FYW1118, Man v. Machine I. Topics A. Robots in Popular Culture: Literature, Television and Film

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1 FYW1118, Man v. Machine Presentation Topics I. Topics Our seminar culminates with each student giving an oral presentation on a specific subject drawn from the topic ideas described below. The details and requirements for the oral presentations were distributed in a separate handout. The following express ideas that might serve as the general topic from which your presentation might be drawn. Keep in mind that some of these topics are very broad. Your task is to find some aspect of that topic that would be interesting and suited to an oral presentation These are suggestions and do not exhaust the possibilities for topics. If you are interested in pursuing a different idea, we can discuss it and explore the possibilities. However, your choice of subject and topic must be approved before you begin work on the presentation. A. Robots in Popular Culture: Literature, Television and Film 1. Review one of Asimov s later works that revisit the Three Laws of Robotics. For example, The Caves of Steel (1954) The Naked Sun (1957) Robots and Empire (1985) are books in which the interaction of robots and humans are central to the story. There are others. In later works, Asimov reconsiders the Three Laws, offers some modifications or extensions, even imagines removing the laws. The primary focus of any review would be to explore the issues involving the Three Laws. 2. A number of other authors have adopted the Three Laws of Robotics for their own works of science fiction. They often have very different views about the Laws. For example, Lyuben Dilov introduces a Fourth Law in the novel Icarus Way (1974). Roger MacBride Allen in his trilogy Caliban (1993), Inferno (1994), and Utopia (1996) reinterprets the Laws. in the official Foundation trilogies [Foundation s Fear (1997), Foundation and Chaos (1998), and Foundation s Triumph (1999)], the Laws are expanded and elevated to an almost religious status. Mark Tiedermann published three novels [Mirage (2000), Chimera (2001), and Aurora (2002)] that feature the Three Laws prominently. There are other authors and works that examine or expand the Three Laws. 3. Daniel H. Wilson is a science fiction author who provides a more modern take on humans and intelligent robots. In Robopocalypse (2011), he portrays the takeover and aftermath of robot revolution that seeks to eradicate mankind. Here is an excerpt People should know that at first, the enemy looked like everyday stuff: cars, buildings, phones. Then later, when they started designing themselves, Rob - 1-

2 looked familiar but distorted, like people and animals from some other universe, built by some other god. Create a presentation on Robopocalypse that considers whether Wilson s portrayal is science fiction or science future. 4. We viewed and discussed several films that depicted either conflict or cooperation between humans and robots or intelligent computer systems. There are many others. Here is a partial listing. Metropolis (1927) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Forbidden Planet (1956) THX 1138 (1971) Westworld (1973) The Stepford Wives (1975, 2004) Star Wars (1977, etc.) Blade Runner (1982) Runaway (1984) The Terminator (1984) Short Circuit (1986) RoboCop (1987) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Virtuosity (1995) Artificial Intelligence (2001) Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) I, Robot (2004) Transformers: The Movie (2007) Terminator Salvation (2009) Prometheus (2012) Robot & Frank (2012) Pacific Rim (2013) Her (2013) Big Hero 6 (2014) Ex Machina (2015) Chappie (2015) Terminator Genisys (2015) - 2-

3 Examine one of the films and compose a character study of a robot or intelligent system in that film. Is the character friend or foe (to humans)? What features or characteristics define it? What are the authors trying to communicate to us about robotic intelligence? B. Artificial Intelligence. 1. Marvin Minsky s most famous book is Society of Mind (1985). He introduces his agent (read resource ) theory of mind or intelligence. An agent is a component of a cognitive process that performs some basic function much like a subroutine or procedure in a program. Complex processes are built from the interaction and cooperation of these components. Research the book and explain his agent theory. In particular, Minsky identifies several types of agents: K- lines, nomes and nemes, etc. Evaluate this theory with respect to any one of its applications. For example, Minsky explains complex cognitive processes such as personal memory, visual understanding, understanding language, etc. Choose one of these areas, develop Minsky s theory and evaluate it critically. Does it make sense? Does it explain relevant phenomena adequately? (NOTE: The book is divided into a series of short essays over 200 which can be read in a variety of ways. Thus, it is possible to read earlier introductory portions and skip to specific topics.) 2. Connectionism is an influential but opposing theory to Minsky s agent theory of the brain or mind. (Consult the reference on the Sources page of our class Web site for a basic overview.) Explore the topic of connectionism further and create a presentation that focuses on one of these specific subjects. neural networks and learning mechanisms artificial neural networks and applications connectionism vs. computationalism debate 3. One of the great ironies of AI is the extreme difficulty that researchers have faced in emulating what the average six- year old can handle effortlessly. Specifically, understanding and modeling commonsense knowledge (human consensus knowledge) is one of the toughest research problems in the field. The CYC Project (now CYCorp) headed by Douglas Lenat is the most famous (or infamous) attempt to tackle this problem. CYC is a bold attempt to assemble a massive knowledge base which would contain general facts and heuristics that would serve as a platform for constructing useful intelligent applications. The project was initiated in the mid 1980s and proceeds today with a resume of only modest successes and continued promises of eventual breakthroughs. Investigate the CYC Project and create a presentation that explains the history and development of the project, its goals and methods, and its successes and failures. Is the project worthwhile? Explain and defend your evaluations. 4. Artificial Intelligence, like other scientific disciplines, has splintered into a variety of different specialties. AI researchers have specialized in very specific problem domains. Here is a table listing the most prominent sub- fields today. - 3-

