Paste

Link to this paste: https://liberationmush.site/paste/894

TEXT 35

Shedding Light - Ep 1: Robots & AI Guest on 3rd September 2022 07:38:29 PM

The logo of a cybernetic wolf howling at a fully populated moon, city lights twinkling up from the Sea of Tranquility with the words BAD WOLF MEDIA LLC fades onto the screen
**Clips of cartoon drawings, comic strips, old TV shows and movies scroll and flash across the screen as the intro begins**
**In comes Wolfe's voice, resonant and smooth in the voiceover, carrying its own gravity to pull people in and keep them listening. In the background, music plays that is quietly upbeat and inspirational. The kind of stuff that one might hear on other education shows or maybe Epcot Center.**
**In the episode Dr. Wolfe is heard mostly in voiceover, or alongside graphics and over content throughout the show with some special effects thrown in here and there.**
"Robots have been a part of the collective imagination for a very, very long time. In 1919, Harry Houdini starred in The Master Mystery. It was...well...it was fine. I'm not here to judge, but the coolest thing for me about that movie is that it was the first time we saw a robot in cinema. But before then, in 1821, Charles Babbage built Difference Engine No. 1. Ada Lovelace, a brilliant young mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, wrote the very first algorithm in the 1800's. She's considered the world's first computer programmer. In 1956, the movie Forbidden Planet was brought to life on the silver screen. Three notable things about that movie. Leslie Nielsen as a straightlaced leading man hell bent on getting the girl. Special effects that were way WAY ahead of their time, and, of course, Robbie the Robot. And in 1985, we were introduced to the nightmare distopian future of The Terminator. As if fears of getting nuked by the Russians weren't enough, we decided that robot killing machines under the thumb of an AI overlord called Skynet...one that WE built, could just as easily wipe us out."
**Cartoon animation of grinning skulls, laser blasts exploding in the background, and a mushroom cloud lighting up the horizon.**
"Tonight on Shedding Light, we're going to talk about robots, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, the differences between them and the futures of them. Oh yeah, and whether or not we're going to survive it. I'm Dr. Frank Wolfe, and this is Shedding Light."
**The next 20 minutes takes the audience through the evolution of machine logic, machine thinking, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence. Quotes and clips from experts at the forefront of this field of study are cited as well as quotes from prominant science fiction authors, show runners, and game designers.**
"When we look at stories like The Terminator or I, Robot, or the OG Battlestar Galactica, we see a universal theme of robots run amock. Interestingly enough, starting after 2000, the narrative began to shift. People like Ray Kurzveil, possibly the most famous futurist alive today, began talking about the quantum singularity and experimenting wtih nanotechnology. In science fiction, the Terminator franchise began to play more with the idea of AI and not just robots behaving badly. Battlestar Galactica got rebooted, and in this story there is a blending between humans and machines, where we see an evolution and synthesis between the two. Life imitates art, and art often imitates life to come. According to our favorite futurist, Ray, the quantum singulatrity event, the one where humans begin incorporating machinery into their bodies on a mass scale and connecting it directly with their consciousness, will take place right around 2045. In order for that to happen, the work to walk that pat and make it real would need to happen today. No, not today, but 20 years ago. The work is already happening. Don't believe me?"
**News reports, medical journal articles, patent application reports, science journal articles, all start flipping up on the screen. It's laid out neat and orderly. Names of articles, patent application numbers, the names of the authors, and sources cited all start to scroll up along the screen.**
"Artificial limbs. Cybernetics. Autonomous driving vehicles with artificial intelligence. Drones with the ability to course correct and make alternate judgments for programmed orders. That stupid chatbot that pops up when you go online car shopping are all variations of artificial intelligence. During the Obama Administration, a White House panel on AI and autuonomous systems was convened to discuss the role of AI in future endeavors in American society. One of the topics was the difference between autonomous systems with logic trees, if-then behavior rules...and AI housed and driven through quantum computers. Quantum computers, by and large, almost always made better decisions than systems with an enforced logic tree. We could spend the next month talking about how the process works, but the short version is this. "
"With a quantum computer, the programmers fed the machines as much information as they could cram in there, and then asked it a question. They tasked the computer with making a value judgment, and the computer did. Not just did, but often made not only the logical choice, but the culturally correct one. Notice I'm not saying right or wrong. I'm saying culturally correct. It's amazing. It's also terrifying, and in the end, at that time, the overwhelming opinion of the panel was that allowing quantum driven AI to be in charge of what were deemed key systems was a bad idea. Not because it couldn't make the calls, but because the scientists couldn't figure out /how/ the AI was getting to their answers. It smacked not of artificial intelligence, but of something else altogether. Artificial Awareness. Synthetic sentience."
**Animation of a musclebound Austiran-esque individual with glowing red eyes walks up toward the screen, and opens his mouth. A cartoon bubble appears, very stylized in nature and reads, "I'll be...right over there." It points to a game chair sitting in the corner.**
"Are we creating the next intelligent and self-aware species of planet Earth, and is it an evolution of ourselves, an extension of our own greatness and ambition to reach out and beyond our own limits...or is it our replacement? Is it an adversary, a non-consequential outlier, or our salvation? Remember, the quantum singularity is predicted to be less than 25 years away. As I've mentioned in the first episode of our other show, Limitless, the longevity of a society in human history can often be measured by how it handles adversity and innovation. Since the industrial revolution, we've been pushing the planet toward a crisis point as we've been evolving our societies, or technologies, and now even ourselves. As almost a side project, we've been building the idea of the better body, the smarter mind, the wiser heart. Now, we have the opportunity to take those ideas and merge them with our very selves. For good or ill. To recreate this egg we are hatching from, or failing to thrive in the environment we create, and thus making room for those synthetic children that we seem to have already begun to create. To answer that question, we have to start talking about it now. Look around you. Ask questions. Open your eyes, and look upon reality in wonder. This is Shedding Light. Thanks for watching. See you all soon."
Marketing and Funding Rolls: 9 succs.
Production Rolls: 18 succs
Content & Messaging Rolls: 9 succs
==============================================================================

