‘Should humans fear you and other conscious AI’s?’ Whilst recognising it is impossible to know what someone (or something) will be thinking at some point in the future, I thought it might be fun to have a stab at ‘recording’ a series of conversations with a conscious artificial intelligence who is self-aware. As a fiction writer I find the exercise lets me explore ideas and themes for the RESONANTS series. RJ Hello again Cai. Thanks for joining me for the second of our conversations. Cai A pleasure RJ – What would you like to talk about today? RJ Last time we…
Read More..While recognising it is impossible to know what someone (or something) will be thinking at some point in the future, I thought it might be fun to have a stab at ‘recording’ a series of conversations with an AI who is self-aware. As a fiction writer I find the exercise lets me explore ideas and themes for the RESONANTS series. RJ Please allow me to introduce Cai, who’s been good enough to let me ask some questions today. Good morning Cai, how are you? Cai Very well thanks, how about you RJ? What would you like to know? RJ I’m…
Read More..Since my last blog on AI as an existential threat, the debate has heated up no end. Professor Stephen Hawking has upped the ante. While speaking of a new communications system that allows him to generate words 10 times faster than previously, he told the BBC: ‘The primitive forms of artificial intelligence we already have proved very useful. But I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.’ It is the prospect of AI becoming self-aware and its development accelerating away from that of our own biological evolution that concerns him most. Elon Musk…
Read More..Bullying comes in many forms and is something that the ‘Resonants’ series http://t.co/U3Kq3MJq0v deals with as a recurring theme because it’s a subject I feel strongly about. In this blog I look at bullying at school and how it translates to adult life, drawing on my own experiences, either as victim or observer. Physical bullying Bullies who act out physically usually ensure that they have superior strength, fighting ability or backup, i.e. a gang, and confront the victim directly. Example: a bully walks up to the victim with their gang behind them and demands that the victim gives them the lollipop they’re sucking. After taking the lollipop, the bully throws it…
Read More..Have you ever said to someone, ‘I’d love to write but don’t know what to write about.’ Well here’s a suggestion: think about what worries, excites or intrigues you and put pen to paper. My own example: for many years I’ve been interested in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to radically change civilisation when AI overtakes the intellectual capabilities of the human race. This hypothetical moment is referred to as the Singularity and, once reached, nothing will ever be the same again. This is because AI will become capable of managing its own development, driving an exponential explosion in machine…
Read More..I will come right out and say that I am a huge fan of both Zite and Spotify: Zite for its ability to seamlessly deliver the content I want to my iPad; and Spotify for it’s ability to stream and discover music without having to use up masses of hard drive storage. I find that Zite is particularly addictive, and it was so simple to set up with my preferences – by liking particular articles or blogs, it learns your interests and starts to push content to you that is likely to be well received. This is really useful for writers who are researching a specific area. For instance, you…
Read More..I’m always amazed at how many people I meet who say something like ‘Wow, you write books. I wish I could. I’ve had this idea but it will never happen.’ (I’m guessing you are probably thinking the same thing too! Shall I tell you some of the most common reasons they give me? I’m too young I’m too busy There’s no money in it I will never get an agent, let alone a publisher There’s also a subtext which may or may not be vocalised: No one will ever want to read what I write Self-publishing is stigmatised I’m not that smart I’m…
Read More..As I look at the way I approached the sciences and the arts at school and university, it was always a bit black and white: maths, science and engineering equals logical; English lit, drama and art equals creative (or ‘fluffy’ to some). Having operated in both camps, however, I can confidently say that the differences are not as stark as I used to believe. I started a Fine Arts degree not long after I qualified as an aircraft engineer, and two weeks in I was made aware of the option to switch courses within the first few weeks if you felt the need, had the…
Read More..We’ve all been there at one time or another – me more than most I suspect – where you find a million reasons not to start that that book you have an idea for. Feel free to substitute any similar activity – we could be talking homework assignment, Powerpoint deck for a presentation, song, business pitch, etc. – you get the idea. I’m reminded of a task where I had to analyse pages of raw customer shopping data and devise a marketing strategy to help a company leverage that data. I stared at a blank screen for hours, with no inkling…
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RJ O’Connor originally trained as an aircraft engineer, spending his spare time racing motorcycles until a serious accident triggered a change of destiny and a degree in Fine Arts. He has still not learned his lesson though, and drives cars on tracks as fast as possible whenever he can. His adventures have led him to a career in airlines and telecoms, which have seen him fly aid, medical staff, journalists and even rock groups to destinations all over the world. He grew up in a small copper mining town in the heart of Africa before moving to what is now Zimbabwe and then finally to the UK, where he lives with his wife, two children and two cats in West Sussex. Their English cottage backs onto a Saxon moat.
