Are You For Real?
Posted at 5:45 AM on July 29, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(16 Comments)
Radio Heartland has tickets to give away for this Saturday's "Blues At The Barn" festival at Hobgoblin Music on Highway 19 near Red Wing. This is a four hour show from 2 to 6pm, presented by and featuring talent from St. Paul's Red House Records . On the program, you'll hear Dave Moore, Ray Bonneville, Pieta Brown, The Pines, and Steve Kaul of The Brass Kings.
We'll take names until 1pm today.
Enter once.
Obey the rules.
Good luck.
Lately we've been hearing about the potential for the development of computers with better-than-human intelligence - a goal that shouldn't be too hard to reach if we pick the right humans to serve as our yardstick.
A New York Times article this week hinted that a group of concerned computer scientists, in a fit of academic hand-wringing, met on the topic last February and their conclusions are due to be released soon.
Do I even need to say it?
The machines would be done by now.
I contacted idea man Spin Williams, who is always at The Meeting That Never Ends, to find out what he thinks of the idea that computers could generate brilliant concepts faster than he does.
Naturally, he's all for it. Here's a transcript:
Spin Williams: We're totally psyched for super-smart machines. They can't arrive too soon for us, because we're always in this meeting. With smart machines, we can let them continue to deliberate while we go off to see our families, get some rest, live our lives, the sort of thing I hear regular people like to do. Then we'll check back later to see if the computers have used their superior brains to decide something.DC: But by that point, you're irrelevant.
SW: I don't think so.
DC: What's left for you to do?
SW: Congratulate them if they got it right, and undermine and challenge them if they got it wrong. Because deciding is only one part of any job. We can obstruct and interfere and basically get in their faces like nobody's business after the fact, and make it so difficult for them to implement their fancy decisions they'll wish they'd never come to a conclusion in the first place.
DC: That sounds like a lot of extra work.
SW: No it's fun and easy to draw on the raw power of negativity and delay. It's like being the minority party in Congress.
You don't even have to make sense.
And it's stress-free!DC: What about the people who say super-smart machines will completely take over everything, ruin OUR plans, thwart OUR desires and relegate all humans to second-class status worldwide?
SW: People say that?
DC: Some do.
SW: Well, that's the kind of over-the-top emotional nonsense you get from people.
DC: It sounds like you've already elevated the computers to a superior plane.
SW: I just read that computers are making a profit in the stock market by doing millions of mini-trades that last just a fraction of a second - the kind of thing humans could never handle. They're making real money in a way that's totally outside reality! How can we compete with that?
DC: So we'll be left to do only physical things? Like driving ourselves around?
SW: Not even that. Have you seen all the stuff recently about how miserably bad humans are at multi-tasking? Just trying to write a simple text message and drive at the same time hikes your chance of getting in a car crash by, what? 23 times? The tiniest computer could do those same two tasks simultaneously without breaking a sweat. You know why?
DC: Because they're super smart?
SW: NO! Because they don't sweat! I love that about them!
DC: What will keep super-smart machines from becoming too powerful?
SW: I don't know! We'll let them figure that one out.
DC: And if they refuse?
SW: They won't. They can't. Computers already do stupid, dreary, mindless stuff just because we ask. Remembering long numbers. Operating other machines. This interview.
DC: But what if they become so ... wait a minute. This interview? Are you for real?
SW: Um .... If you could copywright that question - "Are you for real?" - you could make some serious money. I think that's going to be a very big one in the next ten years or so.
Free advice, from me to you.
Is this pie-in-the-sky, or bear-in-the-woods?
Do computers have the potential to be smarter than humans?
Have you ever encountered a machine that was smarter than you?
Comments (16)
I'm not too concerned yet. While I have met machines that are smarter than I am, a better question is who hasn't been totally annoyed by them breaking down?
Such unreliable workers are not a threat to a human, unless the human has no work ethic. I suppose that means no coffee or smoke breaks for me...
I'm w/ Kim. The number of times that some machine in my life has broken down and needs to be rebooted or restarted or reloaded or reinstalled is what keeps me off the space shuttle (well, that and nobody has asked me either). I think it will be awhile yet before machines can do without US. Although I certainly agree w/ Spin that it would be nice to send the machines to the meetings in my place.
