3 Dec 2019 // Episode 18
with Nisansa de Silva
Joined by subject expert Nisansa de Silva, we bust some myths about AI and its applications, while exploring the challenges in AI development and the inevitable social, economic and political implications it poses.
Nisansa de Silva is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Oregon. His research interests are in the area of Artificial Intelligence, specifically, in the sub-domains of; Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Data mining.
Nisansa is currently on study leave from his position of lecturer at the Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Moratuwa.
Nisansa is a polymath of sorts and has a wide range of interests including history, philosophy, linguistics, mythology, pop culture and classical music.
Nisansa is on Twitter at @NisansaDdS.
Not only did Nisansa appear as our guest in this episode, he compiled the show notes that follow, making them the most comprehensive set of show notes we have ever had on the podcast to date. We’d like to thank him for being so generous with his time and knowledge.
Artificial neural network: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network#History
Artificial neuron: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neuron
Perceptron: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron
Backpropagation: http://bit.ly/39qAdtO
Hill-climbing (Note from Nisansa: This term was used for the benefit of non-computer science people in place of Gradient Descent. Computer science people, put your scythes away.) Refer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_climbing and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradient_descent for the actual definitions.
Example of neural network with a memory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_short-term_memory
AGI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence
Transfer learning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_learning
Fuzzy Logic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzzy_logic
Chinese Room: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room
Expert system: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expert_system
AI is just If-Else comics: https://i.imgur.com/UkpWru4.jpg https://external-preview.redd.it/gJ6PpMqv58ehrQywr473RhcMoXbx_39uUHp20PuFHB4.jpg?auto=webp&s=c81360a3db680ed726d2db80e01f2e6081757576 and https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-89cfa17ca63ddac683e04f0852336e47.webp
Generalization in AI context: https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/crash-course/generalization/video-lecture
Brain vs Computers (Slides 21,22) http://bit.ly/2sBvKUm
Google confirms ‘quantum supremacy’. Please note that at the time of recording, the news was brand new and we did not have much information about it. https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/23/20928294/google-quantum-supremacy-sycamore-computer-qubit-milestone
How Far Are We From Achieving Artificial General Intelligence?: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2019/06/10/how-far-are-we-from-achieving-artificial-general-intelligence/#4d49a6de6dc4
Travelling salesman problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelling_salesman_problem
Reduction (complexity): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduction_(complexity)
Here is a yet another reduction joke: https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1kid90/the_mathematicians_interview/
A more elaborate version of the mathematician vs the engineer joke: https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/2ijugj/a_mathematician_and_an_engineer_agree_to_a/
Clarke’s three laws: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws (Note from Nisansa: I wrongly say it is the second law when in fact it is the first law.)
Sentient: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentient
Anthropocentrism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocentrism
Neanderthal extinction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal_extinction
Examples of other alien cultures building robots in their image can be found in Mass Effect (https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Reaper vs https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Leviathan) and in Star Wars (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_droid vs https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Geonosian)
Turing test: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test
Westworld: https://www.hbo.com/westworld
Trolley problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem
The Moral Machine experiment: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0637-6
Why do all alternate universes have zeppelins: https://sententiaesite.wordpress.com/2019/12/30/why-do-all-alternate-universes-have-zeppelins/
Hindenburg disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster
Hierarchical clustering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchical_clustering
The Chinese room problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room
Uncanny valley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
CATS – Official Trailer [HD] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtSd844cI7U
‘The Lion King’ Official Trailer (2019) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raf9bVk75s8
Cats MusicalStage production example – Memory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-L6rEm0rnY
Ben Goertzel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Goertzel
Ex Machina (film): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_Machina_(film)
“Dial “F” for Frankenstein” by Arthur C. Clarke in “The Wind from the Sun”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_from_the_Sun
SETI@home: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SETI@home
Person of Interest (TV series): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_Interest_(TV_series)
2001: A Space Odyssey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey
Terminator: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_(franchise)
Occam’s razor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor
Mass Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect
Star Wars Droids: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Droid
L3-37 https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/L3-37 (Note from Nisansa: Another mistake by me. L3-37 is not from Rouge-One. She is from Solo.)
The Measure Of A Man (episode): https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Measure_Of_A_Man_(episode)
Author, Author (episode): https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Author%2C_Author_(episode)
Hyperion Cantos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos
Marvin the Paranoid Android: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_the_Paranoid_Android
Gorilla uses SIGN LANGUAGE to tell zoo goers not to feed it: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5847241/Cheeky-monkey-Gorilla-uses-SIGN-LANGUAGE-tell-zoo-goers-not-feed-it.html
Washoe (chimpanzee): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washoe_(chimpanzee)#Self-awareness_and_emotion
Chimp who ‘talked’ with sign language heartbreaking reaction to keeper’s miscarriage: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/chimp-who-talked-sign-language-14993695
The Animatrix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Animatrix
The Naked Now (episode): https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Naked_Now_(episode)
Ship of Theseus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/117526-no-man-ever-steps-in-the-same-river-twice-for
Moral nihilism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_nihilism
To build a moral rocket: https://sententiaesite.wordpress.com/2017/07/14/to-build-a-moral-rocket/
Victorian Hypocrisy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_morality
“Kill all humans”: https://theinfosphere.org/Kill_all_humans
Bender Bending Rodriguez: https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/Bender_Bending_Rodr%C3%ADguez
The Kobayashi Maru scenario: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Kobayashi_Maru_scenario
Knocker uppers: Waking up the workers in industrial Britain: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-35840393
Goldman Sachs analysis of autonomous vehicle job loss: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/goldman-sachs-analysis-of-autonomous-vehicle-job-loss.html
Autonomous vehicles won’t only kill jobs. They will create them, too: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/10/autonomous-vehicles-are-creating-jobs-heres-where.html
Turning Coal Miners Into Coders–And Preventing A Brain Drain: https://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2017/01/30/turning-coal-miners-into-coders-and-preventing-a-brain-drain/#639f3b0ff81d
“Learn to Code” meme origin: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/should-you-learn-to-code
“Learn to Code” meme: https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-where-learn-code-meme-originated-hint-not-ashe-schow
This Horrifying App Undresses a Photo of Any Woman With a Single Click: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kzm59x/deepnude-app-creates-fake-nudes-of-any-woman
Generative Adversarial Network (GAN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_adversarial_network
Prohibition in the United States: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States
How Prohibition Put the ‘Organized’ in Organized Crime: https://www.history.com/news/prohibition-organized-crime-al-capone
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” – Max Planck, (Note from Nisansa: I mistakenly attribute this to Niels Bohr instead of Max Planck)
[Westworld] Ford and Bernard “Mistakes”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hra3U_C56w
Childhood’s End: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood%27s_End
