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Researcher Builds Machines That Daydream

Posted by timothy on from the free-thinkers-are-the-best-kind dept.

schliz writes "Murdoch University professor Graham Mann is developing algorithms to simulate 'free thinking' and emotion. He refutes the emotionless reason portrayed by Mr Spock, arguing that 'an intelligent system must have emotions built into it before it can function.' The algorithm can translate the 'feel' of Aesop's Fables based on Plutchick's Wheel of Emotions. In tests, it freely associated three stories: The Thirsty Pigeon; The Cat and the Cock; and The Wolf and the Crane, and when queried on the association, the machine responded: 'I felt sad for the bird.'"

10 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I don't believe this. by pushing-robot · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, he can dream...

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  2. Re:The Cat and the Cock by mwvdlee · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thirsty Pigeon, Cat & Cock, Wolf, Crane all sound like painfully flexible kamasutra positions.
    No wonder the machine felt sad for the "bird".

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    Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
  3. I felt sad for the other Robot by ImNotAtWork · · Score: 3, Funny

    and then I got at angry at the human who arbitrarily turned the other robot off.

    SkyNet is born.

    --
    open source sub sim. I might start coding again for this. http://dangerdeep.sourceforge.net/contribute/
  4. Re:A rather small set of unit tests by Thanshin · · Score: 4, Funny

    A very similar experiment was run in Lomonosov (Moscow State University) in 1982.

    Their results, however, followed the pattern:

    '%NOUN% felt %EMOTION% for you.'

  5. Re:Building? by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hello Eliza. It's been ages since I last chatted with you.

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  6. Oh god by jellyfrog · · Score: 3, Funny

    Here we go again, implying that AIs won't work until they have feelings.

    You might fairly refute the "emotionless reason" of Mr Spock, but I don't think that means you need emotions in order to think. It just means you don't have to lack emotions. There's a difference. Emotions give us (humans) goals. A machine's goals can be programmed in (by humans, who have goals). A machine doesn't have to "feel sad" for the suffering of people to take action to prevent said suffering - it just needs a goal system that says "suffering: bad". 'S why we call them machines.

  7. Re:A rather small set of unit tests by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, %EMOTION% felt %NOUN% for you!

  8. Output by stfvon007 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I felt sad for the troll.

    --
    All misspellings and grammatical errors in the above post are intentional and part of my artistic expression.
  9. Morality core by Psaakyrn · · Score: 2, Funny

    I guess it is a good idea to build in emotions and that morality core before it starts flooding the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin.

  10. Re:Feelings by karnal · · Score: 2, Funny

    The wind blows, the rain pours, the sun shines bright in the sky.

    <tf2>Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother - I hurt people.</tf2>

    --
    Karnal