Author: saeisenach

Machine Learns Death

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saeisenach

We have discussed the idea of death and its many interpretations through the lense of today and technology. I would like to discuss a machine learning algorithm that can predict our premature death (https://phys.org/news/2019-03-artificial-intelligence-premature-death.html).

This algorithm was originally designed to help predict premature deaths to help with preventative healthcare in the future.  They used a model called “random forest” with “deep learning” trained on health data from over 500,000 people between the ages of 40 and 69.  The resulting model was able to predict red flags of serious diseases better than expert models and regressions. As these models can also be further “tuned” with more data, the accuracy of predictions can improve and increase in reliability.  Researchers believe that AI models like these will play essential parts within the treatment of individuals due to their manner of personalized treatment based on the lifestyle choices of the individual. This brings forth images of visits to the doctor including a questionnaire on one’s current eating and exercise habits to further add data points to their models for future predictions.  A somewhat constant exposure to the idea of death just slowly pushing it back through the model with a healthy diet and rigorou exercise.

It is interesting to see how predictors of serious and fatal diseases can be modeled and used to our advantage using the technology of today.  This technology can only improve and more sophisticated algorithms can spring forth in the future. It is strange and somewhat empowering to have gained another avenue in life through technology that can ward off the eventuality of our demise.

Virtual Reality Gaming Fizzling Out

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saeisenach

We’ve discussed video-games and their representations of death as a gameplay mechanic or theme, but I would like to discuss the death of a gameplay platform.  Many of us have heard of the virtual reality (VR) revolution brought about by Oculus and HTC in 2016 and have even had the pleasure of being immersed within their virtual worlds. Many, including me, were hopeful and excited about what that would mean for the state of gaming.  However, the platforms are very expensive, complicated, and have several issues that have not been worked out yet (https://uploadvr.com/is-vr-dead/).

Platforms work out to be about $349 for the Oculus and $499 for the HTC Vive. This also does not include the price of a decently powered PC run the VR programs and games on. As one can guess, sale figures do not look the greatest because of this, which would give poor incentive for developers to build programs for such a small audience.

This does not bode well for the gaming industry, but the professional world has taken large investments into VR. This is due to the endless potential of training that can be done through VR. This area of development was one of the original target audiences but the adoption rate for it has been insane compared to the lack luster turnouts for gaming. We have essentially witnessed the shift and end of a technological movement caused by lack of interest and logistical difficulties.

Death of Traditional Driving

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saeisenach

We’ve discussed the end of traditional driving as we know it in class with the rise of autonomous vehicles, but recently, one of the industry’s leading figures, Elon Musk, has been receiving criticisms over his plan for the future (https://www.businessinsider.com/waymos-execs-defend-lidar-2019-5).

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has completely taken lidar technology out of his plans for autonomous cars, claiming that multiple cameras and AI recognition would be the way of the future. Lidar technology involves multiple sensors that sense light waves that bounce from it to “see” what is around it. Musk states that the use of this technology is too expensive and a “fool’s errand”. Waymo, one of the companies that pioneered lidar technology, called this approach “very, very risky”, arguing that one would need the very best camera systems to handle autonomous driving and that a combination of both lidar and cameras would provide the safest experience. Waymo brings up one of the biggest strengths of lidar is that it is great at still managing to detect objects in inclement weather and worse light Conditions. These are of course fundamentally different approaches towards achieving the end of traditional driving as we know it. Musk is also promising 1 million autonomous taxis by 2020, while being tight lipped about details. The other companies have been comparatively tight-lipped about their projection plans asserting that “deployments are gated by safety”.  Witnessing the plans for the death of traditional driving and how the success of private companies will decide the future of how cars will avoid hitting each other.

