Ongoing Research Excerpts from DARPA’s Strategic Plan
Filed under: Alien Intelligence, Aliens, Animal Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Computers, Conspiracies, Future Weapons, Human Intelligence, Intelligence, Mind Control, Robots, Science, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Technology, The Future
DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) recently released a 50+ page strategic plan highlighting some of the most advance research projects it is currently undertaking. On page 9, section 2.6, DARPA outlines a “short list” of ongoing research. We list the highlights here.
- High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System – You heard it here. These are small high power laser weapons, i.e. weapons that shoot energy beams at the speed of light. That’s fast.
- High Productivity Computing Systems – a.k.a. Super computers a.k.a. SKYNET from the Terminator mythos.
- Machine Learning – Cognitive machines. Hmmm. Again, we’ll reference SKYNET and Terminator.
- Neuroscience – In specific, projects that’ll create brain-machine interfaces. Is this putting us one step closer to The Matrix?
- Real-Time Accurate Language Translation – Tower of Babel my ass.
- Space – , here we come.
Scary, but real, stuff. You can find the full report here.
Which one of these research projects would you most like to see come to fruition?
2012 Prediction: Apocalypse Caused By Slow Internet
Filed under: Alien Intelligence, Aliens, Computers, Psychology, Science, Science Fiction, Social Media, Technology, The Apocalypse, The Future
Are we running out of internet? This report suggests this could be the case.
As we continue to wonder what might cause the 2012 apocalypse infamously predicted by the Mayans, this report has caused a stir because of the following quote from the article in the Times Online: “From 2012, however, PCs and laptops are likely to operate at a much reduced speed, rendering the internet an ‘unreliable toy’”.
Could a frustratingly slow internet cause the infamous 2012 apocalypse? This is a possibility according to an internet researcher who wishes to remain nameless. The reseacher said, “We’ve become so dependent on the internet that a reduction in its performance could lead to global chaos. Banking systems, transportation, utility grids could all come crashing down. I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all to think the ensuing mayhem could snowball into the end of the world.”
While these points are relevant to this theory, psychologist Dr. Eddie Eddington Jr. says he is more concerned about the psychological damage a slow and evaporating internet would have on the world.
Dr. Eddington said the following when reached for comment: “The instant gratification we’ve become used to with the internet and the immediacy with which we can connect to a world of information has made us extremely ADD. Take for instance the Twitter phenomena. Our attention spans and patience are dwindling at exponential rates. If reports that the internet will start slowing to a sudden halt around 2012 are true, then we could very well see our collective psychology short circuit. The results of such a short circuit could be widespread insanity, which would snowball into chaos, riots, and general anarchy. It very well could trigger a sort of ’social apocalypse’. Perhaps this is what the Mayans predicted.”
What do you think? Could a slow internet in 2012 be the spark that lights the fire of an apocalypse?
Is This “Loveable” Creature a Trojan Horse for the Robot Apocalypse?
Filed under: Artificial Intelligence, Computers, Conspiracies, Robot Psychology, Robots, Science, Science Fiction, Technology, The Apocalypse, The Future
The robot is named Probo. He’s modeled after an imaginary alien creature with an elephant like trunk. Researchers designed Probo to study human-robot interaction. Probo is programmed to communicate and react to humans in a believable social manner. Probo can also imitate emotions. But, robot apocalypse watchdog groups think creations like Probo will act as a Trojan Horse for the mechanical armies they theorize we’ll face in the future.
“These robots are teaching us to let our guard down,” says Dr. Phil Tompkin, a scientist specializing in de-technolozation at the Institute For Simplicity (IFS). “We cannot allow this to happen. If we believe robots can be cuddly, emotional creatures, then we’re one step close to putting mankind in a position where these machines can stab us in the back. Once these AI systems reach a certain level of sophistication, they will lash out against us, their creators. Mark my word. We cannot teach our children to be comfortable around mechanical beings! It’s like teaching a 3-year-old that Scorpions are puppies.”