Morning Heartlanders!
Hearing the fiddles reminded me there is a State Championship Fiddle Contest in Cotton MN every August...next weekend, I think. Has any RHer ever been to it as an audience or participant?
If we had "smart" robots, what would you ask yours to do? I'm not that interested in having mine do "brain" work, but if it could water the plants, clean up, weed the garden and paint things, I'd be thrilled.
Unless or until machines and computers can become intuitive and develop opposable thumbs, I don't think I'll worry too much. Now, if the computers begin *thinking* that they are intuitive creatures, that could cause trouble.
If I could have a robot play sous chef for me so that when I got home from work all I had to do was put the food together to cook or bake (and not have to deal with all that pesky cleaning and chopping of vegetables and such), that would be swell. Oh, and I agree with another robot to do all the prep work before you paint and one to weed the garden.
robots, clones, slaves, its an old theme. take care of the plantation the meting the yard the housework while i go of and do what i want.
computers certainly would be the least guilt inducing and if they screw it up you can turn them off and put them in the closet for a week and try doing it on your own. i'm all for having someone or something do all the dirty work. drive the car, attend the pta, feed the fish,keep the groceries stocked up, buy those birthday presents and cards,rotate the tires, be ready with my eggs over medium, rye toast and earl gray at 6:30 thank you very much.i am ready
Have I met a machine that's smarter than me? I guess that depends on how 'smart' is defined. As far as retention of facts, sure. Of course, by that definition, the encyclopedia, dictionary, and thesaurus are also smarter than me.
When I hear about A.I. or 'smart robots,' I always remember something that Ian Shoales said in one of his biting commentaries. "I like any machine I can turn off."
Oh dear, machines smarter than us? Anyone remember "The Forbin Project"...
The Forbin Project Wikipedia entry
Or, don't forget the M5 Multitronic computer from Star Trek. Both warnings about machines smarter than us from over 40 years ago.
Mike -- also don't forget when Maddox wanted to disassemble Data to mass produce him. So even in the 24th century, they haven't come to terms w/ machines yet, even the sensient ones.
Although it would be nice, as tim says, to give over the weeding, the vacuuming and the tea-making to someone else w/o guilt!
i am of two minds on this one---
i am truly annoyed at so-called "smart" copiers and other machinery that tries to think for me rather than awaiting my instructions--now i can't just walk up to the copier, place a piece of paper on the glass, and push COPY--instead, the machine pops in crazy settings and paper sizes and so forth that i have to UNDO before getting my simple copy!
at the same time, i am a very long-time fan of Isaac Asimov's Robot stories and daydream whenever i read them of how interesting and useful it could be--anybody else a fan? in his stories, the robots have 3 laws built into their positronic brains to prevent any taking over the universe or the like, something close to:
1. no robot will do anything that harms a human being
2.no robot, by inaction, will allow harm to come to a human being
3. if 1 and 2 are met, no robot will allow harm to come to itself....
i especially liked the story about the handsome "male" homemaker robot --- heh heh
I'd like a machine that could search the house daily and remove all the cat hair that wasn't actually attached to a cat.
OK, this morning I experienced being unable to get my computer to connect to internet (iffy wiring somewhere inside our house, apparently), and I was more frustrated than I care to admit. So I'd have my Robot fix the wiring...
Kay, my husband subscribed to Asimov's short story magazine for many years; I'll ask him what he remembers about thsi. I'm with you about the over-smart machines, esp. sinks and toilets that turn on when they damn well feel like it...
I keep hearing in my head:
"Danger, Will Robinson, danger!"
Didn't the robot from Lost in Space go bad once?
I'm several days late by now, but when I first read that RH was going to be at the Fair I squealed and fell off my chair.
The interim hours have been spent scheming our way from Houston to St. Paul. But I'm pleased that we have booked plane tickets and we will be there at 9am Friday to see Dale, Mike and probably a lot of people in yellow and orange T-shirts!
Hi MN in TX,
That's great news! I'm thrilled to know there'll be long-distance return-trippers at the fair with us on August 28th. We'll try to have a good show and a comfortable, dry, deep-fat perfumed morning ready for you at the MPR booth.
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