Category Archives: Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning, 1989
From Bayesianbiologist: “This image comes from the cover of Preliminary Papers of the Second International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics (1989)… I just love the idea of machine learning/AI/Statistics evoking a robot hand drawing a best fit line through some … Continue reading
Ray Bradbury 1920-2012
In 1950, typing rapidly on a pay-by-the-hour typewriter in UCLA’s library basement, Ray Bradbury completed in just nine days the first draft of what will become Fahrenheit 451. In the book, which was published in 1953, Bradbury described a society … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Big Data, Books, Science
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15th Anniversary of Deep Blue Glory
Today in 1997, an IBM computer called IBM Deep Blue beat the world chess champion after a six-game match: two wins for IBM, one for the champion and three draws. The match lasted several days and received massive media coverage around the … Continue reading
The Dirty Lives of Robots, 1794-2012
1794: “Wonderful exhibition !!! Signor Gulielmo Pittachio, the sublime wonder of the world!!! condescends to inform the public at large, and his friends in particular, that he has now opened his grand hall of exhibitions at Westminster… In the course … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Robots
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Video Games and (Artificial) Intelligence
“[Video games are] just another manifestation of human mania, our endearing quality of going relentlessly after absolutely pointless goals.”–John Skow, Time Magazine, January 18, 1982 “From AI-designed games to realistic virtual worlds and social physics, gaming is changing our world … Continue reading
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Quotes, Video Games
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Race Against the Machine
Today in 1996, Deep Blue became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion, Garry Kasparov, under regular time controls. “As technology continues to advance in the second half of the chessboard, taking on jobs and … Continue reading
Race Against the Machine
“At least since the followers of Ned Ludd smashed mechanized looms in 1811, workers have worried about automation destroying jobs. Economists have reassured them that new jobs would be created even as old ones were eliminated. For over 200 years, … Continue reading
A Robot in Every Home?
Today in 1984, a factory robot in Jackson, Michigan, crushed a 34 year-old worker in the first ever robot-related death in the United States. The robot thus violated Issac Asimov’s First Law of Robotics, “A robot may not injure a human … Continue reading
The Computer as a (Highly Productive) Bible Scholar
“We have thus been able to largely recapitulate several centuries of painstaking manual labor with our automated method”–Moshe Koppel, Navot Akiva, Idan Dershowitz, and Nachum Dershowitz on the software they developed which, according to the AP, “…analyzes style and word … Continue reading
On Translations
“…translators will talk for ever about the difficulty of the job. They have bad consciences. They know the original too well and live with a constant measure of their failure.” —David Constantine
Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Quotes
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