The online classroom of UH 300-001, Andy Duncan's fall 2013 science fiction seminar in the Honors College of the University of Alabama.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Just handed The Lifecycle of Software Objects off to a friend. I have it as an eBook on my Nook, so I didn't need the hard copy I ordered. So, if my recommending it to friends is any indication of how much I liked the book... :)
I thought this book did a very good job on detailing the intricacies of AI. As we do not know how it will work, we can only speculate. I believe that Chiang's views on the subject were very compelling. Most of his book, to me at least, went back to the nature vs. nurture argument. According to the scenario of the digients left on an island at hothouse speeds, nature will ultimately play a very little role in the advancement of AI. It was in fact nurture that created the "perfect" digient.
I also thought it was interesting when the newer "digients" came into being. These digients seemed to me to be the stereotypical AI that inherently lacks common sense and other innately human traits that would be necessary for integration of the digients into society. The only way to learn things such as common sense and good judgement is through early childhood learning and repetition through structured schedules(ie. schooling).
There are so many different aspects of this story that I found intriguing: the relationship between Ana and Derek, the ethical issue of whether it was ok for digients to be sex toys or considered as autonomous, product lifecycles, etc. Nature vs. nurture is really interesting to look at too. That didn't even occur to me. I think Andrew is right that nurture is the more important factor in this story. The Blue Gamma digients could function better when interacting with humans than the other digients appeared to because they had been nurtured properly by their owners.
I have also recommended it to a lot of my friends. I think it was my favorite of all the Chiang stories.
ReplyDeleteI thought this book did a very good job on detailing the intricacies of AI. As we do not know how it will work, we can only speculate. I believe that Chiang's views on the subject were very compelling. Most of his book, to me at least, went back to the nature vs. nurture argument. According to the scenario of the digients left on an island at hothouse speeds, nature will ultimately play a very little role in the advancement of AI. It was in fact nurture that created the "perfect" digient.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting when the newer "digients" came into being. These digients seemed to me to be the stereotypical AI that inherently lacks common sense and other innately human traits that would be necessary for integration of the digients into society. The only way to learn things such as common sense and good judgement is through early childhood learning and repetition through structured schedules(ie. schooling).
There are so many different aspects of this story that I found intriguing: the relationship between Ana and Derek, the ethical issue of whether it was ok for digients to be sex toys or considered as autonomous, product lifecycles, etc. Nature vs. nurture is really interesting to look at too. That didn't even occur to me. I think Andrew is right that nurture is the more important factor in this story. The Blue Gamma digients could function better when interacting with humans than the other digients appeared to because they had been nurtured properly by their owners.
ReplyDelete