How to use the Turing Test to play pranks on unwitting humans
Jerker Westin and colleagues at the Department of Culture, Media and Computer Science, Högskolan Dalarna, Borlänge, Sweden, have, between them, developed a new variant of the now-famous Turing Test. The Turing Test was the first experimental procedure devised to try to determine whether an Artificial Intelligence (AI) machine can, in fact, “think”. The new version…
Forensic geology (or where do our iPhones and space shuttles really come from?)
Photographer Hugh Symonds recently got in touch with a series of images called Terra Amamus, or “dirt we like,” in his translation, exploring mining operations in Cornwall. “The granite moors of Cornwall,” Symonds explains, “were formed around 300 million years ago. Geological and climatic evolution have created a soft, white, earthy mineral called kaolinite. The…
In 1987, Roger Ebert predicted movies on demand (and an art film revolution)
OMNI magazine interviewed Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert about the future of movies for their June, 1987 issue. Ebert makes some bold and accurate predictions about how a revolution in the delivery and distribution of movies will open up the “art film” market, allowing people greater access to movies that may not make financial sense…
