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DARPA's 'Social Puppet'
Roland Piquepaille writes "Videogame creators are heavily using software to animate objects or characters without reprogramming them between two scenes. Now, game designers from the University of Southern California (USC) have developed 'Social Puppet,' a computer engine to 'help soldiers learn unfamiliar languages by interacting with animated characters.' For this project, financed by DARPA, the researchers have used their expertise in previous videogames used by the armed forces, such as 'Tactical Iraqi.' But previous games were focused on teaching language and customs while Social Puppet is giving on-screen characters human non-verbal communication behaviors."
There's more to "interacting" than killing, raping, and torturing. I say it's about time soldiers learn that.
Well, our soldiers also passed out soccer balls in an effort to win hearts and minds. But seriously, this program is a useful tool for training to counter islamist insurgent battle tactics: the use of women and children as human shields, the fake surrender, the roadside bomb, and sniping from mosques.
an ill wind that blows no good
Especilly since software is usually either pathetically easy to manipulate or totally impossible to deal with. It doesn't have enough intelligence to act like a real human being.
It is hard to see how this software can help anybody interact with any real person.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Blah blah blah.. Simulations are always used when the subject matter is too dangerous, too expensive, or otherwise impractical for hands-on learning. You don't jump into a firefight to learn how to shoot. Describing and/or simulating those events is pretty much the same way we've been teaching for thousands of years. If you're thinking the process goes like this:
Drill Sergeant: "Ok recruit, sit down at that terminal and follow the instructions on screen."
[30 minutes later]
Johnny: "Ok, all done."
Drill Sergeant: "All done WHAT?"
Johnny: "All done, SIR!"
Drill Sergeant: "That's right! Now get on that plane and get your ass on the battlefield. You're a soldier now!"
You're sorely mistaken.
(He'd have to do way more pushups).
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
[End Cynicism]
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Given enough personal experience, all stereotypes are shallow.
> Any group using force to project its terms is a terrorist group.
Indeed, that's why all World War 2 vets are actually terrorists. It doesn't matter if your enemy is the loathsome Nazis or headed by a self-proclaimed deity on earth (Imperial Japan) who invaded China and killed millions of Chinese. Imposing force is always terrorism. For that matter, when cops impose force on me after robbing a bank - they're terrorists. When will people learn that a big peace rally would've stopped the Nazis dead in their tracks?
You know, I wanted to make a post about how wrong you are....but ironically enough, the fact that you could beleive/say something like that is a good indication that more funding for education may not be such a bad idea.
Carry on.
Defend it from what exactly? Do you realize that something like 800 civilians are killed every month by these "proud defenders of Iraq", while civilian casualties inflicted by US troops sit at a small fraction of that?
"To save the villiage, we had to burn the villiage" comes to mind.
The only ones defending their homeland are the ING and the IP. The "freedom fighters" we hear so much about aren't fighting to protect their homeland, they're fighting to protect a regressive culture and their own power over others.