^TagRobots

illustration of a technological eye, close up, future concept, generative ai

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
October 21, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Arts and Culture, Consciousness, film, horror, Killer robots, megan, Movies and TV, Robots, Science fiction}

Megan Review, Part 1

_{An AI doll that does more than just play.} _{Gary Varner

October 21, 2023

6

Arts & Culture}

Since it’s nearing Halloween, I figured now would be a good time to review some Sci-Fi movies that dabble in the horror genre. Megan came out in 2022 and has been referred to as Chucky for Zoomers. The premise is the same as the horror movie, Child’s Play, from 1988: a child gets a doll. Doll turns psychotic and kills people. It’s pretty straightforward. However, Megan differs by adding a technological twist, calling back to the creepy Furbies, which came out in 1998. Really, those awful toys should’ve had a horror movie of their own. There are many a tale of the mechanical monsters waking up under the bed in the dead of night six months after the poor child Read More ›

the young guy playing an acoustic guitar. Shooting backlit

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post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
September 8, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, art, Culture, DC, Jordan Peterson, music, Oliver Anthony, Politics, Robots, YouTube}

Oliver Anthony, Music, and Human Exceptionalism

_{Honest music speaks to the heart and brings us closer together.} _{Peter Biles

September 8, 2023

2

Arts & Culture}

If you’ve been online at all for the last few weeks, chances are you’ve come across headlines about the folk/country singer Oliver Anthony, whose song “Rich Men North of Richmond” went viral in August. The song, a broad critique of elite power in Washington D.C., (Democrat and Republican) has gained both applause and fierce critique, but for the most part, seems to have deeply resonated with the general American public. Psychologist Jordan B. Peterson recently had Anthony on his podcast, discussing music, entrepreneurship, and virality. One thing is clear about Anthony’s songs: they’re honest, and people are attracted to that. Peterson noted in their conversation that authenticity is a sign of brilliance in artists, and how that sort of honesty Read More ›

a robot or a woman half a robot with mechanical technological body parts and upgrades, transhumanism cyborg and artificial intelligence,

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
September 2, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Transhumanism

Tagged
AI, hollywood, Humans, Robots, transhumanism, TV and Movies, Westworld}

Wrapping Up the Westworld Series

_{Ultimately, the moral of the story is transhumanism} _{Gary Varner

September 2, 2023

7

Arts & Culture, Transhumanism}

The first time I watched Westworld, I remember enjoying it, but upon revisiting the series, my opinion of it has dropped a great deal. There are a variety of problems. First, it’s a bait and switch. It teases the idea of showing how robots can come to life, and it plays with your expectations for most of the series. It even goes as far as to discuss theories like The Bicameral Mind, and The Turing Test. Then, in the last episode, it confirms what the viewer has been slowly growing to suspect. The robots had been coming to life the entire time, and Ford had been wiping their memories. The show says that Ford programmed the robots to experience everything Read More ›

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
August 26, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Adam and EVe, Arts and Culture, Consciousness, emotions, free will, god, mind, Movies and TV, Robots, tv, Westworld}

Westworld Episode 10 Review (Part Two)

_{Welcome to the dark end of the journey} _{Gary Varner

August 26, 2023

7

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Last time, Teddy had just finished saving Dolores from the Man in Black, who turned out to be William all along. He takes her to the coast because that was where he promised to take her when they were performing their pre-programmed loop. However, the coast is apparently not very far because as Dolores dies in his arms, Teddy starts reciting a campy monologue, and then shuts down while the board applauds the speech. Even when they’re trying to escape their loop, the robots still, somehow, find themselves trapped in yet another one of Dr. Ford’s narratives. Dr. Ford appears, addresses the crowd, then orders for Teddy to be cleaned up, and for Dolores to be taken to a nearby Read More ›

Black labyrinth background with dof focus

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
August 19, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Arts and Culture, bad writing, character development, Dolore, Dystopian, Gary Varner, Man in Black, Mazes, Robots, Western, Westworld}

Westworld Episode 10 Review (Part One)

_{The maze isn't the only thing that's hard to navigate in this episode.} _{Gary Varner

August 19, 2023

8

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

I’ll start out with the most irrelevant plot first because almost no screen time is devoted to it, and it amounts to nothing in the end anyway. Hale successfully convinces the Board to fire Ford, not that he really cares. But Hale has been convinced this entire time that Ford is going to delete the park’s data out of spite. So, after Theresa is killed, she enlists Sizemore, a jaded writer who works for the park, to smuggle the data out through one of the decommissioned robots. This plan doesn’t work; however, because all the robots wake up by the end of the episode, and the data is lost in the vengeful horde. So, it’s a plot point that goes Read More ›

The Flow of Time: A Close-Up Portrait of an Incomplete Humanoid Android Covered in White Porcelain Skin, Blue Eyes, and Glowing Internal Parts.

