It was irregular, illegal even, to conduct drone-assisted surveillance. Nor did he want to shock the mysterious occupant of 22E. The person or persons would know about Scase’s presence, and would have seen his illuminated pod from the concourse. Within minutes, Telo’s face on his video screen was replaced by Scase’s own image, from the back. A drone was hovering outside Scace’s window awaiting instructions. It’s audio electronics were tuned to transmit and receive through glass.More
Category Archives: Artificial Intelligence
The droid’s apprentice (VII)
“The pods would be moved up and down the structure … as the status of each household changed.” Archura’s confidence faltered as she explained this. “That was an idea from two members of the team. The rest just wanted to install a community garden at the top of the tower.”More
A pod with a view (VI)
Scase knew that the micropixels in his window did not depict the landscape beyond. They displayed a changing Fresnel pattern that reconstructed the light the landscape would have sent into the room, had it existed.
He admired the work of the network of engineers and companies who developed this technology. He envied that they operated without strict regulation. Compared with what? He couldn’t remember just now.More
The infodemic (V)
“The learning module wanted my daughter to compose an essay on why mitochondria migrate south for the winter!” The face of a distraught parent addressed her audience at one corner. Another video showed a bemused apprentice setting his blowtorch onto a rack of haute couture, as instructed. Soon the tabletop was littered with recorded images of instances and complaints of rogue instructor droid outcomes, their audio streams rising to a crescendo before stopping abruptly.More
This tower is empty (IV)
He waited for signs of the other residents. This was the time when night workers might return, home workers emerge or people leave in search of breakfast. No doors opened. No lifts moved independently of his commands. No voices travelled through the structure. The other pods showed occasional changes in light, but that could be their screens adjusting to the morning.More
Counterfactual AI (III)
Here’s what went wrong. “The linguistic patterns in the false texts began to surface. The droids started to synthesise and generate the kind of nonsense that went into the rogue training data. The patterns in the perverse training texts began to emerge, in classes, online resources, and through the students, trainees, apprentices under their charge.”More
This droid is ignorant (II)
It was in this broad context that Scase had found himself in his working life. It had been his job to organise the distribution of computer agents that would suppress the propensity of fleets of teaching droids to incessantly deliver answers on any subject all the time. The droid in his company illustrated this excessive compulsion to explain. If you asked a droid a question it would answer. If the droid asked a question the droid would answer.More
This drone feels (I)
His dwelling pod was near the top of a skeletal tower with a roof crane. It would reposition pods higher up the tower as tenant’s means increased. When it functioned, you could wake to the groan of metal and hissing pneumatics as your pod was lowered to make way for someone to rise above you.More
Cooperative writing
“What is the subject?” I was getting closer to the problem. “Frustration.” There was a pause as he adjusted the tip of his quill. “You’ve just named it.” “I’m allowed to name it in conversation. I’m not allowed to name it on the parchment.”More
AI nature cult
AI cult movements demonstrate how readily contemporary accounts of AI and nature can assume a religious form.More