Uncategorized – CHARLES GILLINGHAM

Characters

Systems of information and human consciousness Maybe the mind and the self are a kind of system of information or a pattern, analogous to the software and structured data in a computer. It’s not physical, it’s an arrangement of a set physical things that represents an information system. This has the advantage over the metaphysicalContinue reading “Characters”

The I in “AI”

Intelligent behavior It’s weird that in a set of articles about AI, I’m only finally getting around to talking about what the field of A.I. research has to say. This article relies the leading AI textbook, part Bible and part encyclopedia: Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig’s Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Intelligence Professional and academicContinue reading “The I in “AI””

The Stepford Scenario

Three children sitting on a wooden porch step outside a house, with a girl on the left in a green sweater, a boy in the middle in a striped shirt, and a younger boy in an orange shirt reaching towards the camera

Human sympathy and human essence Consider this thought experiment, which is a variation on the 1972 movie “Stepford Wives”. (This version works better for parents.) Of course I’ve done something wrong. If this was a movie, we would expect you to fight to death to get your children back. That’s the only way this movieContinue reading “The Stepford Scenario”

The Paradox of Mary and Mark

Young boy and girl smiling, girl wearing smart glasses with cameras

On subjective consciousness This is a variation on Frank Jackson’s thought experiment “Mary’s Room” (1982). This much of the argument should convince you that you believe subjective consciousness is real. There is nothing confusing or mysterious about the concept. You know exactly what I mean when I say “there is a difference between knowing whichContinue reading “The Paradox of Mary and Mark”

Ghosts and Other Invisible Stuff

Metaphysical consciousness and the human essence. The characters in Ghost in the Shell struggle to understand their “ghost” — their actual self, the real person beneath all the cybernetic enhancements in their bodies, brains and bloodstream. Major Motoko Kusanagi: Maybe all full-replacement cyborgs like me start wondering this. That perhaps the real me died aContinue reading “Ghosts and Other Invisible Stuff”

Requiem for the Turing Test

Human simulation and human essence (an addendum) In 1950, Alan Turing argued that if a machine had the ability to perfectly simulate human conversation, it would be reasonable to say that “the machine can think”. We say that the machine that can do a perfect simulation of a human being has “passed the Turing Test”. TuringContinue reading “Requiem for the Turing Test”

The Tell

Human behavior and Human essence Consider these pivotal moments from sci-fi films about AI and human simulations: Joanna: Bobbi, stop it. Look at me. Say I’m right. You are different. Your figure’s different, your face, what you talk about, all of this is different. Joanna is able to detect something about the machine that tellsContinue reading “The Tell”

The Sixth Day: on the moment when ai comes alive

Here’s a couple of examples of a common trope in science fiction. Terminator II: Judgement Day (1991): The Terminator: “… [Skynet] goes online on August 4th 1997. Human decisions are removed from Strategic Defense. Skynet begins learning at geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. eastern time August 29th. In a panic they triedContinue reading “The Sixth Day: on the moment when ai comes alive”

Considering Samantha

On human essence Let’s talk about the movie Her — a work of genius that goes right to the heart of a number of issues in the philosophy of artificial intelligence. The prediction at the center of the film — that a human simulation would become the world’s most popular program and people would becomeContinue reading “Considering Samantha”

Data on the History of Transportation

Trains 1804 2.4 Trevithick’s locomotive 1825 15 Locomotion No. 1 1829 30 Stephenson’s Rocket 1830 40 Northumbrian 1838 45 GWR North Star 1847 78.2 Great Western “Iron Duke” 1854 81.8 Bristol & Exeter No. 41 1889 89 Crampton (Type 80) 1890 90 Hardwicke 1893 100 Empire State Express No. 999 1903 126 Siemens & HalskeContinue reading “Data on the History of Transportation”