STET – Toyota vs. Tesla

saeisenach

Today’s reading is STET, a short futuristic science-fiction story by Sarah Gailey that has been nominated for the 2019 Hugo Award. This story is written in the style of a literature analysis excerpt from a textbook, including references to articles and their corresponding footnotes. At first, when I opened up the website, I was very confused – I kept looking for the start of the short story and figured that there was an error in the website page. After taking some time to look over what was written on the page, I realized that the story was actually told through the footnotes, which are fictional articles about how AI has been used in autonomous cars.

What struck me the most about the article was the level of detail that Sarah Gailey included. As a story that is told in little more than a paragraph, every detail is important and it is evident that Gailey put a lot of thought into it. The author of the citation in footnote 11 is Elon Musk, who supposedly wrote the book Driven: A Memoir. This detail made me laugh, as I am sure it did for a lot of other people, because at the time that this story was written (2018), Musk and his Tesla cars are the most prominent figures in the area of autonomous cars. However, the car that Gailey uses in the story is a Toyota, not a Tesla. This initially struck me as odd, because Toyota does not seem anywhere near developing an autonomous car in the future. However, Toyotas are also a very relatable car and much more represent the type of car that an average American would own than Teslas do.

The reference that the fictional writer, Anna, uses in her article, however, seems a little bit more targeted towards Toyota than it just being an average/relatable car company as she writes that this textbook is “drier than a Toyota executive’s apology.” After doing a bit of research, I realized that about 10 years ago, some cars made by Toyota had flaws that led to fatal crashes, including one in particular in which a family of 4 died due to uncontrollable acceleration from the gas pedal being stuck to the floor (https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/business/global/03toyota.html). Only after a few months of pressure did the Toyota executive make an apology, and described the incident as “extremely regrettable,” which in my opinion, seems pretty dry and not very empathetic. While the incident is unrelated to AI and autonomous cars, in both cases, the car was used as a killing machine due to lack of oversight by the company’s engineers. Thus, I have to wonder if Gailey also used Toyota due to this and the poor response by Toyota’s executive. Maybe by calling out Toyota, Gailey is illustrating that cars will not only be used to hurt people in the future, but that they are already doing it now.

The unreliability of Merry: confusion or simply lack of basic knowledge surrounding her sister’s mental disorder?

saeisenach

In Paul Tremblay’s, A Head Full of Ghosts, the narrator Merry takes us on a journey, describing the day-to-day interactions with her older sister Marjorie. We begin the novel by first viewing Merry, 15 years after “everything happened”, about to tell her story to a novelist (8). Right from the first few pages, the thing that stood out to me the most was Merry’s confusion and her unreliability as a narrator. Merry even outright states that all of the nightmares, fabrications, media, etc, “hopelessly jumbles up what I knew and what I know now” (13).

8 years old at the start of her narration, it is obvious that something is going on with Marjorie and that Merry does not know anything. Throughout the first 60 pages, we can see Merry’s development as she slowly begins to notice Marjorie’s strange behaviors. From the eerie twist on the molasses explosion in Boston to Marjorie’s note about holding Merry’s nose in her sleep to finally to the manic episode in Chapter 9, Merry realizes that something is wrong with Marjorie, however, she has no idea what. Her confusion is reasonable – what 8 year old would recognize the signs of a severe mental disorder in her older sister that she reveres so much? Her parents certainly do not disclose any information. When Merry asks her mother what happened at Marjorie’s doctor appointment, her mother responded that nothing did and thus gave her “license to imagine all manner of doctor’s office horrors” (45).

The notion that mental disorders are taboo is incredibly apparent in this section of the novel, and quite frankly, mirrors society’s thoughts as well. Today, many people have mental disorders, and yet, most people are not open to discussing them in order to learn more information and erase the stigma. Instead, like Marjorie’s situation, everything is kept very secretive and as a result, Merry is kept in the dark. So, I have to wonder: does Merry’s confusion come from the fact that she was 8 years old at the time of Marjorie’s mental degradation or the fact that the rest of her family would not disclose any information and thus Merry was left to rationalize the situation by turning to other sources.