#Great #Evolution

Originally shared by Anil Sawariya

#Great   #Evolution

Undoubtedly Well-Intentioned. Probably Ineffectual.

Undoubtedly Well-Intentioned. Probably Ineffectual.

The Future of Life Institute has a very well-intentioned open letter out that is seeking a ban on autonomous offensive weapons, and is soliciting signatures from those active in the field of artificial intelligence and related fields: http://futureoflife.org/AI/open_letter_autonomous_weapons

I agree with all of the concerns, risks, and reasons that they list. That autonomous weapons will be possible in years, not decades and that they have the potential to transform warfare to an extent on par with or surpassing gun powder or nuclear weapons. That autonomous weapons will likely quickly filter through black markets and have significant destabilising potential. And that starting a military AI arms race is a bad idea. In addition, while Nick Bostrom hasn’t put his name to this letter I think he is correct in identifying a number of serious risks in developing advanced AIs, especially when combined with weapons technology. 

But I disagree that calling for a ban like this will in any way ameliorate or address those risks; Kevin Kelly is right, autonomous weapons are inevitable and banning the inevitable sets you backwards https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KevinKelly/posts/ee2uPh2jTpP. I think banning the inevitable only makes things worse and seeking to ban, delay, or put the brakes on only results in giving up your equal footing with everyone else and ceding the advantage to other groups who will continue with it regardless. Banning drives it temporarily underground where you can’t see it and where it might take you by surprise. 

Technological prohibition only postpones the arrival of that technology. In a globally interconnected network of agents, ideas, information, and tools acting as the ecosystem on which the technium evolves, banning a technology in one part of the network will only serve to shift the fitness landscape; the local maxima representing that technology will still be there and it will still be climbed, still be sought out by other areas of the network selecting for it. 

This recent, relevant piece by Aaron Frank Can We Control Our Technological Destiny - Or Are We Just Along For the Ride? http://singularityhub.com/2015/07/12/can-we-control-our-technological-destiny-or-are-we-just-along-for-the-ride/ is also worth considering in this light. This piece reinforces the inherently evolutionary nature of technological development, references prominent thinkers in the field including Susan Blackmore and Kevin Kelly once again, and suggests we humans are not directors of - but merely vehicles for - the evolution and development of the technium via technological memes. If there is one thing evolution has shown time and again it is that it is smarter than we are. Better to co-opt and learn from it, rather than temporarily suppress it. 

Many countries tried to ban GMO crops; GMO crops are everywhere. The USA tried to ban embryonic stem cell research; ESC expertise developed elsewhere anyway before coming back to and being driven by the USA. Even look at simple psychoactive drug compounds, which are banned in most countries and yet available everywhere. And yet here we have a proposal seeking to ban an inherently digital technology, one that can be manipulated and transported much more easily than all of the above. It was John Gilmore who said The Internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. In a similar way we might say Evolution interprets an adaptive ceiling as pressure and flows around it. 

In addition to this the logic quickly follows cold war MAD-ness. Do we really expect China to trust that the USA military won’t work on developing autonomous weapons, and do we really expect the USA to trust that the Chinese military won’t do the same? It’s a silly question that begs whether a military arms race in autonomous weapons technology is already underway. Especially when, at some point in future, it will incur such trivial little effort to take state of the art AI technology and autonomous drone and robot technology, and recombine these with weapons technology. 

My main worry with such bans is that they risk leaving us worse off, more vulnerable, less protected, less able. I want to see the people on that list, many of whom I’ve heard of and respect, contribute to the evolution of this technology as best as they are able because I think we’re all better off by having those contributions than not. At the very least they would help develop a greater, more robust ecosystem of protective options, from autonomous anti-drone drones to kill switches and methods of evasion. Ultimately a ban seems to risk a very one-sided developmental process; like an animal birthed into a virgin ecosystem and finding itself with no natural predators and able to run ten times as fast as its prey. 

#evolution   #technium   #autonomous   #weapons

Letting Robots Build Their Own Bodies And Make Their Own Minds

Letting Robots Build Their Own Bodies And Make Their Own Minds 

A 3 minutes presentation about my PhD research on the co-evolution of morphology and behavior in swarm robotics.

#robotics   #swarmrobotics   #swarms   #coevolution   #morphologicalcomputation      #3dprinting   #geneticalgorithms   #evolution   #artificialintelligence   #artificialevolution   #jessicameyer   #uwe   #brl   #bristol   #3mt   #epuck  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTx1itvOjKg&feature=share

#geneticalgorithms #artificialintelligence #evolution

#geneticalgorithms   #artificialintelligence   #evolution  

Originally shared by Ian Lurie

You will be hypnotized:
http://rednuht.org/genetic_walkers

Robots vs. Animals

Robots vs. Animals

More on the news about my session on Swarm Robotics at the Robots vs. Animals project, with the official photos.

#robotics   #robotsvsanimals   #robots   #animals   #brl   #uwe   #bristolzoo   #bristol   #swarmrobotics   #evolution   #biomimicry   #jessicameyer  
http://robotsvsanimals.net/2014/12/02/bristol-zoo-school-sessions-a-great-success/

More on the news about my session on the Robots vs. Animals

More on the news about my session on the Robots vs. Animals

The students enjoyed a presentation on the evolution of certain animals and learnt how their behaviours have inspired robots being developed in BRL (Bristol Robotics Laboratory) before they got to see the robots at work. One behaviour demonstrated was ‘swarming’; just like birds, fish and insects that sense one another around them and  follow  the trail of others, the group saw robots performing the same action using sensors and cameras. Pupils got to handle cockroaches, a skink and observe rats communicating with one another through different methods.

