Dr. Randy Kaplan
Bio
Welcome to my Vocal page and storicles that are published here. I write about tech, the human condition, and anything else that interests me.
Stories (24/0)
The Blue Screen of Death Returns
Yesterday, I overheard some people say that Bill Gates is brilliant. Many years ago, I had lunch with Bill Gates. He treated the Philadelphia Computer Club to lunch, which was very nice of him. As I was having lunch with him, I was assessing whether this man was one of the most brilliant men in the country. I came away unimpressed. That opinion has not changed in all the years that have passed.
By Dr. Randy Kaplan7 days ago in 01
Why Should Be Surprised?
I read an article in Substack about "Latent Knowledge." From what the author wrote, I couldn't tell whether he wanted to be cited for the term or someone else came up with it. No other articles were referenced in this author's work, so I shouldn't be surprised.
By Dr. Randy Kaplan23 days ago in 01
Sam Altman is a Snake Oil Salesman
Snake Oil There he is. He is traveling the world to tell leaders of the state about his brand of snake oil. Do you know what Snake Oil is? Have you ever heard of Snake Oil? You have to go back to the days when salespeople traveled around in a wooden "home on wheels" where she (I don't know of many old-time female snake oil salesmen, but I am sure there were some) lived and sold their "snake oil." If you watch some fictional accounts of snake oil, you will notice skepticism when a snake oil salesman comes into a town to sell snake oil. People don't necessarily believe what he is saying. What would he be saying?
By Dr. Randy Kaplanabout a month ago in 01
What does Carl Sagan Have to Say About the State of AI
Dr. Sagan had very little to say about AI. His comments were more generally about science. Dr. Sagan did not comment directly about AI, but some of his quotes are very relevant to the current situation of AI.
By Dr. Randy Kaplanabout a month ago in 01
My Recent Conversation with Gemini
Introduction Recently, there was an article about evaluating LLMs based on counterfactual… Oh, don’t stop there. What’s the point? How do these evaluations show anything useful to us lowly human beings? I mean, do we make conscious use of reasoning by analogy to reason? When did you last say, “I will use reasoning by analogy to solve this problem.”? Also, how does the term counter-factual relate to human reasoning?
By Dr. Randy Kaplan2 months ago in 01
The Ghosts of the Past that Haunt Us
We all carry with us some ghosts. I know I do. Psychologists say that, as adults, we can choose to pay attention to them or not. As adults, we cannot decide to behave in an old way. Of course, the caveat here is that to stop old behaviors, we must know before the behavior arises that it is coming. Forewarned is better than forearmed, as they say. That can be extremely difficult if it is a lifelong habit. The signs become so ingrained and transparent that stopping the old behavior before it appears is difficult.
By Dr. Randy Kaplan2 months ago in Humans
My subsequent Encounter with a Lego Kit
I took it upon myself to see what it was like to create my world. I want to build a world with the desired features that look like a place where I want to live. I can populate this world with the people I want to live there. Influencers need not apply.
By Dr. Randy Kaplan3 months ago in Humans
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