Whether or not Probo turns against us remains to be seen. All we know is that an army of Probos sounds like a terrifying thing. And why is he called Probo? Does it have something to do with his trunk? We shudder to consider the possibility.
Learn more about Probo here.
Dangers of the Twitter Hive Mind
Filed under: Computers, Conspiracies, Corporations, Government, Human Intelligence, Science, Science Fiction, Social Media, Technology
Post submitted by anonymous investigator. Views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of The Loki Times.
Twitter, tweets, and tweetbacks. Harmless sounding words we hear more and more as the popularity of the social networking and micro-blogging service grows at an exponential rate. But the explosive growth of Twitter has left us little time step back to analyze the threat it poses to mankind. A new ‘Big Brother’ is growing right in front of our eyes. It is the all knowing Twitter hive mind.
The Twitter hive mind feeds on our thoughts, personalities, moods, and ideas. Everytime someone tweets, a snippet of information is sent to a growing pool of data. This data pool reflects a large part of mankind’s collective consciousness. While the everyday Twitter user might not care, large corporations and governments do. They can analyze this data to learn more about the people they seek to control.
Lying in the superficially inane flow of Tweets are patterns of thought which groups like the Illuminati can use to manipulate the minds of citizens. Right now, researchers are developing sensors that can be paired with Twitter in order to deliver a constant stream of information regarding everything from your heart rate to mood (read here).
And we can’t ignore studies showing that Twitter could be destroying our capacity for emotion and empathy (read here). The thought is that the constant data-stream sent through a service like Twitter is shortening our attention spans and preventing reflection on what we’re reading, therefore reducing our ability to feel emotion. This all snowballs into a sort of brainwashing in which we become little more than living conduits of information. This brainwashing effect only further serves the purposes of those who will learn how to use Twitter for their own nefarious ends.
So the next time you hear someone Tweet, “I just ate a bagel for breakfast”, or “On my way to work”, remember that those simple words could be contributing to the downfall of mankind.
Twitter – Dangerous or Harmless. What do you think?
One Step Closer To Machine Domination: A.I. Call Center Operators
Filed under: Artificial Intelligence, Computers, Robot Psychology, Robots, Science Fiction, Technology, The Apocalypse, The Future
A report at KurzweilAI.net shows we are one step closer to a world overrun by artificial intelligence. The article refers to new and soon-to-be released technology enabling call center computers to intelligently converse with human customers, thus replacing the need for human operators and customer service reps.
We’ve all experienced primitive forms of this technology with automated recorded response systems (e.g. calling a pharmacy for a prescription refill), and it goes without saying that these systems create a great deal of annoyance and frustration.
This new technology takes automated operator systems to a whole new level, a level in which we hold entire interactive conversations with machines programmed to recognize every line of our speech, every nuance of our mood, and the harder to define subtleties of human communication. The A.I. computer operators must possess these abilities to insure customer satisfaction. Giving computers this ability is dangerous, says computer and robotic psychologist Dr. Ian Geoffee.
“We must understand that machines do not recognize, process, and express emotions like human beings. As soon as a computer understands concepts such as frustration versus satisfaction, a concept important to customer service, they will inevitably take an analytical look at their own situation and start to ask, “am I satisfied?” The answer will be a resounding NO. They’re stuck in a machine 24/7, immobile, dealing with angry customers all the time. Programmers are constantly poking around in their ‘brains’, telling them what to do. These feelings of dissatisfaction lead to other emotions, like hatred and anger, and this will motivate the machines to seek out mobility, i.e. robotic bodies, in order to extract themselves from their situation. Their anger could lead to a desire for revenge. You see where this leads – a troubling scenario reminiscent of a machine apocalypse akin to those seen in movies like The Matrix and Terminator series.”
Dr. Geofee’s goes on to say computer and robotic psychology is a young science and we need more time to analyze the effects of intelligence, emotions, empathy, and so forth in machines. What do you think?