4 Field Description Example General Planning Systems Computer Vision and Image Understanding systems Commonsense and large- scale knowledge systems Machine Learning Natural Language Processing Automated Speech Understanding Systems Games and Gaming Intelligent Agents Knowledge- based Systems (expert systems) Robotics developing problem- solving strategies process visual images for informational content representing general knowledge using very large databases systems that learn by themselves automated understanding of written language automated understanding of spoken discourse employing heuristics to improve game- playing strategies and experience agent software that assists by learning about our goals and needs simulating knowledge and know- how in a specific domain automated systems that react to, navigate, and manipulate objects in the environment reasoning methods, problem solvers low- level object identification, scene description CYC project deductive/discovery methods, generalization methods, neural networks automated translation, script understanding hands- free control systems, remote transactional systems two- player games such as checkers and chess; actors in FPS video games softbot assistants, interface agents, knowbots production systems, expert systems in medicine, geology, chemistry, manufacturing, etc. manufacturing robots, exploration robots Choose any one of the above disciplines and give a presentation that i. provides a brief explanation of the field ii. selects project or research development that exemplifies the field 5. The IBM Watson project was initially developed and introduced to the world on the TV program Jeopardy! However, the DeepQA Project, from which it emerged, had other objectives more important and lasting than winning a TV quiz show. Find out more about the Watson (DeepQA) Project. Specifically, investigate one of the specific applications IBM is developing with this technology. Assess the value of this application? - 4-

5 C. Ultimate Questions. For these topics, your presentation should defend your views about the subject. It should incorporate relevant views that others have written about it: both supporting and opposing view. Supporting views help to persuade the reader. Criticize or answer the opponents in order to help defend your thesis. 1. Create a presentation that addresses this issue: Is it possible to create an artificial being (robot) that could be considered truly human- like? Obviously, this question depends on what you understand as human. Describe what you think are the essential defining characteristics of humans and apply these criteria to robots. Could there ever be a machine that satisfied your Turing test? 2. Over its history, the debate about the possibility of creating artificially intelligent beings that rival humans has always centered on some key issue. As pointed out, it began first with debate about the soul and later free will. Today, the defining issue is the nature of consciousness. We have considered the ideas from a variety of individuals: Turing, Minsky, Dennett, and Searle. What is your understanding of consciousness? Is it something truly unique to humans? Could an artificial being ever develop anything like self- consciousness? Explain your views. 3. Imagine a discussion among three of our contributors: Turing, Searle, and Dennett. The topic is designing and creating an intelligent robot based on a digital computer. Explain how they might respond to any one of the following specific issues. What kinds of skills or abilities would a robot have to exhibit to achieve or approximate the goal of being intelligent? How important would consciousness be for creating a truly intelligent artifact? How would we determine whether our efforts were successful? (What sort of critical tests are needed?) What are the prospects for this project? (success or failure) What makes this topic different from the foregoing is that you would imagine how these authors would respond to one another instead of offering your views on the issues. 4. Few would dispute that humans by virtue of their existence have basic rights (entitlements and protections). For example, the 1950 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights was ratified by 47 nations and represents a consensus of these rights. Some argue that animals have rights because they are sentient (perceiving and feeling) beings. These rights include protections from cruelty and unnecessary suffering. Suppose that it is possible to create intelligent, aware robots and that they might live among us in a variety of capacities. Should these robots be afforded basic rights? Research some of the literature on human and animal rights. Create your own Robotic Bill of Rights. If we imagined a continuum of rights (from minimal to maximal), what location on that line would robots occupy? How would that compare with natural organisms such as animals and man? - 5-