artificial intelligence
The future of artificial intelligence.
Dr. Hans Moravec's Robotic Future
Dr. Hans Moravec was perhaps the world's most vocal advocate of humanlike robots: creations resembling us that could theoretically live forever—and make us obsolete. As the author of a controversial book that proposed that robots replace the human species, Moravec was able to start arguments almost at will. He even went so far as to say that God (as he understands him) is probably using computers to design earth species. He was completely unconvinced by how traditional religions explained the future of human beings. If you explain the human condition in terms of continual progress, it's easy to look at humans evolving into robots.
By James Lizowski9 years ago in Futurism
5 Science Fiction Heroes Who Hate Science
What's a hero supposed to do when they are written into a story they don't seem to want to even be in? When they're rudely stuffed into a space ship and launched to Alpha Centauri...but they really only want to chill at a backyard BBQ?
By Matt Cates9 years ago in Futurism
AI in the Automotive Industry
The integration of artificial intelligence in the automotive industry has allowed manufacturers and consumers to redefine what it means to own a car. What we consider a car may soon be a thing of the past. Is a car still a car if you don't drive it? Up until recently, the driving experience has been the most important part of a vehicle. Every control in your car has been ergonomically designed to keep you balanced between feeling comfortable and staying focused on the road ahead. Now imagine a car with no steering wheel. Self-driving cars are already a reality with manufacturers like Tesla on the road to offering drivers the ultimate hands-off driving experience.
By James Lizowski9 years ago in Futurism
Artificial Intelligence and Politics
Many of us won’t be around when the time comes that artificial intelligence completely infiltrates the White House and runs our government. In the meantime, we are relying on artificial intelligence to predict the next President of the United States. With the increase in technology and social media constantly at our fingertips, it seems like the 2016 election is more in your face than ever, making the outcome all the more important, and instantaneous.
By Lindsie Polhemus9 years ago in Futurism
The Science Fiction of Music
My first novel, Big in Japan, is about a neurotic American prog-rocker coming of age in Japan. My second, Jellyfish Dreams, is about a biologist’s quest to reanimate his dead fiancée at the instigation of a black hole beneath his sofa. Readers who’ve read both books usually remark on how different they are, but I don’t see it that way. For one thing: crazy artist, mad scientist—same difference. For another, even if you agree with (a quote I’ve seen attributed to) sf comics genius Warren Ellis that “Prog rock was sick and wrong then and it is sick and wrong now,” one can’t deny that prog drinks as liberally from the sf well as it does from the epic and fantasy ones. And so, a primer on some of history’s more salient prog-sf conjunctions:
By M. Thomas Gammarino9 years ago in Futurism
Reviewing Charlie Brooker’s ‘Black Mirror’, Season 3
When Black Mirror first hit television screens in 2011, it was a quintessentially British creation. Episode 1, The National Anthem, shows an upstanding prime minister blackmailed into live sexual intercourse with a pig. The public responds with cynicism and ironic detachment, mocking the man on twitter, as the media scrambles for a scoop. The episodes that followed continued the condemnation of British culture – Brooker had given us a black mirror, reflecting us at our very worst. In Fifteen Million Merits he showed us powering the workings of an authoritarian regime, bombarded by advertising with an X-factor style talent show our only means of salvation. In White Bear, the justice system has been replaced by a sickening spectacle of psychological torture, with amnesiac criminals forced to relive their crimes, as children watch on. In The Waldo Moment, he shows a disaffected public voting a foul-mouthed CGI bear into office, rather than careerist politicians. The result is a degeneration into violence and fascism.
By Ed Venables9 years ago in Futurism
Space
In a recent Omni article, "New Words Were Needed," I looked at some of the commonalities between modernism and science fiction. After inventorying some of the ways science fiction transposes modernist formal concerns to the level of story, I wrote, "And those are just some of the techniques of modernism; I won't even mention postmodernism."
By M. Thomas Gammarino9 years ago in Futurism
The Sci-Fi Museum Lover's Bucket List
If you’re a true fan of science fiction, whether campy or classic, space opera or speculative fiction, Star Trek or Jules Verne, you probably can’t get enough of the worlds your favorite characters inhabit, the clothes they wear, and the technology they wield. Lucky you, because some of the most exciting artifacts and memorabilia are exhibited in carefully curated museums around the world, and the momentum is building for even more. Check out this bucket list of already-existing sci-fi museums and exhibits, then get ready for two world-class museums coming to Hollywood, California and Washington D.C. in the years to come.
By Sarah Quinn9 years ago in Futurism
Greatest Artificial Intelligence Characters
The Sci-Fi and Pop Culture genres are often found on vastly different paths with many light years of distance between them, but once in a while they collide. When they intertwine, we usually end up with some of the greatest Artificial Intelligence characters in history has seen. Sometimes these characters are symbolized through a grim and pessimistic future, where machines are capable of feeling a wide range of emotions. They also have a survival instinct that leads them to try and take over the world. In other instances, they are lovable and friendly and able to connect with humans. Even though they are programmed not to feel any kind of emotions, most times we feel some sort of connection to them. Whatever the case might be, these great artificial intelligence characters were designed and programed to make you remember them.
By George Gott9 years ago in Futurism
Balancing Fears of Artificial Intelligence with Sci-Fi
“Let me put it this way, Mr. Amor. The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error." - HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey
By Will Stape9 years ago in Futurism
All Advanced Aliens Are in Happiness Boxes
POSTULATE: A sentient is his brain, and his brain only. When the sentient’s brain dies, the sentient dies too. The sentient stops perceiving the Universe, and the Universe stops perceiving the sentient. The sentient’s feelings, thoughts, and personality all go to zero, and the sentient vanishes from the Universe forever.
By Jeffrey A. Corkern9 years ago in Futurism
