Machines Like Us – Science News

At a website called Apperceptual I came across a list of 21 open problems facing Artificial Intelligence research.

Good afternoon,

I recently saw (again) a movie I very much like called The 13th Floor, in which the characters are faced with the question: what is real? Turns out that there's a whole lot of virtual reality going on.

I pose a question before the group at MLU: Is there no room at the table of the devout theist or the devout atheist for conviviality around the conversational marketplace of ideas?

I've seen people spout off about how "if you like religion so much, there are tons of other places for people like you. Why don't you go somewhere else?" and nonsense like that.

Check out this article:

http://tinyurl.com/yqeevn

This article reports on the anticipated creation of artificial
life from the ground up. All information needed
to create this new life would be artificially (i.e., human)
created.

I emphasize the word information.

Just read this entry by Mano Singham. Very well done and highly recommended. I'm not sure I'm sold, but it does give food for thought.

There is only one piece of it that I have a problem with.

Let me start off acknowledging that I write as a layman. I have no august titles to augment respect. I have no vast accomplishments. I just have gall. Deal with it.

There seems to be a great prejudice against all things religion on this site. I think that this is misguided at best and more likely arrogance of a kind most unbecoming a scientist.

I'm not a religious person. The only time I ever go to a church is when I'm obliged by social convention to attend a baptism, funeral, or wedding. I feel a bit like a wolf in sheep's skin when I go, and fight the urge, often unsuccessfully, to answer with silly or snide comments when asked as part of the audience if I accept Jesus into my heart, or if I reject Satan and sin. (As an aside, I consider it the mark of an enlightened being to accept all parts of oneself, even the parts that are considered immoral. Of which I have none, of course, but you know, hypothetically.)

Norm tells me a few people have commented on the bit in his interview with me, where I say that simulations are not yet a substitute for the real world. The general opinion seems to be that this is close to not being true, mostly thanks to better physics engines.

I just want to publicly state my appreciation to Mano Singham for the consistent high quality of his writing here on Machines Like Us. Being an atheist myself, I am truly grateful for his remarkable, in-depth analysis of not only the subject of atheism but religion, evolution, and a variety of scientific topics. We need more like him!

Hi all. I'm the world's laziest blogger, but I promised Norm I'd try to post here sometimes. First of all I'd like to thank Norm for a wonderful site. He puts a huge amount of effort into it and it really shows. Norm and I met physically for the first time a couple of weeks ago (after being email buddies for several years) and it was a real pleasure.

A news article today shows why exercise boosts brainpower. Apparently, physical activity helps build new brain cells in the dentate gyrus, a region of the hippocampus linked with memory and memory loss. Here's an excerpt:

Marvin Minsky, in his new book called The Emotion Machine says that understanding emotions like love are essential if we are ever to create thinking machines:

Somewhere I heard that AI guru Steve Grand makes an appearance in the bonus features section of the iRobot DVD -- answering questions about artificial intelligence. I don't own a copy of the DVD; can anyone confirm this?

It's nice being the first person to use a new blog...lots of room to stretch my legs. It will be interesting to see how things progress in this news area and in the forums.