The New Ghosts in the Machine: ‘Pragmatist’ AI and the Conceptual Perils of Anthropomorphic Description

Algorithms are becoming interwoven with increasingly many aspects of our affairs. That process of interweaving has brought with it a language laden with anthropomorphic descriptions of the technologies involved, which variously hint at ‘human-esque’ or ‘conscious-like’ activity occurring within or behind their operations. Indeed, the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI) seems to refer to a quality that is thought to be largely human; namely, intelligence. However, while anthropomorphic descriptions may be useful or harmless, when taken at face value they generate a false picture of algorithms as well as of our own thinking and reasoning practices by treating them as analogues of one another rather than as distinct. Focusing on the algorithm, and what it is misleadingly said to be and to be like, in this article we outline three “perspicuous representations” (Wittgenstein 1953: §122) of AI in specific contexts. Drawing on Wes Sharrock’s ethnomethodological and Wittgensteinian work, our aim is to demonstrate that by attending to the particular, occasioned and locally accountable, not to say highly specified, usages of language that accompany the ‘New AI’ in particular, we can avoid being haunted by the new task performing ghosts currently being discursively conjured up in our algorithmic machines

Submission of Written Evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group Inquiry into the Use of Armed Drones: Drone Strikes, Legal Reasoning and the Need for Transparency

As researchers involved in studying the specific ways in which drone strikes are conducted in real-time, in this submission we suggest there are two areas where the APPG might conclude much greater information is needed on the use of armed drones. First, more information is needed on the role that legal considerations actually play in decisions around targeting in the context of drone strikes. Legal frameworks do not interpret themselves and it is important, therefore, to investigate how they are being interpreted as part of the work of conducting drone operations. Second, in order to properly understand how legal frameworks are being interpreted during missions, much more information is needed on the operational context than is currently publicly available. In the case of the UK’s drone operations, there is a great deal that simply is not known. Greater disclosure in both of the above areas – i.e., in relation to interpretations of legality in combat situations and the wider operational context such interpretations are undertaken within – would enhance accountability and transparency around those operations and begin to address concerns around the secrecy and erosion of democratic oversight that have been raised with respect to them. At a minimum, this would require the release of all data relating to at least a sample of successful and unsuccessful strikes including audio, video, imagery, digital communications and available intelligence alongside much more extensive information about the operational infrastructures including legal governance arrangements that those drone strikes were enabled by. If the UK’s drone programme is to become more publicly accountable, we believe these are areas the Inquiry should treat as priorities

The Planners’ Dream Goes Wrong? Questioning Citizen-Centred Planning

The reform of urban and environmental planning in England since the election of the Coalition government in 2010 has resulted in the emergence of Neighbourhood Planning: a situation in which citizens can autonomously assemble, define the spatial extent of their neighbourhood and author a plan for it. In this paper, we argue that this radical policy is part of a wider agenda to de-professionalise planning as a statutory function and has its roots in an odd assemblage of classical right-wing political thinking and the prescriptions of post-positivist planning theory. This uneasy conceptual relationship reveals a wider inconsistency between the policy in rhetorical form and its practical implementation. Drawing on primary research from England’s North-West and a thorough review of literature, we hope to show that the dream of citizen-centred planning masks deep tensions within the activity of urban and environmental management

Size-Uniform 200 nm Particles: Fabrication and Application to Magnetofection

We report on the fabrication of arrays of mono- and multimetallic particles via metal evaporation onto lithographically patterned posts, as well as the magnetic force calibration and successful magnetofection of iron particles grown via this method. This work represents the first instance in which metal evaporation onto post structures was used for the formation of released, shape-defined metal particles. Also, our work represents the first use of lithographically defined particles as agents of magnetofection. Using these techniques it is possible to create particles with complex shapes and lateral dimensions as small as 40 nm. Our demonstrated compositionally flexible particles are highly size-uniform due to their photolithographically defined growth substrates, with particle dimensions along two axes fixed at 200 nm; the third axis dimension can be varied from 20 nm to 300 nm during the deposition procedure. Atomic percent of metals incorporated into the particle volume is highly tunable and particles have been synthesized with as many as four different metals. We performed magnetic force calibrations on a single particle size for iron particles using an axially magnetized NeFeB permanent magnet and comparisons are made with commercially available magnetic beads. In order to evalutate their usefulness as magnetofection agents, an antisense oligonucleotide (ODN) designed to correct the aberrant splicing of enhanced green fluorescent protein mRNA, was successfully transfected into a modified HeLa cell line. Magnetically enhanced gene delivery was accomplished in vitro using antisense ODN-laden iron particles followed by application of a field gradient. Magnetically enhanced transfection resulted in a 76% and 139% increase in fluorescence intensity when compared to Lipofectamine and antisense ODN-loaded particles delivered without magnetic treatment, respectively. To our knowledge, these experiments constitute the first use of lithographically defined particles as successful agents for magnetically enhanced transfection of an antisense oligonucleotide

Experimental Quantum Teleportation of a Two-Qubit Composite System

Quantum teleportation, a way to transfer the state of a quantum system from one location to another, is central to quantum communication and plays an important role in a number of quantum computation protocols. Previous experimental demonstrations have been implemented with photonic or ionic qubits. Very recently long-distance teleportation and open-destination teleportation have also been realized. Until now, previous experiments have only been able to teleport single qubits. However, since teleportation of single qubits is insufficient for a large-scale realization of quantum communication and computation2-5, teleportation of a composite system containing two or more qubits has been seen as a long-standing goal in quantum information science. Here, we present the experimental realization of quantum teleportation of a two-qubit composite system. In the experiment, we develop and exploit a six-photon interferometer to teleport an arbitrary polarization state of two photons. The observed teleportation fidelities for different initial states are all well beyond the state estimation limit of 0.40 for a two-qubit system. Not only does our six-photon interferometer provide an important step towards teleportation of a complex system, it will also enable future experimental investigations on a number of fundamental quantum communication and computation protocols such as multi-stage realization of quantum-relay, fault-tolerant quantum computation, universal quantum error-correction and one-way quantum computation.Comment: 16pages, 4 figure

Effects of short-term treatment with atorvastatin in smokers with asthma - a randomized controlled trial

<b>Background</b> The immune modulating properties of statins may benefit smokers with asthma. We tested the hypothesis that short-term treatment with atorvastatin improves lung function or indices of asthma control in smokers with asthma.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> Seventy one smokers with mild to moderate asthma were recruited to a randomized double-blind parallel group trial comparing treatment with atorvastatin (40 mg per day) versus placebo for 4 weeks. After 4 weeks treatment inhaled beclometasone (400 ug per day) was added to both treatment arms for a further 4 weeks. The primary outcome was morning peak expiratory flow after 4 weeks treatment. Secondary outcome measures included indices of asthma control and airway inflammation.<p></p> <b>Results</b> At 4 weeks, there was no improvement in the atorvastatin group compared to the placebo group in morning peak expiratory flow [-10.67 L/min, 95% CI -38.70 to 17.37, p=0.449], but there was an improvement with atorvastatin in asthma quality of life score [0.52, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.87 p=0.005]. There was no significant improvement with atorvastatin and inhaled beclometasone compared to inhaled beclometasone alone in outcome measures at 8 weeks.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b> Short-term treatment with atorvastatin does not alter lung function but may improve asthma quality of life in smokers with mild to moderate asthma. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT0046382