Sci Fi

nighthog said:

Really? I think that's infinitely improbable

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Well I know who I can blame for a few hours of doing nothing this morning, that Quanderhorn guy!

Not that I heard the second season I have to go back and listen to the first season! Might look into the possibility of downloading the full set and put it on my Mp3 player. Might be interesting to listen while I mow the lawn!

Grimly said:

...I detest most of the BBC's efforts at sci-fi...

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I found the "Red Dwarf" series somewhat amusing, but enjoyed "Dark Star".

Heroes and Icons channel shows original Star Trek. It's interesting the total absence of bling in the sets.

... and we're off....

Watching episodes 1,2 and 3 right now

Thanks for the heads up! My favorite show!

I had to smile when I came across this thread. I am a big sci-fi fan and try to keep an active list of some of my favorite books (I don't watch much TV). Thought I would share a few of my favorites if anyone is looking for a good read:


We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
by Dennis E. Taylor

The first book of four books. Hands down some of the most fun and imaginative sci-fi I have ever read. Dystopian future, von Neumann probes, space combat, all neat stuff.

Aurora
by Kim Stanley Robinson

A cool book about a multi-generational starship and artificial intelligence. Robinson is a classic hard (i.e. believable) sci-fi author. If you like this he also wrote the Mars Trilogy which is widely regarded as one of the best works of hard science fiction.

Expeditionary Force
by Craig Alanson

A long series (just concluded) about humanities first contact with aliens, AI, and subsequent expansion into the galaxy. The whole series is fun and incredibly original. Actually got quite a few belly laughs from me. I did this as an audiobook and it was fantastic.

Level Five
by William Ledbetter

A story set in the near-future about the emergence of true artificial intelligence. Gives an amazing insight into what AI might look like and how it might behave should it ever be created. Highly recommended.

Earthcore
by Scott Sigler

More fun sci-fi – don’t want to give too much away with this one, big surprise at the end. I can say that everyone I have recommended this to has really enjoyed it.

Camouflage
by Joe Haldeman

From the author of The Forever War... a very original book about how alien life could come to Earth and integrate into our society, right under our noses.

Outland
by Dennis E. Taylor

Fun, fairly light-hearted sci-fi. The book is set in the near future where the Yellowstone caldera erupts and a team of graduate students develop a portal to slip into parallel dimensions.

Rhy650 said:

Level Five
by William Ledbetter

A story set in the near-future about the emergence of true artificial intelligence. Gives an amazing insight into what AI might look like and how it might behave should it ever be created. Highly recommended.

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A question for you, and anyone else who has ever had this thought.

Do you ever envision a time when AI could become self aware, a true sentient entity?

I posed this question to my son ( a bookish sci fi geek ) and his wife , a computer engineer, and he thought no, computers are not capable of such things.

Just sayin,

As our technology currently stands I would say that it is very unlikely. That being said, no one knows what the future should hold. Given humanities collective achievements in the past 100 years, I think it would be foolhardy to discount the possibility.

Bear in mind this is coming from a prolific "bookish sci fi geek" that is generally paranoid about any advance in technology. So...

Given adequate computing power and speed, I think the time will come when computers can simulate a human being and, given sufficient data, make decisions.

However, Bobby Heinlein et. al. notwithstanding, I don't think they'll ever manage to introduce actual emotions via hardware/software.

Downeaster said:

However, Bobby Heinlein et. al. notwithstanding, I don't think they'll ever manage to introduce actual emotions via hardware/software.

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Emotions will become irrelevant in some sense, will be frowned upon, considered a defect, considered inefficient, disruptive, etc., and humans will meet computers in the middle. Disassembly or reprogramming of certain computers will be frowned upon and subsequently made illegal. It will be a divisive political topic, if voting is still a thing.

Goofiness aside, check out the movie "Bicentennial Man". Based on a short story by Isaac Asimov, an android acquires emotions, endeavors to become more human, and becomes embroiled in a legal battle over the rights of androids, and whether or not they qualify as "people", albeit artificial life. It's hard to dispute the fact that whatever we can think of, we seem to be able to make happen. Sometimes it takes technology a little while to catch up, but we get there.

Mailman said:

Do you ever envision a time when AI could become self aware, a true sentient entity?

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Of course, forty years ago I had the answer.
It was lost in a haze of dope smoke.

Seriously, what makes us human, and who can define that? More importantly, can anyone define a human quality that could not be expressed by a machine, sometime in the future? Humans possess the most astounding arrogance and ignorance about our special self-aware state.
When I look at the utter mess humans have made of the only planet they've inhabited, I seriously think that AI wouldn't be so damned stupid.
Hopefully, the future is AI, and not AK.

Grimly said:

Of course, forty years ago I had the answer.
It was lost in a haze of dope smoke.

Seriously, what makes us human, and who can define that? More importantly, can anyone define a human quality that could not be expressed by a machine, sometime in the future? Humans possess the most astounding arrogance and ignorance about our special self-aware state.
When I look at the utter mess humans have made of the only planet they've inhabited, I seriously think that AI wouldn't be so damned stupid.
Hopefully, the future is AI, and not AK.

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I've always found this scene from Star Trek interesting. Can a machine be sentient? And if so, how do we regard them?

The Measure of a Man.

Always a big fan of the original Star Trek. This is the reason

Jim said:

I've always found this scene from Star Trek interesting. Can a machine be sentient? And if so, how do we regard them?

The Measure of a Man.

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I remember that episode clearly, one of my favorites. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of an artificial intelligence being self aware. Another scene I always remembered, in the movie 2010 a space odyssey, Dr. Chandra shutting down Hal 9000. “Dr. Chandra, will I dream?” In the scene, Hal was aware that it was being shut down, and no one knew how he would react, then he said Will I dream? And it was terrifying heartbreaking at the same time.

The problem is the question, since you;re free to define sentient any way you want, to make a it as impossible to do as you want. To avoid that problem forever you'd have to make a human. Since the first computer, computers have had the capability to know more about themselves than a human knows about himself.

This is a good interview with Roger Penrose about consciousness, based on an anesthesiologist's musing on what actually happens when he turns off consciousness.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXgqik6HXc0

Unless you concede a spiritual component, the answer to "Is it possible for a computer to..." is always yes, because there is no impenetrable theoretical barrier to the physical engineering.

xjwmx said:

The problem is the question, since you;re free to define sentient any way you want, to make a it as impossible to do as you want.

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No, Websters (and others) have defined it quiet clearly. I suppose you're entitled to interpret that definition in whatever way you please, however logical or illogical that may be, but the definition is clear.