Do Chatbots Dream of Androids? Prospects for the Technological Development of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

The article discusses the main trends in the development of artificial intelligence systems and robotics (AI&R). The main question that is considered in this context is whether artificial systems are going to become more and more anthropomorphic, both intellectually and physically. In the current article, the author analyzes the current state and prospects of technological development of artificial intelligence and robotics, and also determines the main aspects of the impact of these technologies on society and economy, indicating the geopolitical strategic nature of this influence. The author considers various approaches to the definition of artificial intelligence and robotics, focusing on the subject-oriented and functional ones. It also compares AI&R abilities and human abilities in areas such as categorization, pattern recognition, planning and decision making, etc. Based on this comparison, we investigate in which areas AI&R’s performance is inferior to a human, and in which cases it is superior to one. The modern achievements in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence create the necessary basis for further discussion of the applicability of goal setting in engineering, in the form of a Turing test. It is shown that development of AI&R is associated with certain contradictions that impede the application of Turing’s methodology in its usual format. The basic contradictions in the development of AI&R technologies imply that there is to be a transition to a post-Turing methodology for assessing engineering implementations of artificial intelligence and robotics. In such implementations, on the one hand, the ‘Turing wall’ is removed, and on the other hand, artificial intelligence gets its physical implementation

Designing Women: Essentializing Femininity in AI Linguistics

Since the eighties, feminists have considered technology a force capable of subverting sexism because of technology’s ability to produce unbiased logic. Most famously, Donna Haraway’s “A Cyborg Manifesto” posits that the cyborg has the inherent capability to transcend gender because of its removal from social construct and lack of loyalty to the natural world. But while humanoids and artificial intelligence have been imagined as inherently subversive to gender, current artificial intelligence perpetuates gender divides in labor and language as their programmers imbue them with traits considered “feminine.” A majority of 21st century AI and humanoids are programmed to fit female stereotypes as they fulfill emotional labor and perform pink-collar tasks, whether through roles as therapists, query-fillers, or companions. This paper examines four specific chat-based AI --ELIZA, XiaoIce, Sophia, and Erica-- and examines how their feminine linguistic patterns are used to maintain the illusion of emotional understanding in regards to the tasks that they perform. Overall, chat-based AI fails to subvert gender roles, as feminine AI are relegated to the realm of emotional intelligence and labor

The social in the platform trap: Why a microscopic system focus limits the prospect of social machines

“Filter bubble”, “echo chambers”, “information diet” – the metaphors to describe today’s information dynamics on social media platforms are fairly diverse. People use them to describe the impact of the viral spread of fake, biased or purposeless content online, as witnessed during the recent race for the US presidency or the latest outbreak of the Ebola virus (in the latter case a tasteless racist meme was drowning out any meaningful content). This unravels the potential envisioned to arise from emergent activities of human collectives on the World Wide Web, as exemplified by the Arab Spring mass movements or digital disaster response supported by the Ushahidi tool suite

Mathematical models for chemotaxis and their applications in self-organisation phenomena

Chemotaxis is a fundamental guidance mechanism of cells and organisms, responsible for attracting microbes to food, embryonic cells into developing tissues, immune cells to infection sites, animals towards potential mates, and mathematicians into biology. The Patlak-Keller-Segel (PKS) system forms part of the bedrock of mathematical biology, a go-to-choice for modellers and analysts alike. For the former it is simple yet recapitulates numerous phenomena; the latter are attracted to these rich dynamics. Here I review the adoption of PKS systems when explaining self-organisation processes. I consider their foundation, returning to the initial efforts of Patlak and Keller and Segel, and briefly describe their patterning properties. Applications of PKS systems are considered in their diverse areas, including microbiology, development, immunology, cancer, ecology and crime. In each case a historical perspective is provided on the evidence for chemotactic behaviour, followed by a review of modelling efforts; a compendium of the models is included as an Appendix. Finally, a half-serious/half-tongue-in-cheek model is developed to explain how cliques form in academia. Assumptions in which scholars alter their research line according to available problems leads to clustering of academics and the formation of "hot" research topics.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figures, Submitted to Journal of Theoretical Biolog

TOWARDS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. POSSIBILITIES AND PSYCHO-PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES.

During the last 30 years we all witnessed an incredible advance in digital technology. Modern technologies give us incredible computing power in our hands. Software development has provided intelligent ways of doing things. However, how far are we from the development of Artificial Intelligence machines? There are also of number of Psychological and Philosophical issues arisen by such attempts. Artificial Intelligence will be limited because we don't fully understand the brain. Thus it is argued that until we can dissect the human mind accurately describe the various elements that make up our very being and consciousness, we cannot expect to artificially replicate intelligence