Skynet is coming.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 1:06 pm

People have been worried about loosing jobs to machines since the beginning of the industrial revolution. But despite advances in labor saving machines, human labor remains a resource of value.

Yepp, I see it the same way.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:18 pm

Oven Man

This is an interesting tale.

MoSup's friend was telling her about her new kitchen, which included a Kitchen Aid oven. After a short while she noticed that the oven wasn't cooking properly. A little further detective work reveled that the oven was lowering the temperature on its own. She called the Kitchen Aid, and the repair guy came and tested it. Yes, her oven was lowering the set temperature, and he would have to get back to her with a solution.

A few days later a call on her phone messenger informed her the problem had been electronically corrected by Kitchen Aid, and she should have no further problem. And she didn't. Save for the cold chill up her spine, knowing that an appliance manufacturer had somehow gained access into her kitchen, by means she knew not.

Brave New Kitchen.

http://curmudgeonlyskeptical.blogspot.c ... tchen.html

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 2:29 am

Neuroscientists successfully control the dreams of rats. Could humans be next?

Looking ahead, the researchers believe that this simple example of dream engineering could open up the possibility of more extensive control of memory processing during sleep — and even the notion that selected memories could be either enhanced, blocked, or modified. Wilson is also aiming to develop new approaches to learning and behavioral therapy through similar kinds of cognitive manipulation.

http://io9.com/5940068/neuroscientists- ... socialflow

paperburn1 · Post by **paperburn1** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:00 am

Diogenes wrote:Neuroscientists successfully control the dreams of rats. Could humans be next?[/b

Looking ahead, the researchers believe that this simple example of dream engineering could open up the possibility of more extensive control of memory processing during sleep — and even the notion that selected memories could be either enhanced, blocked, or modified. Wilson is also aiming to develop new approaches to learning and behavioral therapy through similar kinds of cognitive manipulation.

Inception.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 1:56 am

Well it is VERY limited...

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 2:10 pm

paperburn1 wrote:
Diogenes wrote:Neuroscientists successfully control the dreams of rats. Could humans be next?

Looking ahead, the researchers believe that this simple example of dream engineering could open up the possibility of more extensive control of memory processing during sleep — and even the notion that selected memories could be either enhanced, blocked, or modified. Wilson is also aiming to develop new approaches to learning and behavioral therapy through similar kinds of cognitive manipulation.

Inception.

When I posted that, I seriously thought about posting it under the "Inception" thread.

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:42 am

Researchers develop technique to remotely control cockroaches (w/ Video)

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:49 pm

DARPA’s Cheetah Robot Bolts Past the Competition

DARPA’s Cheetah robot—already the fastest legged robot in history—just broke its own land speed record of 18 miles per hour (mph). In the process, Cheetah also surpassed another very fast mover: Usain Bolt. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, Bolt set the world speed record for a human in 2009 when he reached a peak speed of 27.78 mph for a 20-meter split during the 100-meter sprint. Cheetah was recently clocked at 28.3 mph for a 20-meter split.

So, running away is out.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:26 pm

DeltaV wrote:DARPA’s Cheetah Robot Bolts Past the Competition

DARPA’s Cheetah robot—already the fastest legged robot in history—just broke its own land speed record of 18 miles per hour (mph). In the process, Cheetah also surpassed another very fast mover: Usain Bolt. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, Bolt set the world speed record for a human in 2009 when he reached a peak speed of 27.78 mph for a 20-meter split during the 100-meter sprint. Cheetah was recently clocked at 28.3 mph for a 20-meter split.
So, running away is out.

Beat me to it.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 12:46 am

Robots at War: Scholars Debate the Ethical Issues

Voice 1: Want me to take the other truck out?

Voice 2: Roger ... Wait for move by the truck.

Voice 1: Movement right there ... Roger, he's wounded.

Voice 2: [No hesitation] Hit him.

Voice 1: Targeting the truck.

Voice 2: Hit the truck and him. Go forward of it and hit him.

[Pilot retargets for wounded man.]

Voice 1: Roger.

[Audible weapon discharge—wounded man has been killed.]

http://chronicle.com/article/Moral-Robo ... of/134240/

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:57 pm

DARPA shows off Big Dog ground drone to USMC Commandant

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Sun Sep 30, 2012 12:13 am

Next generation military robots have minds of their own

‘Skinless Terminator’

Indeed, the Pentagon’s progress toward fielding autonomous robotic systems has been agonizingly slow, concluded a recently released report by the Defense Science Board, a panel of defence experts that advises senior Pentagon leaders. They placed a large part of the blame for a lack of autonomous robots on misperceptions about what autonomy means.

“Unfortunately, the word ‘autonomy’ often conjures images in the press and the minds of some military leaders of computers making independent decisions and taking uncontrolled action,” the report notes. And even though the reality is often much more prosaic—such as having a robot flip over on its own—those concerns have still served to limit the military’s willingness to embrace autonomy.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2012092 ... themselves

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:51 am

Professor: Drones Will Soon Be Able To Kill During War Without Human Assistance

Ronald Arkin, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, believes that drones will soon be able to kill enemies on their own independently.

“It is not my belief that an unmanned system will be able to be perfectly ethical in the battlefield, but I am convinced that they can perform more ethically than human soldiers are capable of,” Arkin told AFP.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/10/ ... ssistance/

hanelyp · Post by **hanelyp** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:46 pm

http://gizmodo.com/5923980/the-secret-g ... -about-you
Tricorder tech, with ominous implications in the wrong hands.

One question is can it tell the difference between a drug user, pusher, and an innocent guy who walked past a user smoking? Is the cocaine trace on that dollar bill evidence of dealing, a bill that happened to be handled by a dealer or user some time in the past, or transfer? In short, will trace short of reasonable probable cause be used to justify detention or search?

DeltaV · Post by **DeltaV** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:11 pm

The CIA and Jeff Bezos Bet on Quantum Computing

Google Collaborates with D-Wave on Possible Quantum Image Search (2009)

Google Puts Its Virtual Brain Technology to Work

"We are seeing better than human-level performance in some visual tasks," he says, giving the example of labeling, where house numbers appear in photos taken by Google's Street View car, a job that used to be farmed out to many humans.

Today's Google searches are tomorrow's Skynet database.