Tim
Creative Writer
Now, I'm going to state straight off the bat that I'm not going to make this a point and stare situation.
I met this research guy in a pub down in London and had a long talk with him about academic direction, whilst rioting went on outside in the street. (Lifes like that sometimes!)
On the table behind me was a laptop taking in live news feeds from cameras and choppers and a couple of guys from our organisations media centre were taking notes and passing on directions over a walkie talkie and a collection of mobile phones. Half of the leadership of the movement was sat round this huge round table we'd dragged out and I was more searching for a can of Coke to quench my first than down the pints of bitter those around me were wolfing down in excitement.
So, onto scary logical person:
Sean Wallis
This guy worked in AI for 6 years and does work of a high enough level that he pretty much got to choose his research and suffer little interference along the way. He is one of those guys that we just can't understand how a human being, with a grey mass in their skull manages to work so fast with logical calculations.
A curious statement on his Bio page that I'm still trying to mull over is this:
When you read that, you don't see some megalomaniac trying to turn the human race into an army of cyborgs do you? This is the sort of guy that could go either way in scifi/horror stories. On the one hand you know he's going to advance knowledge. On the other you feel like he has the power to bring the world as we know it to an end.
Anyhow, I'm thankful to him for some academic advice where he pointed out some reading to go for. He even pointed out cutoff points, academics to read upto certain points in their lives, where they "went off track" hahaha.
Not often you get to mix with the greats and have these long conversations, yet still manage to come away not despairing at your own lack of ability
I met this research guy in a pub down in London and had a long talk with him about academic direction, whilst rioting went on outside in the street. (Lifes like that sometimes!)
On the table behind me was a laptop taking in live news feeds from cameras and choppers and a couple of guys from our organisations media centre were taking notes and passing on directions over a walkie talkie and a collection of mobile phones. Half of the leadership of the movement was sat round this huge round table we'd dragged out and I was more searching for a can of Coke to quench my first than down the pints of bitter those around me were wolfing down in excitement.
So, onto scary logical person:
Sean Wallis
This guy worked in AI for 6 years and does work of a high enough level that he pretty much got to choose his research and suffer little interference along the way. He is one of those guys that we just can't understand how a human being, with a grey mass in their skull manages to work so fast with logical calculations.
A curious statement on his Bio page that I'm still trying to mull over is this:
Broadly, my perspective in AI is that ‘artificial intelligence’ is not a substitute for human reasoning, knowledge and culture, but a possible adjunct of it. AI includes a range of powerful techniques which can be used to support human endeavour, particularly in the “understanding of complex data”, which is my pat answer to the question - what do I carry out research into?
When you read that, you don't see some megalomaniac trying to turn the human race into an army of cyborgs do you? This is the sort of guy that could go either way in scifi/horror stories. On the one hand you know he's going to advance knowledge. On the other you feel like he has the power to bring the world as we know it to an end.
Anyhow, I'm thankful to him for some academic advice where he pointed out some reading to go for. He even pointed out cutoff points, academics to read upto certain points in their lives, where they "went off track" hahaha.
Not often you get to mix with the greats and have these long conversations, yet still manage to come away not despairing at your own lack of ability