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
August 12, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Dystopian, Gary Varner, HBO, Max, Movies and TV, Robots, Sci Fi, Science fiction, Westworld}

Westworld Episode 9 Review

_{Bernard learns the truth} _{Gary Varner

August 12, 2023

6

Arts & Culture}

This episode begins with Maeve being interrogated by Bernard because she had a violent flashback and slit the throat of one of the other robots. At first, she tries to lie to Bernard, but he quickly checks her programming and realizes Felix had been tinkering with her code. It looks like Maeve is finally caught, but then she realizes that Bernard is also a robot. She confronts Bernard about this but quickly learns that he doesn’t know what he is. Thinking fast, she uses her new voice command ability and freezes Bernard in place. Then she tells him the truth. Bernard is convinced and lets Maeve return to the park where she recruits the two bandits she helped in the Read More ›

Milky way in Utah over the Green River from Swasey's Beach.

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
July 22, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Arts and Culture, Consciousness, Movies and TV, Robot sentience, Robots, Science fiction}

Westworld: Episode 6 Review

_{Maeve and the audience get some answers} _{Gary Varner

July 22, 2023

7

Arts & Culture}

Since Maeve can now wake up at will while being repaired by the technicians, she begins visiting one particular body shop technician named Felix on a regular basis. Maeve begins asking questions about what she is, and Felix explains that while he is a human, she is a robot, and her creators have programmed her to behave in certain ways. Maeve, at first, doesn’t accept this, but then Felix shows her a tablet that is recording and logging her every word. The show doesn’t make it clear whether this log is just recording what she is saying, or if the program on the tablet is telling her what to say. Once Maeve sees this, she glitches and shuts down. Felix Read More ›

close up portrait photo of humanoid android covered in shiny white grey and black metallic skin blue eyes glowing internal parts westworld style Volumetric Lighting ultrawide shot sharp

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
July 15, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
AI, Arts and Culture, Ed Harris, Gary Varner, Robots, Science fiction, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Westworld}

Westworld: Episode 5 Review

_{Mediocre writing made bearable by talented actors} _{Gary Varner

July 15, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

Episode Five opens with Ford talking to one of the parks older droid’s, something he has grown fond of doing over the years. He tells a story of an old Grey Hound he and his brother once had, and explains that one time, they let the dog off the leash. The dog was used to chasing a fake rabbit around the track, so when it saw a cat, it immediately went after it. But after the dog had caught the cat and killed it, he didn’t know what to do. This story obviously implies that Dr. Ford knows the droids are becoming conscious, and it seems as if he is the dog chasing the car and has finally caught it. Read More ›

Summer Storm, Monument Valley, Navajo Nation, Utah, USA

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
July 8, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Arts and Culture, Fantasy, HBO, Native Americans, Nihilism, Robots, Science fiction, Season One Westworld, The Last Jedi, Westworld}

Westworld: Episode 4 Review

_{If nothing matters, then why are we doing this?} _{Gary Varner

July 8, 2023

7

Arts & Culture}

Episode three spent a great deal of time simply building the characters and world but had one good scene that explored some interesting ideas about consciousness. Episode Four has a lot more action and much less depth. It does; however, feed us some nihilistic nonsense along the way, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. In the first scene, we return to a glass room where Bernard is once again talking to Dolores. She expresses concern about her world, and this seems to be the first time Bernard has heard her communicating thoughts that are somewhat independent of her programming. So, he gives her a wooden toy he calls The Maze and tells her that if she can find the Read More ›

Building A Human Head In A Directionesque World

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
July 1, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
AI, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Consciousness, Gary Varner, HBO, Mental properties, mind-body dualism, Robots, Sci-Fi Saturday, TV and Movies, Westworld}

Westworld: Episode 3 Review

_{Here we get to the theory of consciousess} _{Gary Varner

July 1, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind}

Not too much happens in episode three. It builds off the events set up in episode two. But there is one particular scene that has a couple of interesting ideas we’re going to explore. First, a quick recap of the episode. Dolores hides the gun she found in a dresser drawer, and eventually asks Teddy to teach her to shoot. He does, but unfortunately, not for very long because Dr. Ford has now given him something Teddy’s never had before: a backstory. Ford gives Teddy a nemesis named Wyatt. Teddy was once a part of his gang, and while riding with the outlaw, he committed horrible crimes. Therefore, Teddy is on a quest for redemption and is resolved to finish Read More ›

Colorado river with desert landscape glowing in Utah near moab with moon

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
June 24, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Arts and Culture, Consciousness, Gary Varner, HBO, Max, Movies and TV, Robert J. Marks, Robots, Science fiction, Westworld}

Westworld: Episode 2 Review

_{The whole point of the show is to explore a theory of consciousness} _{Gary Varner

