This follows on from last month’s post, in which we discussed the possibility of a future Shazam for People service and extends it to the concept of a ‘universal tracking system’ or real-world Marauder’s Map …
So, just how feasible is it?
Category Archives: Hardware
A Real “Marauder’s Map”?
The ‘Prof on a Train’ Game
The Shazam for People discussion revisited as an article, ‘Identity Voyeurism‘, in September 2015’s British Computer Society (BCS) IT Now Magazine, made all the more relevant by recent breaches of personal privacy …
There’s more than one type of identity ‘crisis’. Conventional identity ‘theft’ is one thing but what of identity ‘voyeurism’? How much of ‘us’ is ‘in the shop window’ anyway? Are we in control? What are the risks? And where’s it heading?
The next time you’re on public transport, try playing the ‘Prof on a Train’ (PoaT) game. (It doesn’t really have to be a train or an academic but it’s a good example to work with.) Take a look at the person opposite you. Armed only with your senses, intelligence, intuition and an Internet connection, how much can you find out about them?
Well, if they’re quietly dozing in the corner, unremarkably dressed, with no distinguishing features whatsoever, you’ll probably lose. However, any activity at all or any visible clues might give you a chance. Are they doing, reading, saying or wearing anything? Who’s with them? Are they easier to identify? Where did they get on and do you know where they’re going? Anything odd? Here’s the basic strategy, on which PoaT is based:
They’re reading an academic paper on a certain subject (X) and you know where they got on (Y). A quick look at the photos on the ‘Department of X’ webpage for the ‘University of Y’ might be enough.
How Singular is the Singularity?
If recent headlines are anything to go by, opinion on the likelihood – and impact – of the ‘Technological Singularity’ is diverging rapidly. Is this largely because we don’t even agree on what it is?
‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) is certainly in the news at lot at the moment. But so are robots; and Kurzweil’s Singularity; and machine evolution; and transhumanism. Are these the same thing? Are they even related? If so, how? What exactly should we be arguing about? Are we worried precisely because we don’t know this stuff?
Well, perhaps to make a start, we should point out that intelligence isn’t the same thing as evolution (in any sense). That’s obvious and accepted for ‘conventional’ life-on-earth but we seem to be getting a bit confused between the two when it comes to machines. Developments in both may proceed in parallel and one may eventually lead to the other (although which way round is debatable) but they’re not the same thing.
The Ins and Outs of Robot Sex
This post is not for the faint-hearted or easily offended. With the First International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots taking place in Portugal this week, once again, many of the key issues relating to emerging technology extend well beyond the purely technological …
Without labouring on detail, there’s a certain type of spiritual confession, which takes place all over the world, in which past sexual conduct is a major aspect. Some crude advice often given to those (males, in this case) about to confess is along the lines of, “Don’t worry – I’ve heard it all before. In the end, there’s only five things you can really have sex with: a man, a woman, a child, an animal and a milk bottle.” So … in the AI simulated world of the future, does that taxonomy still work? Is an android sex-machine still a milk bottle or something more? Continue reading
Under the lamp
Turing's Radiator 