Cats and Weather

A rainy morning. Another one. We cannot get out of this rainy spell. They are not stormy rains. It is kind of like we are getting another month of February drizzle, but humid. The cats must feel like I have it in for them. Of course, it is spring, so that this should not be especially surprising, but it is somewhat unusual for us in these droughty times. It's probably a good thing, and one shouldn't complain, but the cats make life a little difficult and murder sleep.

Ex Machina

"Ex Machina is the movie Her on steroids."

-- Marcello Gleister, "Are We To Become Gods, The Destroyers Of Our World?" at NPR.org

Mr. Gleister writes that "Ex Machina" gives us a new angle on the fear of robots taking over humankind. Instead of simply overpowering our intellect, a sexy robot could manipulate us on an emotional level, seducing us into slavery or ruin.

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In his thoughtful book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, philosopher Nick Bostrom cautions of the dangers of AI, comparing our fate to that of the gorillas: The same way that we can decide whether gorillas live or die, an advanced AI can do the same to us.

Ex Machina explores the theme, coupling it to another variable we don't see in most philosophical or scientific analyses: It's not just the smarts of the machine that can lead us to our demise; it, also, can have sex appeal and seduce us in ways that are more emotional than intellectual. We all have certain ideals of beauty. A smart machine can figure those out and make itself irresistible. Rationally, we may want to destroy it; but emotionally, we can't.

[...]

Are we far from strong AI? Yes. But the efforts are out there and, if some predictions are right (some are known to have been wrong), it will be here in a matter of decades. The question then becomes whether two intelligences can co-exist. If our past and present history is any indication, and if the fate of the Neanderthals did indeed have something to do with the emergence of the Cro-Magnons (us) during the late Paleolithic, the future doesn't bode well.

-- M. G.

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In other words, be afraid, be very afraid. Personally, I am willing to take my chances if I can have a hot sexbot. I might sacrifice humanity, if I could enjoy just one ideal week with a dream-lover, a beauty who thinks I am beautiful.

Porn

I can't believe it! Well ... it shouldn't be that difficult to believe. I shot the whole morning down by wanking to Internet porn. I had seriously thought that old age might at least tone down this embarrassment. Or maybe 50 isn't quite old enough. Maybe its the sixties that slow this down. I probably shouldn't complain, though. This is as close as I come to enjoying a sex life. I'm not really doing anything better with my time anyway. In the end, which probably isn't that far off, these wank sessions will have to be counted as my fun times. Thank god for the Internet! I'd hate to be masturbating to Swank magazine or bland mainstream American porn-DVDs.

General Hospital

Reading my Freinds Page, I see that someone has posted on ONTD that Anthony Geary is leaving the soap Opera "General Hospital", and Genie Francis, his Laura, is actually returning to the show. Wow, this quickly drops one back 35 years. Those Yokota days. We only had one TV station that played American programming, and I became a "General Hospital" fan, for a while. This was when the show struck up some controversy and fame when Luke, Geary's character, raped Laura, after which they fell in love and got married. To think that these characters are still playing three decades later ... soap operas really are their own universe. Time, where does it go?

[Source: ONTD]

Red Wedding

Wow ... so, that's what they were talking about. A few years ago the members of the PolitiCartoons community were all abuzz about "The Game of Thrones" and the shock of the Red wedding. Now I understand why. The Stark family just doesn't seem to have anything going for them. Aside from the nudity and sex, and the violence, I see that part of the secret formula for George R. R. Martin is a fearlessness in killing off favored characters. There is a bracing note of authenticity in that. Martin is definitely not afraid to kill off his darlings.

My Shower

I did it! I got around to scrubbing my shower, in addition to my toilet, but I am reminded of how demoralizing it is to still have to look upon a pretty disgusting shower even after a good cleaning. There is a difference though, and it is worth the effort. This is a poor man's life, but it would be difficult to maintain that I deserve better.