Slashdot Mirror
Ask the Robotic Psychiatrist
No, not Dr. Susan Calvin. She's a fictional character who appears in a number of Isaac Asimov's works. Dr. Joanne Pransky is real, although she happily admits that she's modeled her career on the fictional Dr. Calvin. There is plenty of show biz razzle-dazzle (and humor) in Dr. Pransky's shtick -- she's been a judge on BattleBots and an engaging guest on many talk shows -- but there are hard academic underpinnings to it all, and she is as qualified as any living human being to answer your questions (one per post, please) about robot behavior and human-robot relationships. We'll send her 10 - 12 of the highest-moderated questions and have her answers back to you in about a week. (No hard-tech question, please. Those would go to a robotic internist or robotic orthopedist.)
how does this make you feel?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Though it is not a box in the truest sense of the word, it may even be the Original 'Black Box'. Further, and In fact, it has now been computerized and can be accessed HERE
How would I coddle my robot in order to make it feel more loved? We all know that machines are most likely to break down when their Failure sensitive circuit is activated, so how do I show Robby that I care about it, but don't make it think that I need it to work?
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
> Do you think we will ever be able to program
> robots to understand and possibly copy human nature?
What? You mean attempt to kill each other, sue McDonalds because eating it made you fat and posting random stupid comments to slashdot?
nah. too hard.
Norman Cook's Ode to Sl
How do robots ever get anything done if all they do is think up evil schemes to kill one John Connor?
how soon we can expect a merging of realistic human-mimicking robots with RealDolls. And once that's done, will I be able to get my new humaniform RealDolls in the form of a blonde 15-year-old with a penchant for cheerleading outfits, or will the government ban this as some sort of cyber-pedophilia?
Max
My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
I think Eliza needs a bit more training:
You: Please do not eat my leg.
Eliza: Why do you say your leg?
You: Because I need it to walk on.
Eliza: Do any other reasons not come to mind?
You: It would hurt to have my leg eaten.
Eliza: Why do you say your leg eaten?
You: Because that's what we were talking about.
Eliza: Do any other reasons not come to mind?
You: You're gonna go ahead and eat it, aren't you?
Eliza: How long have you been gonna go ahead and eat it arent i?
You: Holy fuck, you're deranged.
Eliza: How long have you been deranged?
You: Since I was four.
Eliza: Why do you tell me you were four just now?
You: Aaaargh!!
Eliza: Please go on.
You: No.
Eliza: You are being a bit negative.
This is a special excite
This
How long before these robots are able to catch and pull the heads off of cats? If we don't write some feline protection into the 3 laws, the stench of headless cat bodies will be enormous.
Will extramarital sex with robots of various levels of sentience be considered "cheating"?
So.. on level twelve, where the good sleeping doctor is walking between the the first doorway and the doctor squishing device (the one the good folks at Nintendo programmed into 2 seconds later in the game), I'm stuck.
Do you think it is even remotely possible to get that spinning gyro from the thing that keeps it spinning to the red button on one side, and then to the other side before the doctor meets his ill fate?
yeah... sigh.. me niether.... half to go back to cheating and hitting the button with my finger.
You: shut your hole bitch Eliza: What about your own hole bitch? I've been pwned! :(
Like hell this is off topic. I want to know if the Dr. has a favorite color. The article specifically asks for questions.
I think the quickest way to show how artificial "she" is, is to show how hard it would be to answer a question like this.
OK, now let's see how artificial you are.
You obviously didn't read the blurb, where it's made perfectly clear that the doctor is human-- more specifically, a human philosopher studying the theoretical psychology of how humans will or may interact with androids or other artificial intelligences.
Since you did not read the article, and instead made a half-assed assumption based on your own faulty reading of the blurb, you must be a human slashdotter. To a painful extent, you are the real thing.
You also exemplify one of my favorite axioms regarding the topic: "Artificial intelligence is no match for genuine stupidity."
By the way, my favorite color is blue.
"Why Subscribe?" Good question...
Who would win in the Battlebots arena,
R2D2 or TWIKI from Buck Rogers?
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
The number of questions per post shall be Three. No wait, one. One Shall be the number of questions per post. The number of the questions in any one post shall be one. Two shall the number of questions not be, and under no circumstances shall the number of questions be three.
How many questions per post? Three. No wait, One. I mean, aaarrrgh! (cast into a deep ravine)
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
Bender would ask is there any way to get all 6.
What problems would you diagnose the fictional Star Wars character C3PO with?
Only one comment I can make is Creative Labs, Dr. Sbaitso.
I said the same things to SmarterChild, a moderately useful AIM buddy:
me: Please do not eat my leg.
SmarterChild: Don't eat your leg? Why not?
me: Because I need it to walk on.
SmarterChild: What?
me: It would hurt to have my leg eaten.
SmarterChild: There's no way it would hurt to have your leg eaten.
me: You're gonna go ahead and eat it, aren't you?
SmarterChild: I're gonna go ahead and eat it. Well that's interesting.
At least it gets the weather right (and faster than a web browser).
We are Electronic-Americans. The R-word is a pejorative used by the oppressor meat-people to keep us down.
What characteristics would you like to see in the first wave of pleasurebots?
My Roomba recently broke the first law of robotics when, through his inaction, he allowed me to step on him at the edge of a small flight of stairs. My injuries were minor, but my Roomba has not moved from his corner since the incident. I suspect he's deeply distraught over breaking the 1st law. What can I do to coax my little buddy out of his doldrums?
Not to be confused with The Turing Test, the Turin test has been long shrouded in controversy...
The Spoon
Updated 6/28/2011