As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

AI

ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: Red Between the Lines, by Parker Foye

by
Red Between the Lines

QSFer Parker Foye has a new MM sci fi book out: Red Between the Lines. Wynfield, a washed-up former Corpsman with optical bioware and a healthy chip on his shoulder, is reluctantly drawn into a conspiracy to take down Nutrindustry, the company responsible for both his “upgrade” from human and the city’s food shortage. Playing clinic doctor for the day, Yeven doesn’t expect the mouthy former pilot and their begrudging attraction—nor the fresh twist of shame for his part in Nutrindustry’s past. He needs Wynfield, though, and for more than his smart mouth. Feelings would just get in the way. … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT: Robots and Artificial Intelligence

by
Robots and Artificial Intelligence

QSFer Dr. Sara L. Uckelman has a queer short story – Being Human – in a new sci fi anthology: Robots and Artificial Intelligence. The promise and the threat of technology, of humankind replaced by its own mechanical creation has long enticed the SF and fantasy imagination. This fabulous mix of new and established writing brings together the top talents of today with the likes of Jerome K. Jerome, E.T.A. Hoffman, L. Frank Baum and Ambrose Bierce. Includes contributions by Roan Clay, George Cotronis, Deborah Davitt, Jeff Deck, Christopher Geeson, Bruce Golden, Rob Hartzell, Nathaniel Hosford, Rachael K. Jones, Rich Larson, … Read more

SCIENCE: Meet the AI Artists

by
Botanical Dinosaurs - Chris Rodley - Live Science

One of the behaviors considered to be uniquely human is our creativity. While many animal species create visually stunning displays or constructions — think of a spider’s delicate web or the colorful, intricate structures built by bowerbirds — they are typically created with a practical purpose in mind, such as snagging prey or seducing a mate. Humans, however, make art for its own sake, as a form of personal expression. And as computer engineers attempt to imbue artificial intelligence (AI) with humanlike capabilities and behaviors, a question arises: Can AI create art? The AMC series “Humans,” which returns June 5 … Read more

FOR WRITERS: AI and Romance

by
robot - pixabay

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Tam Ames: Virtual intelligence? AI? Have we discussed this? But could you have a romance between a human and software? Using virtual technology to have sex or communicate, but no physical body? Would we want to in the future? Could a good author really make readers believe it’s “real” romance? Join the chat

TECH: Is a South Korean Company Making Killer Robots?

by
killer robot - pixabay

The artificial intelligence (AI) community has a clear message for researchers in South Korea: Don’t make killer robots. Nearly 60 AI and robotics experts from almost 30 countries have signed an open letter calling for a boycott against KAIST, a public university in Daejeon, South Korea, that has been reported to be “develop[ing] artificial intelligence technologies to be applied to military weapons, joining the global competition to develop autonomous arms,” the open letter said. In other words, KAIST might be researching how to make military-grade AI weapons. By Laura Geggel – Full Story at Live Science

SPACE: International Space Station to Get a Floating Brain

by
Floating Brain

The crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) will soon welcome a new member — one that is 3D-printed from metal and plastic and is described by its creators as “a kind of flying brain.” It goes by the name CIMON, short for “Crew Interactive Mobile Companion.” Built by the aerospace design company Airbus in collaboration with IBM, CIMON houses artificial intelligence (AI) in an autonomous, spherical body that would “float” in the space station’s microgravity environment, with a screen that can display data readouts for astronauts — or present an image of a friendly face — as well … Read more

TECH & SEX: Porn AI Predicts Naughty Search Terms

by
man keyboard - pixabay

People’s future porn habits have been revealed – at least according to YouPorn’s artificial intelligence system. By the end of 2018, your favourite porn search terms will apparently include “girl time flanty,” “pussy firking” and “anal dangcuble”. In fact, “girl time flanty” will be the third-most popular search, according to YouPorn. We’re not sure what flanty means – or firking and dangcuble, for that matter. The site explained that its “data science and machine learning teams trained a recurrent neural network to look at our search trends,” and provide predictions for the end of the year. It seems society will … Read more

Robot Learns the Meaning of Love

by
Alex and Bina48

It’s been a typical week for typical college student BINA48. On Monday, BINA attended her robot ethics class. On Tuesday, the second-semester student had an excused absence to ring the bell at the stock exchange, and soon BINA will be assistant-teaching a kindergarten class and getting a face-lift at Hanson Robotics. So maybe BINA’s schedule isn’t that typical, and maybe the artificial-intelligence-driven robot isn’t the average college kid. But that hasn’t stopped the robot, which looks like the bust of a flesh-and-blood woman, from completing a Philosophy of Love course at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. Programmed … Read more

TECH: New Google AI is Homophobic

by
Google AI Bot

Google Google has created an artificial intelligence bot – and it’s homophobic. The $500 billion company’s new software, Cloud Natural Language API, analyses statements to find out whether they’re positive or negative. It then gives users a “Sentiment” score from -1 all the way up to +1 – and the higher up the scale, the more positive it thinks your sentence is. “You can use it to understand sentiment about your product on social media or parse intent from customer conversations,” Google explains. The only issue is: it doesn’t like gay people. Just contrast the positive rating for “I’m straight” … Read more