How far would you trust a robot? – or how we need to be intelligent about Artificial Intelligence
October 21st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A couple of weeks ago, I did a long posting about my attendance at the first day of an event called FutureFest – a series of speeches about different aspects of the future. One the the addresses was by Berlolt Meyer, a German social psychologist with a bionic left hand to compensate for a birth defect. He posed interesting questions about some of the ethical issues raised by robotics.
This week in Brighton, the fourth EuCogIII members’ conference is set to tackle just these sort of issues. The kind of questions that will be debated include the following:
Driverless cars
■ Who pays damages in an accident?
■ Should children and the elderly be allowed to ‘drive’ them too?
■ Should such cars have to obey current road rules, such as speed limits?
Intelligent prostheses
■ Will robotic enhancements give users an unfair advantage?
■ Should intelligent prostheses be available to the able-bodied?
■ Who decides whether you should be allowed a prosthesis?
Social robots
■ Could faults in or hacking of intelligent robots cause physical harm to users?
■ Will intelligent robots redefine the roles of teachers, carers and others?
Implanted devices
■ Will intelligent implants mean the end of privacy?
■ Who will technically own the device and its data?
■ Will implants make exams worthless, as inherent ability becomes blurred?
Medical assistants
■ How far should doctors trust intelligent systems?
■ Who gives consent to sharing medical records with intelligent systems?
■ Will intelligent systems be able to democratise access to the best diagnostic medicine?
You can read more here.
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
Hail the conquering hero: family triathlon star returns in glory
October 20th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A week ago, I did a posting about how one of Vee’s nephews, David Rowe, had successfully competed in this year’s annual World Ironman event in Hawaii. Last night, he returned home to London and five family members – plus banner – were there to greet and congratulate him.
Just a reminder of what David achieved. First, he swam 2.4 miles (3.9 kms) in 1 hour 4 minutes 50 seconds; then he rode a bike for 112 miles (180 kms) in 5 hours 23 minutes 24 seconds; and finally he ran a marathon of 26.2 miles (42 kms) in 3 hours 54 minutes 31 seconds.
David’s mother Mari, brother Martin and auntie Vera
welcome him and his wife back to Heathrow Airport
David with wife Sharon and
luggage including his bike
Roger with David’s World Ironman medal
– the closest he’ll ever get to owning one
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
Why the brain is more efficient than any current computer – and how future computers will behave more like our brain
October 19th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Ninety-nine per cent of a computer’s volume is devoted to cooling and powering. Only 1% is used to process information. By contrast, the brain uses 40% of its volume for functional performance – and only 10% for energy and cooling. And the human brain is 10,000 times more dense and efficient than any computer today. See how clever you are?
So IBM is trying to develop ‘bionic’ computing staring with ‘electronic’ blood. Just imagine the computers that wiil be available to your children and your grandchildren.
More information here.
Posted in Science & technology | Comments (0)
How Christian is Britain today – and do you believe in miracles and angels?
October 18th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
We think of Britain as a Christian country, but a new poll commissioned by the Christian think tank Theos suggests that only 59% identify themselves as Christian.
However, many people still have spiritual beliefs. Among the other findings, 8% said they or someone they knew had experienced a miracle, while one in four expressed a belief in angels.
You can read more about poll findings here and my own philosophical views are summarised here.
Posted in British current affairs, My life & thoughts | Comments (0)
Blog Action Day – and our viewing of the play “Chimerica”
October 16th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Around the globe, today is Blog Action Day and this year’s theme is human rights. Coincidentally this afternoon, my wife and I made a too rare visit to the theatre in central London. We went to see an amazing play called “Chimerica” written by Lucy Kirkwood (who has never actually been to China).
It is all about the massacre of human right protestors in Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989 and offers a very original take on the so-called tank man who stood in front of army tanks carrying a couple of plastic bags. In the process, the play examines the relationship between the USA and China – hence the term ‘chimerica’. A sharp script, an inventive set design, and excellent acting make this a superb production.