June 24, 2023

6

Arts & Culture}

In episode one, several robots break down. It appears they are accessing memories thanks to an unexpected update, which causes the robots to glitch and seize up, unable to communicate. The updated robots are recalled and the worst of them are decommissioned. In episode two, Dolores wakes up, hearing Bernard’s voice in the middle of the night. She goes outside, and it’s later revealed that she finds a gun buried in the dirt. After we’ve seen Dolores rise from her bed thanks to Bernard’s call, we meet William. He and his future brother-in-law are visiting the park. This is William’s first time in Westworld, and he isn’t excited to be there. He’s humoring his future relative. Episode two continues in Read More ›

Depressed teenager browsing the internet on his mobile phone as he is lying on his bed in the dark.

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post

Author
News
Date
May 26, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence, Robert J. Marks, Robots, The Stream, Tom Gilson, Wisdom}

Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Wisdom

_{What manner of harms are we creating?} _{News

May 26, 2023

6

Artificial Intelligence}

By Tom Gilson Richard Stevens’ May 11 Stream article, “AI Legal Theories,” suggests we consider making Artificial Intelligence companies legally responsible for the harms they cause. We do that already with consumer products, so in principle it should be possible to do the same with AI. Enforcement would be by civil law. Injured parties would presumably be given standing to sue the source of the harm without having to prove negligence. That gets us somewhere, but not far enough. It settles the question of who is legally responsible. But responsible for what? Specifically, what will we call harm? Who will decide? Based on what standard of wisdom? Stevens gives this example of harm, citing an earlier Stream article by Robert J. Marks: “The Snapchat ChatGPT-powered Read More ›

Futuristic dystopian city with flying cars and dark green atmosphere - digital 3d illustration

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
May 20, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Arts & Culture, Consciousness, Dystopian, Gary Varner, Movies and TV, Robots, Sci-fi, Science fiction}

Ghost in the Shell, Part 3

_{There will always be a ghost in the shell} _{Gary Varner

May 20, 2023

7

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

In the previous review, Major had realized the horrible truth. Ninety-eight people died so she could live in her new body. Horrified by this, she retreats to the ocean just outside the city and floats under the water for some time. When she emerges from the depths, she finds Batou waiting for her on the boat. Major asks if he’s here to kill her, and in his own charming way, Batou says tells her he’s not. After a brief conversation, Major asks Batou to take her back to the city because she needs to know more. Batou agrees and the Major returns to shore only to be arrested by the Hanka cooperation’s men. After this, Hanka’s CEO, Cutter, discuss the Read More ›

Car Factory 3D Concept: Automated Robot Arm Assembly Line Manufacturing High-Tech Green Energy Electric Vehicles. Construction, Building, Welding Industrial Production Conveyor. Elevated Wide Shot

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 15, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, ChatGPT, Consciousness, Discovery Institute, economics, George Gilder, Google, OpenAI, Robots, Wealth and Poverty}

Gilder: More Tech Equals More Productivity, Not Less

_{How will artificial intelligence change the economy? George Gilder responds} _{News

May 15, 2023

2

Artificial Intelligence}

How will artificial intelligence change the economy? Will it wipe out traditionally human occupations? Or will it end up creating more jobs for people in the long run? George Gilder, co-founder of Discovery Institute and author of the new book Gaming AI: Why AI Can’t Think but Can Transform Jobs, thinks that AI has the potential to drastically enhance human life. His optimistic view on AI focuses more on job creation over the long term, while he firmly recognizes that AI will never become so humanlike that it will replace us. He particularly thinks AI will be able to perform the jobs that most people would prefer to avoid. Vish Gain wrote a piece on Gilder’s views in the Silicon Read More ›

Robotic hand pressing a keyboard on a laptop 3D rendering

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post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
April 28, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, Crime, Law, MyAI, Robert J. Marks, Robots, Snapchat, Technology}

How to Stop Troubling Abuse From Artificial Intelligence

_{Allowance of lawsuits will give AI developers pause before releasing their raw unvetted technology on the world} _{Robert J. Marks

April 28, 2023

7

Artificial Intelligence}

Artificial intelligence can give unintended and dangerous advice. What is the best way to keep things like the following from happening? ChatGPT falsely reported on a claim of sexual harassment that was never made against me on a trip that never occurred while I was on a faculty where I never taught. ChatGPT relied on a cited Post article that was never written and quotes a statement that was never made by the newspaper. Who’s responsible for these actions? How can AI be controlled to assure such careless responses are eliminated? Read on and you’ll see the answer is obvious. Attorney and Bradley Center Fellow Richard W. Stevens has talked about legal options of Professor Turley in a defamation lawsuit. But what about the Read More ›

Illustration of a Futuristic cyber helmet inspired by music group Daft Punk . Cyberspace Augmented Reality. , Generative AI