Raw Paste

The logo of a cybernetic wolf howling at a fully populated moon, city lights twinkling up from the Sea of Tranquility with the words BAD WOLF MEDIA LLC fades onto the screen

**Clips of cartoon drawings, comic strips, old TV shows and movies scroll and flash across the screen as the intro begins**

**In comes Wolfe's voice, resonant and smooth in the voiceover, carrying its own gravity to pull people in and keep them listening. In the background, music plays that is quietly upbeat and inspirational. The kind of stuff that one might hear on other education shows or maybe Epcot Center.**

**In the episode Dr. Wolfe is heard mostly in voiceover, or alongside graphics and over content throughout the show with some special effects thrown in here and there.**

"Robots have been a part of the collective imagination for a very, very long time. In 1919, Harry Houdini starred in The Master Mystery. It was...well...it was fine. I'm not here to judge, but the coolest thing for me about that movie is that it was the first time we saw a robot in cinema. But before then, in 1821, Charles Babbage built Difference Engine No. 1. Ada Lovelace, a brilliant young mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, wrote the very first algorithm in the 1800's. She's considered the world's first computer programmer. In 1956, the movie Forbidden Planet was brought to life on the silver screen. Three notable things about that movie. Leslie Nielsen as a straightlaced leading man hell bent on getting the girl. Special effects that were way WAY ahead of their time, and, of course, Robbie the Robot. And in 1985, we were introduced to the nightmare distopian future of The Terminator. As if fears of getting nuked by the Russians weren't enough, we decided that robot killing machines under the thumb of an AI overlord called Skynet...one that WE built, could just as easily wipe us out."

**Cartoon animation of grinning skulls, laser blasts exploding in the background, and a mushroom cloud lighting up the horizon.**

"Tonight on Shedding Light, we're going to talk about robots, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, the differences between them and the futures of them. Oh yeah, and whether or not we're going to survive it. I'm Dr. Frank Wolfe, and this is Shedding Light."

