The Zen of Technology & Scientific Discovery! (& Robots)

[Jakuden]

https://apple.news/A6YYATJM0SX-Y1HfND6pkxg In Europe apparently a good chunk of folks would just as soon have AI than a politician [emoji23]

Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday/LAH


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

Dear Fellow Humans,

Sekishi informed me this week (this is true, not April Fools) that he is now training an algorithm that does "machine learning," and wanted to feed all "[Jundo's] Treeleaf posts to a neural network and see if we can make a Robojundo just for fun." Sekishi found that, over the 12 years at Treeleaf, I have ...

- 24250 posts
- 38.7 megabytes of text

That means that "the machine learning algorithm is training on over 10 million lexical symbols (e.g. words, quotation marks, etc.) from that dataset." It will take several days for the program to get the hang of Jundo, he says, but here is the first mumbling from JUNDOBOT , as good or better than the so-called "wisdom" one usually hears from me.

Please think of the first part as a mysterious Koan, and the second part as my usual spiel ...

Yes, I would say that we can try to "flip off this bus" or "practice riding a skate". Just go slow. You will have your experiences, and you are just what you are.
~JundoBot, 2019-04-06

There you have it. Soon, no need for me around here at all. I can even program it to raise my kids and agree with whatever my wife says.

In other AI news ...

Europe is making AI rules now to avoid a new tech crisis


The European Commission on Monday unveiled ethics guidelines that are designed to influence the development of AI systems before they become deeply embedded in society.
The intervention could help break the pattern of regulators being forced to play catch up with emerging technologies that lead to unanticipated negative consequences.

... "People need to be informed when they are in contact with an algorithm and not another human being," said Gabriel. "Any decision made by an algorithm must be verifiable and explained."

An insurance company that rejects a claim based on an algorithm, for example, should ensure the customer knows how and why the decision was made. A human should be able to step in and reverse the decision.

Gabriel also said companies need to ensure their AI systems are fair. She said, for example, that an algorithm used in the hiring process that was produced using data from a company that employed only men would likely reject women candidates. "If you have biased input data, that really can be a problem," said Gabriel.

AlgorithmWatch, a non-profit group, said that while it's a good idea to put guidelines in place, there are problems with Europe's approach.

"The guidelines center around the idea of 'trustworthy AI' and that is problematic because it's not a well-defined term," said Matthias Spielkamp, the group's co-founder. "Who is to trust and who is to be trusted?," he added. He also said that it is not yet clear how future oversight will be handled.

Thomas Metzinger, a philosopher and professor at the University of Mainz, helped draft the guidelines but criticized them for not prohibiting the use of AI to develop weapons.

Others are worried about the impact the guidelines will have on innovation.

https://us.cnn.com/2019/04/08/tech/ai-guidelines-eu/index.html

... and ...

Who should get the credit for AI art?

Over the past few years, many artists have started to use what's called "neural network software" to create works of art.

Users input existing images into the software, which has been programmed to analyze them, learn a specific aesthetic and spit out new images that artists can curate. By manipulating the inputs and parameters of these models, artists can produce a range of interesting and evocative images.

This work has gained widespread recognition through gallery shows, media coverage and two high-profile art auctions.

https://us.cnn.com/style/article/ai-art-who-should-get-credit-conversation/index.html

Gassho, J [the flesh and blood version]

STLah

[Koki]

One of my favorite lines from a movie is from the movie Jurrasic Park, said by Jeff Goldblum. I've found this line has served me well, by providing occasion for deep retrospect.
I offer it here, for the same reason.
While looking at the DNA in a mosquito, to possibly make a dinosaur, Jeff said, " just because we have the technology to do something, did anyone actually ask...should we do it?"

Just sharing what I believe may be words to reflect on.

Gassho
Koki
Satoday

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[Kyoshin]

I tried flipping off a bus today. The driver seemed unhappy, but he moved on quickly.
Gassho
Nick
Satlah

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

Set to be announced today ...

The first-ever photo of a black hole

Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration will present a "groundbreaking result" from the project on April 10, according to a media advisory. ... Anticipation is building ahead of the event, which will feature simultaneous press conferences in cities across the world and live streams in different languages. ... The first target is Sagittarius A, the site of a supermassive black hole 26,000 light years away from Earth, and the second is at the center of a galaxy known as M87.

Black holes are made up of huge amounts of matter squeezed into a small area, according to NASA, creating a massive gravitational field which draws in everything around it, including light. ... In their attempt to capture an image of a black hole, scientists combined the power of eight radio telescopes around the world using Very-Long-Baseline-Interferometry, according to the European Southern Observatory, which is part of the EHT. This effectively creates a virtual telescope around the same size as the Earth itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKvZotc_6y0

Gassho, J

STLah

[Kyoshin]

I've been very excited about this news.
Gassho
Nick
Satlah

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[testingwithfire]

It looks like the livestream for the black hole image announcement is today at 9 am U.S. Eastern time.

Here's a tweet containing the National Science Foundation's livestream-to-be:

https://twitter.com/ehtelescope/status/1115909217486102529

[testingwithfire]

(previous post edited for start time, which is in a half hour from now)

Gassho,

Amy SAT-Lah

[Jakuden]

Cool! The New York Times says it looks like the Eye of Sauron. They’re not wrong [emoji15]
Gassho
Jakuden
SatToday


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

HERE IT IS!!!!

In April 2017, scientists used a global network of telescopes to see and capture the first-ever picture of a black hole, according to an announcement by researchers at the National Science Foundation Wednesday morning. They captured an image of the supermassive black hole and its shadow at the center of a galaxy known as M87.

This is the first direct visual evidence that black holes exist, the researchers said. In the image, a central dark region is encapsulated by a ring of light that looks brighter on one side. The massive galaxy, called Messier 87 or M87, is near the Virgo galaxy cluster 55 million light-years from Earth. The supermassive black hole has a mass that is 6.5 billion times that of our sun. For reference, that's larger than the orbit of Neptune, which takes 200 years to make one orbit around the sun.

"We have seen what we thought was unseeable," said Sheperd Doeleman, director of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration. "We have seen and taken a picture of a black hole."

https://us.cnn.com/2019/04/10/world/...scn/index.html

Gassho, J

STLah

[Gero]

Aah, once again a good example of how we "experience" the world: there is a dark spot encircled by lots of light ... that is about as far as mere perception goes. How can we deal with that? We use the concept of Black Holes, so we can classify and store away the perception of a dark spot surrounded by light.
Is it not crazy how Buddhism's concept of the Five Skandha explains how scientists apply another concept to a specific perception?


On the other hand: every scientific advancement which might bring us closer to functioning warp drives is most welcome to me as long time Trekkie.

Live long and prosper

Gero (sat today and lah)

[Jundo]

Hmmm ...

Just sayin'

Gassho, J

STLah

[Kotei]

Hello,
it's 55 million lightyears away... the light traveled 55 million years for reaching us...
So what we see is what it looked like 55 million years ago?
Fascinating...


Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Jundo]

Hello,
it's 55 million lightyears away... the light traveled 55 million years for reaching us...
So what we see is what it looked like 55 million years ago?
Fascinating...


Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

Which is also right now and here too, as all meets the eye.

Master Dogen had very fluid ways to express time.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Kotei]

Which is also right now and here too, as all meets the eye.

Master Dogen had very fluid ways to express time.

Gassho, J

STLah

Just reading Shinshu Roberts's "Being-Time" guide to Shobogenzo Uji... ;-)
Gassho, Kotei.