Does the Blue Brain project have a compettitor? Meet Google Brain! The clash of the Artificial Intelligence!

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

Does the Blue Brain project have a compettitor? Meet Google Brain! The clash of the Artificial Intelligence!

More on this a bit later ...

The Blue Brain Project - Yet More Frightening Thoughts

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

What can I say, this thing really sticks in the mind, if you'll excuse the pun ...

So, using the freedom of exploration Science Fiction authors enjoy, just what would a real Blue Brain application do? Just to keep things in perspective, we are talking about an experimental project aimed at creating an artificial brain that mimics, ultimately, the thought process of a biological brain. Actually, our mind, a human mind.

Should we learn anything from history? From the violence apparently inherent in every human endeavor? From the wars? Would an artificial intelligence such as the Blue Brain would inherit those violent traits inside the human psyche? Would it be compelled to go to war?

One of the most frightening aspects of various artificial intelligence applications such as the Blue Brain are their lack of emotions, they being depicted as cold things that act only out of logic and cold self interest. But, the Blue Brain is supposed to create a mind similar to a human. Will the Blue Brain or similar application be able to feel? Will it be able to feel anything but hate towards us humans ?

More on this a bit later ...

Finally, the weapon every artificial intelligence should have has been declared operational - US Navys LAWS Laser

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

And the video:

Lasers seem to be the weapon of the future, don't they? A classic science fiction weapon come to life today!

But why? What is so good about a laser as weapon that science fiction authors have put it in books for years and even the navy deploys it on its ships (one warship for now).

Well, the laser obviously travels in the speed of light, which makes aiming and hitting the target much easier. Just point and shoot. Of course, its not really that simple because you have to maintain lock on your target,

The other good thing is ammo. You don't usually run out of laser ammo and even chemical lasers have cheep ammo that a ship can easily store for hundreds of shots.

Okay. and now what about drawbacks? Actually, the laser as a weapon does have a few drawbacks, which most science fiction authors would not tell you about. To create a significant effect on a large target, an enemy airplane or a missile, you need to have a laser in the kilowatt to megawatt range, which today still presents a technological problem.

So, if you have a weaker laser, you can point it at the enemy longer, thus gathering destructive energy over time. This however requires complex tracking and locating systems.

Last but no least, weather. Even for IR laser such as the Navy's LaWS, it needs a clear weather to operate. It is doubtful how much good it can do if the target hides in clouds or in a storm.

Even with these problems, the US Navy's LaWS laser is a technological breakthrough and an important new addition to the arsenal.

And what's the connection to Artificial Intelligence? There really is none, but it is a cool weapon nonetheless.


So, what is the alternative? The Ultimate weapon? The Rail Gun!

Cold Thinking - From Classical Greek Dragons to Artificial Intelligence

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

Power is not really as frightening as it seems to be. I mean, sure, dragons are amongst the most fearsome creatures in mythology and fiction but their sheer power is not the thing people find most frightening, deep inside.

What powers do they have? Usually, especially Greek dragons in mythology, have a wide range of powers. Usually poison in some sort or other. Eyes, even hundreds of eyes. The ability to never sleep. The ability to see the future. Sheer size that puts them on a level with a national catastrophe rather than just a monster with fangs.

On a side note, Greek dragons usually don't breathe fire ...

Artificial Intelligences are also considered some of the most fearsome things, fortunately enough, only in fiction so far. But just like dragons, their most frightening feature is not their sheer power.

What power do Artificial Intelligences usually possess? Taking cue from real projects such as The Blue Brain, they usually have vast computing power, which may be put in various uses, from cracking and hacking to calculating intricate plots and inventing horrendous things.

For an example, the time travel device used in the Terminator series films was invented by the Skynet Artificial Intelligence and not by humans.

So, dragons and artificial intelligences, though usually residing in very different types of stories, one in science fiction and the other in fantasy books, have awesome powers but this is not what makes them so fearsome to us mere mortals.

What makes them so fearsome is their way of thinking.The cold thinking. The Virus Thinking.

What does that mean? It means thinking beings, be they dragons or artificial intelligences, that can think and reason and plan but have no compassion, nor feelings nor any kind of understanding or empathy with humans, with us.

And that's frightening. A fearsome predator that sees us only as food source. A cold artificial intelligence that sees us only as tools to maintain its devices and computers. In all those cases, these things will wipe us out on an individual or planet wide scale without giving this another thought.

Think of some of the worst dictators the world has ever seen. I think these cold thinkers, these dragons of myth and artificial intelligence in science fiction stories will be worse.

But wait, we are trying to build artificial intelligences in real life. Maybe we will get the chance to see cold thinking in real life. I don't think this would be much fun ...