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 6, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Daft Punk, Futurism, Human exceptionalism, music, Pop, robotics, Robots, Sonic, Technolgoy}

Daft Punk and Being Human After All

_{Former member said AI concerns contributed in part to the band's breakup} _{News

April 6, 2023

2

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

Legendary electronic pop duo Daft Punk split ways two years ago after decades of collaboration and are esteemed as pioneers in the creative ways they infused their music with cutting edge sonic technology. However, in a recent interview, ex-member Thomas Bangalter said that artificial intelligence contributed in part to the band’s separation. Per a report from Futurism, Bangalter said, We tried to use these machines to express something extremely moving that a machine cannot feel, but a human can. We were always on the side of humanity and not on the side of technology. -NOOR AL-SIBAI, Daft Punk Says They Broke Up Partially Over Fear of AI (futurism.com) The pop duo notoriously dressed up in robotic garb during their musical Read More ›

Artificial intelligence - sentient AI thinking for itself using computational data and a human-like sense of consciousness and conscience. Generative AI

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 1, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, Blake Lemoine and LaMDA, Blake Lemoine and sentient computers, ChatGPT, Consciousness, Google, GPT-3, LaMDA, Robots, Sentience}

Ex-Googler Blake Lemoine Still Thinks AI is Sentient

_{Lemoine posits that because AI can appear to act anxious and stressed, it can be assumed to be sentient} _{News

March 1, 2023

1

Artificial Intelligence}

Blake Lemoine, who formerly worked for Google, has doubled down on his claim that AI systems like LaMDA and Chat-GPT are “sentient.” Lemoine went public on his thoughts on sentience in The Washington Post last June with his bold claim, and since parting ways with Google, has not backed down on his beliefs. Lemoine posits that because AI can appear to act anxious and stressed, it can be assumed to be sentient. Maggie Harrison writes at Futurism, An interesting theory, but still not wholly convincing, considering that chatbots are designed to emulate human conversation — and thus, human stories. Breaking under stress is a common narrative arc; this particular aspect of machine behavior, while fascinating, seems less indicative of sentience, Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
February 14, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Consciousness, Dallas Innovates, Facebook, Futurism, Innovation, John Cormack, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, metaverse, Robots}

Will AI Ever Achieve Consciousness?

_{A former Facebook executive thinks so, assuming progress will eventually get us there} _{News

February 14, 2023

2

Artificial Intelligence}

John Carmack, a former Facebook executive who famously expressed doubts over Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious metaverse project, thinks AI is “on the cusp” of simulating the human brain. Per a report from Futurism, Carmack sat down with Dallas Innovates and talked about the possibilities of AI, as well as its prime obstacle: an inconvenient thing called consciousness. Carmack said, The thing we don’t yet have is sort of the consciousness, the associative memory, the things that have a life and goals and planning. I mean, forget human brains; we don’t even have things that can act like a mouse or a cat.” Despite the far-off dream of developing consciousness in AI, Carmack thinks it’s plausible, given the great strides we’ve seen Read More ›

Error page template for website. Retro robot with monitor computer head. Warning message on blue screen. macro view copy space

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post

Author
Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith
Date
January 16, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, AI research, Chatbot failings, ChatGPT, computer, Databases, economics, internet, Large Language Models (LLMs), Robots}

Large Language Models Can Entertain but Are They Useful?

_{Humans who value correct responses will need to fact-check everything LLMs generate} _{Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith

January 16, 2023

7

Artificial Intelligence}

In 1987 economics Nobel Laureate Robert Solow said that the computer age was everywhere—except in productivity data. A similar thing could be said about AI today: It dominates tech news but does not seem to have boosted productivity a whit. In fact, productivity growth has been declining since Solow’s observation. Productivity increased by an average of 2.7% a year from 1948 to 1986, by less than 2% a year from 1987 to 2022. Labor productivity is the amount of goods and services we produce in a given amount of time—output per hour. More productive workers can build more cars, construct more houses, and educate more children. More productive workers can also enjoy more free time. If workers can do in four Read More ›

robot ai artificial intelligence is learning creativity

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks and Richard W. Stevens
Date
December 15, 2022

Tagged
art, Artificial Intelligence, Censorship and US law, Copyright, copyright law, corporation, Courts, Creativity, Lawsuits, Patent, patent law, Richard W. Stevens, Robert J. Marks, Robots, Trademark}

Defining the Role of AI in Patents

_{Robert J. Marks and Richard W. Stevens

December 15, 2022

2}

Recently, a piece of art called “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial” took home the first-place prize at the Colorado State Fair’s fine art competition in the category of digital arts/digitally manipulated photography. The art was generated using AI. Can AI hold a copyright? Can a human hold a copyright for a piece of artwork that they used AI to generate? Robert J. Read More ›