#robotics   #robotsvsanimals   #robots   #animals   #brl   #uwe   #bristolzoo   #bristol   #bristolgrammarschool   #swarmrobotics   #evolution   #biomimicry     #jessicameyer  
http://www.bristolgrammarschool.co.uk/News/Behaving-like-animals.aspx

Co-Evolution of Morphology and Behavior in Self-Organized Robotic Swarms

Co-Evolution of Morphology and Behavior in Self-Organized Robotic Swarms 

My first very spontaneous attempt at a 3 Minutes Thesis Presentation, where we only have 3 minutes and 1 slide to describe our PhD Thesis for a non-specialist audience. 

Synopsis: The idea of the research is to co-evolve both shape and controller of a robotic swarm, in order for them to work better as a whole. Small robots are not so powerful individually, but when cooperating with each other, by physically hooking together forming a larger organism for example, they become able to solve more complex tasks in robust ways. The shape each robot has influences the way they physically interact with each other; and taking advantage of the morphological computation phenomena, it is believed that a more complex shape can spare the complexity of the controller. Therefore, simultaneously evolving both morphology and behavior should accomplish the highest benefits for the swarm. In order to reach this goal, I am evolving the shape of arm-like structures for the robots’ bodies and, further on, their controllers as well.

#phd   #robotics   #swarmrobotics   #evolution   #3dprinting   #3MT   #3minutesthesis   #video   #uwe   #brl   #geneticalgorithms   #coevolution   #artificialintelligence   #epuck     #jessicameyer  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ9W3M0K0xo&feature=share

#vegetarian #vegan #evolution

#vegetarian   #vegan   #evolution  

Originally shared by Sean P. O. MacCath-Moran


+Eve Volve: "Meat allowed us to evolve"

Really? I think you're mistaken to believe this is a certainty, but what causes you to believe this is so, +Eve Volve?

As I understand it, there have been healthy, thriving vegetarians and vegans for as long as there have been humans. Some were so due to moral or ethical concerns, others due to resource utilization issues, others due to cultural taboos. All other factors being equal, the veg(etari)ans have thrived, and continue to do so.

For some more recent historical examples of vegans, we can look at Pythagoras, the "Pythagoreans" (as vegans were called for the following 1300 years), along with a plethora of like-minded contemporaries (e.g. goo.gl/lgDBL). Buddhists, Jainists, et al., have been doing grand as veg(etari)ans since around the 6th century BCE. Prior to this, there's compelling reason to believe that most people were vegan anyway (ref. goo.gl/3QZWDg). =o)


+Eve Volve: "Those animals were bred to be eaten"

I'm not sure what the reasoning here is. This would be like saying that if I raise a dog specifically to use it in dog fighting, that it's OK to torture and kill that dog in dog-fights since that's what I raised it for. Of course, no reasonable person would support such an excuse, and it can't reasonably be used to explain away our doing so to other animals.


+Eve Volve: "A lot of farmers make most of their money from selling animal products."

So... You're saying that if something makes money, it's therefor a moral action? That's just silly. Besides, they could engage in farming activities which don't hurt or kill sentient beings and make money as well.


+Eve Volve: "People not eating meat is not gonna stop people from producing meat... cause people like me still eat it."

Meh - I grew up on a farm where I was personally raising, killing, and butchering cows, pigs, chickens, goats, et al. You are people like me, +Eve Volve, and I'm sure that you and I have very similar values where it comes to not causing needless pain and suffering in the world. I have faith in your innate humanity, so unless you're a diagnosed sociopath, I trust that you will react the same as I have once you realize how horrific the act of needlessly killing (not to mention torturing) sentient beings is -- which is exactly what one is forcing on the world by deciding to eat animals.


—☆—★—☆—★—☆—★—☆—★—☆—★—☆—★—


This post is one in a series in which excerpts of discussions on veganism from other threads are reposted (or paraphrased) for the sake of expanding the conversation. As always, your thoughts and questions are welcome. See the full collection via the  #spommveganchats  hash (or perhaps with a more robust search, such as goo.gl/JoxZC ).

(for anyone requiring/desiring more context, the original conversation can be found at goo.gl/k1Dge4 )

#evolution   #meat   #vegan

Interesting. I like this line of research.

Interesting. I like this line of research.

#robotics   #geneticalgorithms   #evolution  

Originally shared by Cornell University

Evolution in action! A research team led by Cornell University’s Creative Machines Lab has created a computer algorithm that can be used to witness virtual creatures evolving their squishy, muscle-like features in order to teach themselves to walk.

The team incorporated concepts from developmental biology and how nature builds complex animals – from jellyfish to jaguars. The result is an array of bizarre, simulated robots that evolve a diverse series of gaits and gallops. For more information regarding this study, contact Syl Kacapyr at the Media Relations Office:  mediarelations.cornell.edu/about-us/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9ptOeByLA4