tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.comments2023-09-28T02:15:32.614-07:00Nick Cook – A Ramble Through an Oxford Author's Imagination and InspirationNick Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-66538759091391864822019-09-20T09:10:20.429-07:002019-09-20T09:10:20.429-07:00Hi Pete,
I have always tried to go for quality ov...Hi Pete,<br /><br />I have always tried to go for quality over quantity with this website. I also attempt to take some quite tricky subjects and make them as accessible as possible.<br /><br />Anyway, many thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />NickNick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-58075235527789543012019-08-06T06:08:49.161-07:002019-08-06T06:08:49.161-07:00The Musical Notes and the Universe of String Theor...The <a href="https://zullypascual.com/" rel="nofollow">Musical Notes and the Universe of String Theory</a> is very intresting and very informative.. Thanks for sharing such a blog.. keep sharing :-)NormanRClemmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17758641129158665205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-84079956688923033072018-08-02T08:41:04.933-07:002018-08-02T08:41:04.933-07:00Only four years late responding to this, Edie! For...Only four years late responding to this, Edie! For some reason Blogger didn't alert me to yoru comment. Anyway, I'm sure the moment has past but in case it hasn't. of course you can.Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-59921408343305982562017-03-23T08:35:50.200-07:002017-03-23T08:35:50.200-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.tonyonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08253501266473243514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-22611391467353548522016-08-15T17:25:27.112-07:002016-08-15T17:25:27.112-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.tonyonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08253501266473243514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-32504884436148060192016-08-15T17:25:04.540-07:002016-08-15T17:25:04.540-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.tonyonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08253501266473243514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-36995882179682578182016-03-31T14:21:19.668-07:002016-03-31T14:21:19.668-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.tonyonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08253501266473243514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-19517704557945642812016-03-18T16:21:54.582-07:002016-03-18T16:21:54.582-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.tonyonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08253501266473243514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-32186658844042821162016-03-16T12:43:45.559-07:002016-03-16T12:43:45.559-07:00It would be huge! With robotic and 3D printing tec...It would be huge! With robotic and 3D printing technology, maybe this time round it really will happen.Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-69101948220344702502016-03-16T12:42:44.452-07:002016-03-16T12:42:44.452-07:00I've always loved the idea of a space elevator...I've always loved the idea of a space elevator but the technical hurdles are huge. A mass driver on the other hand, that propels a mined load in a pod along a track and launches it back towards Earth, looks a far more straight forward proposition. And of course there is asteroid mining to be considered. Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-24942328323889385072016-03-16T08:42:25.956-07:002016-03-16T08:42:25.956-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.tonyonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08253501266473243514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-37631378763147429182016-03-16T08:27:17.436-07:002016-03-16T08:27:17.436-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.tonyonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08253501266473243514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-23344766441098698922016-03-11T09:38:26.632-08:002016-03-11T09:38:26.632-08:00It's something I've found to be increasing...It's something I've found to be increasingly true, the more I write. The problem is when you have metaphorical wax in your ears! ;o)Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-78698699537789951232016-02-28T00:48:06.774-08:002016-02-28T00:48:06.774-08:00Great insight. :)Great insight. :)Chitra Soundarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11459683357077199646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-88152526077669755182015-11-23T05:18:50.958-08:002015-11-23T05:18:50.958-08:00Thanks for the blog loaded with so many informatio...Thanks for the blog loaded with so many information. Stopping by your blog helped me to get what I was looking for. <a href="http://www.seamlesschex.com" rel="nofollow">Accept checks online</a><br />swaggyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01783156947281847959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-69122001931902790482015-10-24T06:51:17.142-07:002015-10-24T06:51:17.142-07:00It once happened to me in a coffee shop when I was...It once happened to me in a coffee shop when I was writing, which was a bit embarrassing! Oh how we suffer for our art! ;o)Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-9061576931007343802015-10-24T06:49:23.845-07:002015-10-24T06:49:23.845-07:00Been there Nick - as my farm office is also where ...Been there Nick - as my farm office is also where I write, it's been a bit strange for some of my staff wondering why I've tears streaming down my face when apparantly just working!Kathryn Evanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16439670363289229014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-72542608873252440572014-07-01T08:00:56.664-07:002014-07-01T08:00:56.664-07:00Now that's a philosophy I can totally agree wi...Now that's a philosophy I can totally agree with, Luca. I think what amuses as I mentioned in another comment, is how popular fiction likes to project the worse of our human traits onto these future AIs. Seriously? Why should they be megalomaniacs? Terminator has a lot to answer for! ;o) Surely a true intelligence will look a lot more enlightened than that?Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-75150680620096527752014-07-01T07:57:23.811-07:002014-07-01T07:57:23.811-07:00Oh now you've hit on a rich topic there, Alex!...Oh now you've hit on a rich topic there, Alex! I do believe the boundaries between man and machine will start to blur. We will augment ourselves at a increasingly break neck speed. I think Iain M Banks Culture series explored all sorts of fascinating ideas in this area. Life span may be greatly extended for example, but will throw up all sorts of resource issues. We are evolving and our technology is part of that evolutionary process. And that includes computers.Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-1285076240178380462014-07-01T07:51:55.493-07:002014-07-01T07:51:55.493-07:00Look forward to chatting to you then, Jim!Look forward to chatting to you then, Jim!Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-62884260941296717412014-07-01T07:51:03.713-07:002014-07-01T07:51:03.713-07:00Oh I must check that film out, Nick! I think the d...Oh I must check that film out, Nick! I think the dystopian view is far too entrenched in science fiction. It's the same school that always portrays aliens turning up to steal our planet's resources and exterminate us in the process. The small flaw in this pessimistic view is that the universe is actually extremely rich in resources. Why would they bother? Seriously? I think humanity has a knack for projecting the worst of ourselves onto things... be it AIs... be it aliens. Enough with the pessimism already! ;o)Nick Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00533479096188610743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-45174621550150542282014-07-01T00:34:54.263-07:002014-07-01T00:34:54.263-07:00Lovely piece Nick - and I would definetely agree w...Lovely piece Nick - and I would definetely agree with your assessment. Vinge did indeed blow my mind with the singularity idea, and its fundamental unknowability. My two cents worth start from the idea that such an intelligence (when it emerges, not if) should definetely be benign. In a way it would have developed without the fight-or-flight instinct that is typical of carbon-based beings on earth, so hopefully...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04456162628263632792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-19595078754694252762014-06-30T08:32:21.261-07:002014-06-30T08:32:21.261-07:00Fascinating to read this just after watching the f...Fascinating to read this just after watching the film <i>Her</i> which explores these issues and posits an mostly benign outcome. It's also an unusual film in the way that it presents an AI with highly developed emotional intelligence in the manner you propose (though there's no discussion about how this might actually be achieved!)Nick Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02571077124165351007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-78163985076028848972014-06-30T00:54:26.643-07:002014-06-30T00:54:26.643-07:00Great post, Nick. A good summary of the state of p...Great post, Nick. A good summary of the state of play with AI. Personally, I think the predictions are overblown. Turing thought his test would be passed by 2000. Apart from some interesting developments like Deep Blue's defeat of Kasparov in 1995, which was, let's face it, a case of superior number crunching, there's precious little evidence of AI developing anything remotely like human intelligence, nor any reason to believe why increased computer power is likely to generate it. Our intelligence - emotional and intellectual - isn't just a result of cerebral computer power anyway, but millions of years of evolution, which isn't something you can replicate with a bunch of algorithms. I don't think so anyway. More likely in my view than the technological singularity you speak of is a gradual merging of humans and machines. It's Ray Kurzweil stuff, I know, but I don't think it'll happen on anything like the short timescale he's speaking of. Maybe over hundreds of years, our human bodies will gradually be enhanced and augmented to make us stronger, faster, better at coping with stress and disease, etc, gradually turning us into gods.alex.woolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006446902387291405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8328938478149771357.post-43673529019455238942014-06-28T11:58:44.402-07:002014-06-28T11:58:44.402-07:00"Certainly today, rather than be afraid, we s..."Certainly today, rather than be afraid, we should embrace the incredible potential that our rapid developments in computing have brought us – from modelling the path of tornadoes, to working out a cure for cancer. And as fun as it is looking into the crystal ball at what a technological singularity might look like, let’s not lose sight that we live in the one of the most astonishing epochs our species has ever known."<br /><br />Here! Here! Let not our computerized reality be the drug that lulls us into complacency. Let not scientific advances be the excuse for ignoring the application of the scientific method.<br /><br />I'm really looking forward to July 9th. (And I hope I can, to some degree, be excused for asserting my own interpretation into Nick's thoughts, should that be the case.)<br /><br />Regards,<br />Jim McGinn<br />www.solvingtornadoes.comAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15274801270885149192noreply@blogger.com