Humans Need Not Apply

[Abdul Alhazred]

Autonomous robot following general instructions, or is there a human pilot?

Very technically impressive either way, but relevant to the replacing humans issue.

[Rob Lister]

I'm seeing some real progress.

[Witness]

The rise of 'pseudo-AI': how tech firms quietly use humans to do bots' work

Using what one expert calls a ‘Wizard of Oz technique’, some companies keep their reliance on humans a secret from investors

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... -companies

So we'll have to fake being robots soon?

[Anaxagoras]

A robot that can moonwalk and shake its booty.

[Abdul Alhazred]

It may be shaking something, but I see no robot "booty" there.

Maybe in Japan.

[Witness]

Is artificial intelligence set to become art’s next medium?

AI artwork sells for $432,500 — nearly 45 times its high estimate — as Christie’s becomes the first auction house to offer a work of art created by an algorithm

https://www.christies.com/features/A-co ... 332-1.aspx



Meh.

[Witness]

Transkribus system makes breakthrough in understanding medieval texts

The Tyrolean State Archive in Innsbruck stores countless documents dating from the 11th century onwards — mostly official records, legal documents and other important handwritten documents from the past. Transcribing these books isn't easy. But this archive is working with scientists to automate the transcription using cutting-edge computer technologies.

"With difficult scripts I believe the new technique will have problems. But with relatively nice calligraphy, the new system has great advantages and helps us a lot," says the Director of the archive, Christoph Haidacher.

To digitise such books, scientists working on a European research project, READ, designed a simple-to-use system based on a specially-developed smartphone application: it detects when pages are turned and automatically takes high-resolution photos of each page.

"We use, of course, a combination of low-tech and high-tech. A dark tent is a relatively simple, low-tech accessory. But it works with a high-tech app running on a smartphone that is connected to the Transkribus platform: the app uploads the images to the server that performs the recognition of the handwritten text," says the READ project co-ordinator & Researcher in Digitalisation & Digital Preservation at the University of Innsbruck, Dr. Guenter Muehlberger.
[…]
The server at the University of Innsbruck uses machine-learning algorithms to teach the computer new writing styles. After users transcribe part of the text manually, the software engine learns to identify the characters and then finishes the task automatically with impressive accuracy - higher than 95% for historical documents independent of their language or writing style.

https://www.euronews.com/2018/10/29/tra ... ient-texts

[Grammatron]

[Abdul Alhazred]

If they can make one that puts a little more "feeling" in its voice, we could have Walter Cronkite back.

[sparks]

Why not just hire someone to read the fucking news? Is it really cheaper now to build one of these things to replace a human?

[Abdul Alhazred]

Why not just hire someone to read the fucking news? Is it really cheaper now to build one of these things to replace a human?

When humans read the news they get too big for their britches.

This is a bad thing.

[xouper]

It will be even more interesting when an AI news anchor interviews AIs that look like celebrities or politicians. Imagine the hilarity that might ensue.

[xouper]

Why not just hire someone to read the fucking news? Is it really cheaper now to build one of these things to replace a human?

It will be soon.

[Abdul Alhazred]

It's like the likely future 'bots at McDonalds that will not spit in your food.

Sure you could hire people, but people can be difficult.

[sparks]

Well, apples and oranges: A McShitBurger could be completely automated right now without the need for human looking AI. Peeps might not respond to that very well, but then let the assholes eat cake. Uppity fucking meat-sacks.

[Abdul Alhazred]

Thanked but also reported for being a meanie.

[Anaxagoras]

UK police wants AI to stop violent crime before it happens

What happens when they discover that the AI is racist?

Police officers
Could AI predict crime?
Richard Baker/In Pictures/Getty
By Chris Baraniuk

Police in the UK want to predict serious violent crime using artificial intelligence, New Scientist can reveal. The idea is that individuals flagged by the system will be offered interventions, such as counselling, to avert potential criminal behaviour.

However, one of the world’s leading data science institutes has expressed serious concerns about the project after seeing a redacted version of the proposals.

The system, called the National Data Analytics Solution (NDAS), uses a combination of AI and statistics to try to assess the risk of someone committing or becoming a victim of gun or knife crime, as well as the likelihood of someone falling victim to modern slavery.


West Midlands Police is leading the project and has until the end of March 2019 to produce a prototype. Eight other police forces, including London’s Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police, are also involved. NDAS is being designed so that every police force in the UK could eventually use it.

Police funding has been cut significantly over recent years, so forces need a system that can look at all individuals already known to officers, with the aim of prioritising those who need interventions most urgently, says Iain Donnelly, the police lead on the project.

Pre-emptive counselling
As for exactly what will happen when such individuals are identified, that is still a matter of discussion, says Donnelly. He says the intention isn’t to pre-emptively arrest anyone, but rather to provide support from local health or social workers. For example, they could offer counselling to any individual with a history of mental health issues that had been flagged by NDAS as being likely to commit a violent crime. Potential victims could be contacted by social services.

"Modern slavery"? Is that common in the UK?

[Abdul Alhazred]

Didn't Philip K Dick write that story in 1956?



OK, those were human mutants not AI, so it's not the same at all.

[Witness]

Android child's face strikingly expressive

[snip]

A trio of researchers at Osaka University has now found a method for identifying and quantitatively evaluating facial movements on their android robot child head. Named Affetto, the android's first-generation model was reported in a 2011 publication. The researchers have now found a system to make the second-generation Affetto more expressive. Their findings offer a path for androids to express greater ranges of emotion, and ultimately have deeper interaction with humans.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 104632.htm

Still way to go, but soon you'll don't need to get a dog anymore, when the kids are grown up.

[sparks]

Thanked but also reported for being a meanie.

I prefer not nice to meanie. But it's the thought that counts.