I really don’t give a rat’s ass what anybody’s Game of Thrones character name is.

I’m watching a show now called Amish Mafia.  Seriously?  I don’t know.  You can’t believe everything you see on TV any more.

I watched an episode of Star Trek today.  But it wasn’t an episode of Star Trek.  It had all the characters from the original: Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Uhuru, Chekhov, Sulu.  It took place on the Enterprise, in that universe.  But it was a completely new episode, with different actors.  Thank goodness for that, I suppose.  All of the original actors are really old, and at least one of them is dead.

The Same, But Not The Same

It was kind of amazing, in a way.  Not in the way that it was great.  In the way that it happened at all.  This is a new concept, a new wrinkle in TV show production and, possibly, the way of the future.  I’m not putting any bets on that, not just yet, but possibly.

It is a totally amateur project, written and produced by a Super Trekkie.  It sticks really close to the original as far as sets, costumes, cliches, and plot formulas.  I think.  Like I say, I just saw one, but that’s enough to give a quick review.

Which is this: it’s interesting, and I may watch a couple more episodes, but there’s something to be said for hiring professional actors and scriptwriters.  I don’t think this is actually going to be picked up by any TV stations.  Still, it’s out there on the internet and millions of people will see it, and some may become fans.  Hell, even Voyager has people who think it was the best Star Trek series ever.*  Not many, but I’m sure there are some.

But, it’s the very fact that it’s a totally amateur production that makes it amazing.  The TV executives do not have total power any more.  Watching this, somebody is probably being inspired to write new episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, or Gilligan’s Island, or The Dukes of Hazzard.  Some will be a lot more amateurish than this.  Some will take greater liberties with the original formats.  Some will be hysterical in ways their creators don’t intend.  And some might be absolutely fantastic.

*The Next Generation, of course, was the best.  This is simply a fact.