AI, ML technology and the Metaverse 👾

[billybutcher]

Hmmm - in order to have a 10, or 20, or 30 year plan needs a totalitarian government: Discuss.

Meanwhile given that the Labour government is facing the same problems as the Tory government and has not magically come up with a new way of political thinking is anyone actually surprised that their solutions look like the Tory ones with a slightly more human face (and a smidge more of a chance of success - but only a smidge).

[_Brian]

@Susannah

Early fiction had a malevolent ‘Hal’ show up

I presume that’s HAL from Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick’s collaboration, 2001, A Space Odyssey (book and film).

HAL was indeed a representation of a machine with Artificial Intelligence and the name HAL has been stated to stand for ’ Heuristically-programmed Algorithmic Computer’.

There is, however, another story (possibly apocryphal) that Kubrick approached IBM to act as technical consultants on the film and they refused outright. In a typically Kubrickian (is that a word?) act of revenge, he decided to name his malevolent computer the IBM 9000 - but moved each initial one place forward in the alphabet.

[billybutcher]

False according to Wikipedia - in Clarke’s own words:

…about once a week some character spots the fact that HAL is one letter ahead of IBM, and promptly assumes that Stanley [Kubrick] and I were taking a crack at the estimable institution … As it happened, IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence

[_Brian]

Well there you go. Serves me right for believing what I was told by one of the special effects team who worked on the film.

[billybutcher]

@_Brian

Well there you go. Serves me right for believing what I was told by one of the special effects team who worked on the film.

The quote above is only as reliable as Wikipedia (i.e not very).

[Susannah]

I expect if you asked Ai Bing or other, it will say the same.

Then we can call that answer an hallucination

[Ancient_Mariner]

I have a feeling this gets mentioned in one of the sequels, with the joke that they were staying 1 jump ahead of IBM, but it’s been a long time since I read them (they’re not Clarke’s finest work).

[billybutcher]

@Ancient_Mariner

1 jump ahead of IBM

Wouldn’t that be JCN?

[Ancient_Mariner]

Direction of travel depends on personal perspective.

[Bonzocat]

@_Brian

Serves me right for believing what I was told by one of the special effects team who worked on the film.

Who’s right, the special effects team or Wikipedia? I edited Wikipedia recently to incude Richard Attenborough’s acting role as the ‘Old Gentlmen’ in the 2000 TV film ‘The Railway Children’. Not mentioned by Wikipedia, but it is now. I’ve seen the TV film.

Maybe Wikipedia needs another edit?

[_Brian]

@Bonzocat

Who’s right, the special effects team or Wikipedia?

Clearly Wikipedia I’ll carry on telling my story though as it amuses me and reminds me of a very skilled sfx guy I worked with a few times

[John_Scully]

@billybutcher

IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence

Unlikely that IBM would have got involved at all Billy, IBM Legal would have had issues.It was a very strait-laced organisation in the sixties (and seventies and eighties and the first half of the nineties ). Actually until Gerstner shook it up, and saved it.

I also don’t believe “HAL” was a coincidence. No more than it was when I named my boat nearly twenty or so years ago Note the eight bar logo.

Edit: Though I also doubt there was any “revenge” aspect to the name either. IBM was just THE dominant computer manufacturer at the time. It had a market share greater than that of its competitors, the BUNCH, (Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data and Honeywell) combined. The name HAL, IMHO, was just a nodding acknowledgement of that.

[billybutcher]

@John_Scully

Unlikely that IBM would have got involved at all Billy,

@John_Scully

Though I also doubt there was any “revenge” aspect to the name either. IBM was just THE dominant computer manufacturer at the time.

So quite likely it *would* have been involved - especially as their logo is seen numerous times throughout the film - eg in this scene which I just grabbed randomly from a copy of the movie

at the bottom of the monitor

Such placement of IBM’s logo would not have been possible without IBM’s agreement so the part about their help at least rings true (the Wikipedia article goes on to say IBM did have cold feet about the rogue computer aspect but were happy in the end that no IBM equipment was shown to malfunction).

[John_Scully]

I hunted these two letters down. One is referenced in an Slate article referenced in the Wiki, but the link is broken. I eventually found the two of them in an article in the Atlantic.

So there were conversations with IBM and other advisors. Caras’s letter reflects the views of the IBM PR guy, I suspect TJ Watson and IBM Legal’s views may have been different because I don’t remember seeing a credit, or maybe Kubrick decided not to have credits at all.

Anyway, the relationship between IBM and the film’s makers seems amicable. But I still think HAL was deliberate, for whatever reason. If it really was a Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer then it should have been a HPAC 9000, which I think sounds much better. I buy a HPAC over a HAL any day.

[billybutcher]

@John_Scully

Anyway, the relationship between IBM and the film’s makers seems amicable. But I still think HAL was deliberate, for whatever reason. If it really was a Heuristically Programmed Algorithmic Computer then it should have been a HPAC 9000, which I think sounds much better. I buy a HPAC over a HAL any day.

I suspect HAL was chosen as it is more like a first name

[John_Scully]

Yes I agree.

[Bonzocat]

I bought a Bluetooth sound-bar speaker for my computer, a step towards eliminating cables (!), and I emailed the manufacturer querying their smartphone equalizer app. which wasn’t working according to their instructions.

I write this in that I think their response to my email was AI generated.

“Thank you for your response. We appreciate your detailed explanation and understand the issue you’re facing with Bluetooth conflicts.

Your approach of first connecting the app to the speaker to make adjustments with the equalizer, and then disconnecting the app before connecting the computer to the speaker, makes perfect sense. This method ensures that the equalizer settings are saved within the speaker, allowing you to enjoy the customized sound from your computer without any conflicts.

We apologize for any confusion caused by our previous instructions. Your solution is a practical workaround for managing Bluetooth connections and maintaining your preferred sound settings.

If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for your understanding and for being a valued customer”.

AI will be doing a lot more of this in the future. I’m certain this is a reply from something other than a human technician.

[ChrisMann]

@Bonzocat

Thank you for your understanding and for being a valued customer”.

To paraphrase the German playwright Hanns Johst:

"when anyone calls me a valued customer, I reach for my revolver!’

(Wenn ich Kultur höre … entsichere ich meinen Browning!)

[Bonzocat]

I listened to an article written by a NYT’s correspondent, but spoken by an automated voice. Most artificial voices I’ve heard are clearly artificial. But they’re getting better! This automated voice was so convincing that I wouldn’t have known had the article intro not announced it. The tone, pitch, cadence etc sounded OK to me over 30 minutes of it - I was listening to an experienced narrator reading out loud an article written by someone else. But not so!

I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing. But is does deprive speakers from a job. BBC book at bedtime?

[John_Scully]

Starmer should use the technology. He sounds like woodener at the best of times, as does Reeves