The Great Geek Manual

For Armstrong, the AI we should be afraid of is not the “beatable humanoid robot we see in the movies” but rather a computer program or even a digital avatar that has been freed from our “biological limitations” to demonstrate “skills and abilities beyond what is considered to be human”; whether the ability to plan centuries ahead, to see patterns that we cannot or to link instantly to the internet, or even the social skill of “being always able to say the right thing at the right time” to get what it wants without humans even realising the game play. “AI would be able to use its superpowers to accumulate vast fortunes on the stock exchange, or even ‘be Google’, as AI would be cheaper and more productive than the human workers currently employed. It could even be a Super Clinton or Super Goebbels, able to take over by persuading us to let it.” Or it may gain more powers that we have not even thought of, given that “the space beyond human intelligence is vast”.

Luke Muehlauser agrees that AI is a threat, but believes that a friendly AI can be built that would “be benign to humans”. “Any intelligence is dangerous, and any intelligence that doesn’t share your goals is doubly dangerous, and any constraint we could devise for the AI merely pits human intelligence against superhuman intelligence, and we should expect the latter to prevail. That’s why we need advanced AIs to want the same things we want.

“So friendly AI is an AI that has a positive rather than negative effect on human beings. To be a friendly AI, we think an AI must want what humans want. Once a superintelligent AI wants something different than we want, we’ve already lost.”

- “AI uprising: humans will be outsourced, not obliterated” by Mark Piesing, May 17, 2012.
Originally posted by Wired UK.

There are currently two major revolutions occurring: the enlightenment of man and the awakening of computers. What’s incredible is that they are intertwined in their quest for information and knowledge. The more powerful computers become, the easier it is for man to access information. The better information we have, the better computers we make, and so on.

We have no way of knowing precisely what will happen with our brains. We may lose all feelings, or we might gain extra-human senses that allow for beauty to be not only recognized, but lived within.

It’s looking ahead that allows us to create effective constructs for living. In a time where many things are uncertain, we must individually live with an openness to change in order to feel secure in our lives. Learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

- “Zach Puchtel: The Future Is No Place for Fear” by Zach Puchtel, May 7, 2012.
Originally posted by The Huffington Post.

With Marvel’s new Avenger’s movie out, audiences are going blockbuster movie crazy, what with the dazzling shots and expensive special fx. For most no-budget independent moviemakers it would be an expensive feat to duplicate, but for Patrick A. Prejusa all he needs is a camera, a computer, some orange juice bottles, and a roll of duct tape.

Patrick is making his own blockbuster movie called REDD, an ambitious sci-fi / action / adventure project featuring what looks like expensive special fx. REDD uses no-budget tricks like building monsters out of cardboard and duct tape, space ships from orange juice bottles and coffee cans, and various other tricks to produce cinematic quality fx.
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The next wave of digital products won’t just be about archiving the web; they’ll be about destroying the archive.

- “Forget About It: Making the Internet More Like Our Brains” by Megan Garber, May 8 2012.
Originally published by The Atlantic.

Yeah, this is happening to a lot of people this week.

Comics

• 10 High-Risk Sci-Fi/Fantasy Careers

Cross-Media

• 10 Coolest Fictional Asteroids of All Time

Film

• Interview: The BBC meets the cast of Snow White and the Huntsman and learned how they were shrunk to fit the part.
• Interview: Damon Lindelof Talks LOST Homages, 3D, and Hints at Further Sequels During PROMETHEUS Twitter Q&A
• Interview: Idris Elba Confirms He’s Returning for THOR 2
• Interview: Joss Whedon talks Avengers sequel
• News: ‘The Avengers’ is officially the 9th biggest film of all time globally, passing ‘Alice In Wonderland’ and ‘Star Wars Episode 1′
• News: Robert Downey Jr. ‘Avengers’ pay set to hit $50 Million.
• The Avengers trailer as a Lego remake
• io9 picks the 10 Best Time Travel Movies of All Timelines
• Why the Avengers is the best TV show in movie theaters: The AV Club’s Todd VanDerWerff examines what t.v. lessons Joss carried into the film world.

Read the rest of this entry » » »

The importance of learning to code isn’t so that everyone will write code, and bury the world under billions of lines of badly conceived Python, Java, and Ruby. The importance of code is that it’s a part of the world we live in. I’ve had enough of legislators who think the Internet is about tubes, who haven’t the slightest idea about legitimate uses for file transfer utilities, and no concept at all about what privacy (and the invasion of privacy) might mean in an online space. I’ve had enough of patent inspectors who approve patents for which prior art has existed for decades. And I’ve had enough of judges making rulings after listening to lawyers arguing about technologies they don’t understand. Learning to code won’t solve these problems, but coding does force engagement with technology on a level other than pure ignorance. Coding is a part of cultural competence, even if you never do it professionally. Alsup is a modern hero.

- “A federal judge learned to code” by Mike Loukides, May 16, 2012.
Originally posted to O’Reilly Radar.