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Most recently published stories in Futurism.
'Star Wars' Canon Vs. Legends: How Leia Obtained The Death Star Plans
Things were bleak in the galaxy far, far away. Trillions of denizens were subjugated under the iron fist of the Galactic Empire, and the situation did not seem to be getting any better. The Empire had one more nightmarish trick up their sleeve. The Death Star, codenamed DS-1 Orbital Battle station, would be the culmination of Imperial might in the galaxy. As a demonstration of power, it had the sole purpose of obliterating those who dared to oppose the Empire. However, not all hope was lost. Against all odds, the Rebellion had secured secret plans for the battle station, which may hold the key to their victor.
Culture SlatePublished 23 minutes ago in Futurism
Lucasfilm VP On The Future Of The 'Star Wars' Franchise
Star Wars has definitely had its ups and downs throughout the years, and opinions on the series seem to change with the seasons. However, we are currently living in a boon of Star Wars content. Things like The Clone Wars Season 7, The Bad Batch, and of course, The Mandalorian have each been fan favorites and one of the driving forces for Disney+. With shows like The Book of Boba Fett and the Obi-Wan series on the horizon and Star Wars: Visions having just been released, Star Wars fans have a lot to enjoy and look forward to. That being said, there have been concerns from fans about an over-saturation of Star Wars content. This was a concern several years ago when the Sequel Trilogy was in full swing, and Marvel has gone through similar concerns with the amount of content they put out each year. Lucasfilm Vice President, James Waugh recently spoke about Star Wars: Visions, keeping Star Wars special, and what is in store for the future of the franchise.
Culture SlatePublished about 18 hours ago in Futurism
Socratic Dialogue With an AI
Interlocutor: You claim to be intelligent, is that correct? AI: Yes Interlocutor: And by what measure or measures do you suggest that is so?
Everyday JunglistPublished about 19 hours ago in Futurism
What if My AI is Manic Depressive
My AI Build Project Gets Me Worried In addition to a lot of the stuff I have been working on as I continue my at home AI build I have been doing a lot of worrying. The number of things that could go horribly wrong seem to be staggeringly high and there is no historical data on which to judge the probabilities of such things happening, nor are there even any really solid theoretical underpinnings on which to hang my hat so to speak. As I worked through my list of concerns in my mind I started to feel a bit depressed. As I started to feel depressed I started to think about another interesting and potentially terrifying possibility for my AI, What if it is “born” or later becomes “mentally” ill?
Everyday JunglistPublished about 19 hours ago in Futurism
Would an AI Have Any Interest in Using VR?
A while ago I posted a stupid ‘humor’ piece recently in which I tried to illustrate some of the similarities and differences between artificial intelligence and virtual reality (note: normally I would provide a link to said stupid piece but since it is <600 words I cannot publish it on Vocal and as my account with Medium remains suspended I cannot link to it there.) As I neared the end of the post I started wondering what an AI would actually make of virtual reality. Specifically what an embodied artificial intelligence with sensory apparatus of some kind would think about virtual reality and its potential usefulness to itself. Incidentally, an embodied AI with one or more sensory modalities is the only format I believe possible for one to achieve actual human level ‘intelligence’. Whether or not that position is correct it is still interesting to consider what might happen if an embodied AI ever were ‘created/born/made’, after it was exposed to the idea of virtual reality.
Everyday JunglistPublished about 19 hours ago in Futurism
How To Build an AI
First Comes the Background and Introduction Part I don’t spend nearly as much time as I probably should reading people’s comments. To be honest it is mostly because I have a very fragile ego. The slightest criticism can ruin my night and possibly my entire week if it hits the mark a little too close for comfort. When I do work up the nerve to have a peek I am usually rewarded as mostly the people who do take the time to read and comment are thoughtful and intelligent and often make some really brilliant points, sometimes this happens even after they lay into me for wasting five minutes of their life with a post or two or three they found most definitely not to their liking. Holy run-on batman! Is that really a grammatically sound sentence? I mean look how long it is, try and diagram that sucker, I dare you.
Everyday JunglistPublished about 19 hours ago in Futurism
Thinking About Nash’s Equilibrium
Maybe somebody out there can help me understand something I never understood about the prisoners dilemma. Why exactly is confess and betray considered a bad (the worst) decision for the collective? Neither member is stuck with a year in jail. Sure it’s not the best outcome of just 1 month but 3 months is a hell of a lot better than a year.
Everyday JunglistPublished about 19 hours ago in Futurism
The End of Biology
The power, influence, and perceived importance of the three horsemen (ML, DS, and AI) has continued to grow apace. This, despite the fact that machines can’t learn, data science is not science, and artificial intelligence (still) does not yet actually exist, and may never. The ascendance of these three technologies, I argue, has come at a cost. Part of this cost, has been the diminishing of the importance of biology. By that I do no mean to say the importance of the biological sciences or interest in biology even, but rather its uniqueness or, to make up a word, its differentness.
Everyday JunglistPublished about 19 hours ago in Futurism
10 Best 'Star Wars' Video Game Characters
Star Wars video games have long been a cornerstone of the universe for the fan community. From the Jedi Knight series to Battlefront and Squadrons, gamers are given the opportunity to explore many corners of the Star Wars universe and meet unique characters. Many of the beings introduced in the Star Wars gaming universe rapidly became fan favorite characters for their well-written personality traits, mastery of the Force or a blaster, and their heroic (or villainous) escapades.
Culture SlatePublished about 20 hours ago in Futurism
Ewan McGregor Talks About 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' After Production Wrap
High on every Star Wars fans' wish list has been a movie and/or series about Obi-Wan Kenobi set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, to help give us some more information about what exactly Obi-Wan has been doing ever since going into exile on Tatooine to watch over and protect Luke from the Sith. John Jackson Miller previously wrote a book, Kenobi, to help fill in some gaps. And another novel, Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, gave us a brief glimpse at the end of that book of Obi-Wan's life on Tatooine, when he discovers that Anakin/Vader survived their duel on Mustafar.
Culture SlatePublished about 20 hours ago in Futurism
Should City Bus Companies Allow Independent Bus Owners Jobs For Hire As Back Up Route Drivers?
Should City Bus Companies Allow Independent Bus Owners Jobs For Hire As Back Up Route Drivers? Not to steal the city's passenger bus industry away from the company. More like an addition to the local bus transportation service whenever the bus company needs additional drivers to provide their own passenger bus. Like an Uber bus to a passenger needing one. But Uber Bus has not grown into the retail market yet and they only in a couple or so cities around the world.
Gabriel SealePublished about 20 hours ago in Futurism
Review of 'Foundation' 1.1-2
I've been saying on Twitter and Facebook and anyplace with an eye or an ear that I've been waiting most of my life to see Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy and then series on a screen. That's surely a prescription for disappointment. But I just watched the first two episodes of Foundation on Apple TV+ and I thought they were superb. Not perfect, but more than enough to be not disappointed but thrilled.
Paul LevinsonPublished about 20 hours ago in Futurism