**The next 20 minutes takes the audience through the evolution of machine logic, machine thinking, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence. Quotes and clips from experts at the forefront of this field of study are cited as well as quotes from prominant science fiction authors, show runners, and game designers.**

"When we look at stories like The Terminator or I, Robot, or the OG Battlestar Galactica, we see a universal theme of robots run amock. Interestingly enough, starting after 2000, the narrative began to shift. People like Ray Kurzveil, possibly the most famous futurist alive today, began talking about the quantum singularity and experimenting wtih nanotechnology. In science fiction, the Terminator franchise began to play more with the idea of AI and not just robots behaving badly. Battlestar Galactica got rebooted, and in this story there is a blending between humans and machines, where we see an evolution and synthesis between the two. Life imitates art, and art often imitates life to come. According to our favorite futurist, Ray, the quantum singulatrity event, the one where humans begin incorporating machinery into their bodies on a mass scale and connecting it directly with their consciousness, will take place right around 2045. In order for that to happen, the work to walk that pat and make it real would need to happen today. No, not today, but 20 years ago. The work is already happening. Don't believe me?"

**News reports, medical journal articles, patent application reports, science journal articles, all start flipping up on the screen. It's laid out neat and orderly. Names of articles, patent application numbers, the names of the authors, and sources cited all start to scroll up along the screen.**

"Artificial limbs. Cybernetics. Autonomous driving vehicles with artificial intelligence. Drones with the ability to course correct and make alternate judgments for programmed orders. That stupid chatbot that pops up when you go online car shopping are all variations of artificial intelligence. During the Obama Administration, a White House panel on AI and autuonomous systems was convened to discuss the role of AI in future endeavors in American society. One of the topics was the difference between autonomous systems with logic trees, if-then behavior rules...and AI housed and driven through quantum computers. Quantum computers, by and large, almost always made better decisions than systems with an enforced logic tree. We could spend the next month talking about how the process works, but the short version is this. "

"With a quantum computer, the programmers fed the machines as much information as they could cram in there, and then asked it a question. They tasked the computer with making a value judgment, and the computer did. Not just did, but often made not only the logical choice, but the culturally correct one. Notice I'm not saying right or wrong. I'm saying culturally correct. It's amazing. It's also terrifying, and in the end, at that time, the overwhelming opinion of the panel was that allowing quantum driven AI to be in charge of what were deemed key systems was a bad idea. Not because it couldn't make the calls, but because the scientists couldn't figure out /how/ the AI was getting to their answers. It smacked not of artificial intelligence, but of something else altogether. Artificial Awareness. Synthetic sentience."

**Animation of a musclebound Austiran-esque individual with glowing red eyes walks up toward the screen, and opens his mouth. A cartoon bubble appears, very stylized in nature and reads, "I'll be...right over there." It points to a game chair sitting in the corner.**

"Are we creating the next intelligent and self-aware species of planet Earth, and is it an evolution of ourselves, an extension of our own greatness and ambition to reach out and beyond our own limits...or is it our replacement? Is it an adversary, a non-consequential outlier, or our salvation? Remember, the quantum singularity is predicted to be less than 25 years away. As I've mentioned in the first episode of our other show, Limitless, the longevity of a society in human history can often be measured by how it handles adversity and innovation. Since the industrial revolution, we've been pushing the planet toward a crisis point as we've been evolving our societies, or technologies, and now even ourselves. As almost a side project, we've been building the idea of the better body, the smarter mind, the wiser heart. Now, we have the opportunity to take those ideas and merge them with our very selves. For good or ill. To recreate this egg we are hatching from, or failing to thrive in the environment we create, and thus making room for those synthetic children that we seem to have already begun to create. To answer that question, we have to start talking about it now. Look around you. Ask questions. Open your eyes, and look upon reality in wonder. This is Shedding Light. Thanks for watching. See you all soon."

Marketing and Funding Rolls: 9 succs.
Production Rolls: 18 succs
Content & Messaging Rolls: 9 succs
==============================================================================