The play finishes at the Harold Pinter Theatre this week but you can read a review here.
Nobody outside China yet knows the full truth about that day and its aftermath and most people in China have virtually no knowledge of the event thanks to rigorous censorship. I have been to China three times since 1989 and each time visited Tiananmen Square [for my first visit, see here]. I can never forget and I can never forgive.
Posted in Cultural issues, History | Comments (0)
A five-minute video to raise your spirits – with thanks to the performers and Beethoven
October 15th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Obama stands firm as Republicans back down
October 14th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“Now is the time to lance the boil of Republican extremism once and for all. Since Obama became president, the extremists who have taken over the Republican Party have escalated their demands every time he’s caved (when he extended the Bush tax cuts through the end of 2012, offered spending cuts and then a Super Committee and sequester to get the debt ceiling lifted in 2011, permanently extended the Bush tax cuts for incomes up to $400,000 to avoid the fiscal cliff of 2012, offered a “chained CPI” and Medicare cuts in 2013). This time, though, Obama didn’t cave — at least, not yet. And now, with the government shuttered and the nation on the verge of defaulting on its debts, public opinion has turned sharply against the Republican Party. And the GOP’s corporate and Wall Street backers are threatening to defund it.
Suddenly the Republicans are acting like the school-yard bully who terrorized the playground but finally got punched in the face. They’re in shock. They’re humiliated. They’re trying to come up with ways of saving face. With bloodied noses, House Republicans are running home, abruptly turning negotiations over to their Senate colleagues. Their demand to repeal or delay the Affordable Care Act has vanished. Now, it seems, negotiations over the federal budget deficit are about to begin once again. But keeping the government running and paying the nation’s bills should never have been bargaining chits in the first place, and the President and Democrats shouldn’t begin to negotiate until they’re taken off the table. The question is how thoroughly President Obama has learned that extortionist demands escalate if you give in to them.”
Quote from Facebook page of American economist Robert Reich.
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)
Our David: the world class triathlon star
October 13th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Vee’s nephew David Rowe is an amazing athlete who has run marathons and even performed in triathlons around the world. This weekend, he achieved new heights of success by competing in the Ironman World Championship which was held this year in Kona, Hawaii.
First, he swam 2.4 miles (3.9 kms) in 1 hour 4 minutes 50 seconds; then he rode a bike for 112 miles (180 kms) in 5 hours 23 minutes 24 seconds; and finally he ran a marathon of 26.2 miles (42 kms) in 3 hours 54 minutes 31 seconds. He was on the go for a staggering 10 hours 29 minutes 27 seconds.
David is utterly AMAZING and, boy, does he deserve that medal.
David with his medal
You can read all about his training and performance here.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (0)
A review of the new film “The Fifth Estate”
October 13th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Julian Assange and WikiLeaks are the subjects of this challenging movie which I have reviewed here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)
Republicans under pressure to back down on US financial shutdown
October 12th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that by a 22-point margin (53 per cent to 31 per cent), the public blames the Republican Party more for the shutdown than President Barack Obama – a wider margin of blame for the Republicans than the party received in the poll during the last shutdown in 1995-96.
Republican opposition to agreeing a budget unless Obama’s health care legislation is halted has boomeranged on them. The health-care law has become more popular since the shutdown began. Thirty-eight per cent see the Affordable Care Act (or “Obamacare”) as a good idea, versus 43 per cent who see it as a bad idea – up from 31 per cent good idea, 44 per cent bad idea last month.
Hopefully the Republican Party will pay an electoral price for its blackmail tactics. The poll reveals that one year until next autumn’s mid-term elections, American voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress to a Republican-controlled one by eight per centage points (47 per cent to 39 per cent), up from the Democrats’ three-point advantage last month (46 per cent to 43 per cent).
Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)