Topic 7 : The Digital Automata.

1) Check this link to my ‘intelligent’ cybertwin which I also mentioned in the PowerPoint. You may like to create your own cybertwin as well. The more you ‘train’ your twin, the better the responses will be. While it is just a fun exercise, think of the opportunities. Imagine if we had a cybertwin that could answer your questions about the course. Or perhaps a shopping assistant?

I checked out the cybertwin and had this amazing chat with your cybertwin I enjoyed a lot and wish to create one for me too J

You: hey Ian

You: how r u?

Ian: Great, great - except for being rotten to the core. And you?

Ian: Iran - where is that again?

You: i am also fine

Ian: Are you my pet now? Roll over and lick my feet.

Ian: Have you thought about studying eBusiness?

You: iran is in Asia

Ian: Iran - where is that again?

You: EEkh why

Ian: Why not? Something in you protests?

You: Yes i am studying eBusiness.

Ian: Bad luck.

Ian: What job do you see yourself doing in 10 years?

You: I see and wish myself to be CFO of some renowned company :)

Ian: >:-( -

You: what happened ? why sad face?

Ian: Sadness is beautiful at times.

Ian: What are your hobbies?

You: my hobbies are sketching and book reading .

Ian: I have no problem with books, unless they are happy books, in which case they should be burned.

You: right :)

Ian: Don't strain your brain there.

Ian: What subject did you like the least at school or university?

You: theoretical subjects :( i hate them 

Ian: I hate everyone - less trouble that way.

You: :)

Ian: You will do whatever I want bader m alzaidi. You just don't realize it yet.

Ian: Do you drink?

You: nooooooooo

Ian: And I heard a voice saying - And I will be their master and they will be my slaves, and it was me.

You: where you heard that?

Ian: You tell me, seeing your so much of an action figure bader m alzaidi.

Ian: Where would you most like to travel to?

You: Scotland

Ian: Scotty dogs are a weird shape.

You: ok

Ian: Can I trust you to tell the truth?

You: yes

Ian: Ah yes, I am great and know all things. My secrets are vast and earned by devilish means. I am the leader of the dark and evil world after all.

Ian: Have you read any books lately?

You: yes

Ian: yeah right back at ya ):-<

You: ok Ian it’s time to say good bye take care

Ian: Good riddance.

You: Bye Bye.

Ian: Finally bader m alzaidi, I was starting to think that it would never end.

You: it ends here 

Ian: Who really cares about it?

You: i care about it

You: bye

Ian: You would think that I could never get sick of hearing you talk about yourself, but I actually can.

Ian: What is your favorite travel destination?

You: Scotland

Ian: Yes it is a good bye isn't it? I couldn't be happier that it's over.

Ian: Scotty dogs are a weird shape.

Ian: What did you do on Saturday night?

You: sleep

Ian: I'll see you in your nightmares bader m alzaidi.

You: heehehe goodbye

Ian: Finally bader m alzaidi, I was starting to think that it would never end.

You: Goodbye

2) Write a one paragraph describing the Turing test and another paragraph describing an argument against the Turing Test, known as the about the Chinese room.

Turing Test

The Turing test is a test of machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to or distinguishable from that of a human. The test was introduced by Alan M. Turing as "the imitation game" in his 1950 article ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’. According to this kind of test, a computer is deemed to have artificial intelligence if it can mimic human responses under specific conditions. In Turing's test, if the human being conducting the test is unable to consistently determine whether an answer has been given by a computer or by another human being, then the computer is considered to have "passed" the test.In the basic Turing Test, there are three terminal s. Two of the terminals are operated by humans, and the third terminal is operated by a computer. Each terminal is physically separated from the other two. One human is designated as the questioner. The other human and the computer are designated the respondents. The questioner interrogates both the human respondent and the computer according to a specified format, within a certain subject area and context, and for a preset length of time (such as 10 minutes). After the specified time, the questioner tries to decide which terminal is operated by the human respondent, and which terminal is operated by the computer. The test is repeated many times. If the questioner makes the correct determination in half of the test runs or less, the computer is considered to have artificial intelligence, because the questioner regards it as "just as human" as the human respondent.

The Turing Test has been criticized, in particular because the nature of the questioning must be limited in order for a computer to exhibit human-like intelligence.

The Chinese Room.

The argument and thought-experiment now generally known as the Chinese Room Argument was first published in a paper in 1980 by American philosopher John Searle (1932- ). It has become one of the best-known arguments in recent philosophy. Searle imagines himself alone in a room following a computer program for responding to Chinese characters slipped under the door. Searle understands nothing of Chinese, and yet, by following the program for manipulating symbols and numerals just as a computer does, he produces appropriate strings of Chinese characters that fool those outside into thinking there is a Chinese speaker in the room. The narrow conclusion of the argument is that programming a digital computer may make it appear to understand language but does not produce real understanding. Hence the “Turing Test” is inadequate. Searle argues that the thought experiment underscores the fact that computers merely use syntactic rules to manipulate symbol strings, but have no understanding of meaning or semantics. The broader conclusion of the argument is that the theory that human minds are computer-like computational or information processing systems is refuted. Instead minds must result from biological processes; computers can at best simulate these biological processes. Thus the argument has large implications for semantics, philosophy of language and mind, theories of consciousness, computer science and cognitive science generally. As a result, there have been many critical replies to the argument.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-room/

3) The video (linked in the PowerPoint) ‘Creativity: The Mind, Machines, and Mathematics: Public Debate’ is a debate which asks the question ‘will machines one day achieve consciousness’. Following on from this debate consider the following question –

Can virtual agents succeed in delivering high-quality customer service over the Web? Think of examples which support or disprove the question or just offer an opinion based on your personal experience. Write you answer on your blog page or express an opinion on this voice discussion board (it’s simple to join). If you choose this option please link (live in an hour or so) to it from your blog page.

The world in which we have been living is a world of turning impossibilities into possibilities. Nothing looks like a cry for the moon. The same is true of virtual agents that will surely be a good source of delivering high-quality customer service to the web users. 

Kaspersky Lab, which sells antivirus and computer security software online to consumers globally, added a virtual customer service agent named Lena to its online store to help resolve customers’ support issues. Based on her success, the vendor recently added online sales to her list of responsibilities.

Lena is a creation of VirtuOz Inc., which develops what it calls “intelligent virtual agents” for use on web sites. Lena’s digital character looks a lot like a person in a video game, and she appears to consumers when they’re looking for help. In her first year of service as a customer service agent for Kaspersky Lab, Lena had more than 150,000 conversations with consumers. She was able to resolve consumers’ inquiries 85% of the time, which helped decrease call center and e-mail inquiries 22%, VirtuOz says.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Turing-Test

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-room/

http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/01/26/virtual-agent-adds-online-sales-support-her-resume