Random Thoughts 7

[jack action]

I first thought they would just make a synthetic human, but these robots will be super human.

If this tech got in the wrong hands, with rogue AI, I have no idea what might happen.

The future is very uncertain. I'm not just talking robotics. AI can make a virus can can kill mankind.

The world as we know it is about to change rapidly.

Obviously, we won't have synthetic humans in 12 months, but with each yearly quarter, AI will change the world.

Sorry, just rambling random thoughts

Don't put all your money in AI stocks just yet:

https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/the-last-few-months-have-been-devastating

Game over. AGI is not imminent, and LLMs are not the royal road to getting there.​

 

[WWGD]

I finally understood " Escalation of Privilege", after a visit by relatives.

 

[oz93666]

This video is 16 years old.

This video showing high speed reactions is all very interesting but not what the adverage person needs .. We need robotic house servants , INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM HUMANS . not the clunking robot looking contraptions which are state of the art at present .... to pick our dirty laundry from the floor and put in the washing machine , wash the dishes, make our beds... they would move with the smoothness and grace of a human . The human form is large , no challenging miniturizationn to overcome . Why his hasn"t been done already is beyond me.

 

[WWGD]

Given there are .dat files, shouldn't we also have .dis files?

 

[fresh_42]

Given there are .dat files, shouldn't we also have .dis files?

You mean dis?

File created by Oracle Discoverer, a spreadsheet program. Saves a workbook that can consist of multiple populated spreadsheets, referred to as worksheets. Used for business intelligence reporting and analysis.

 

[WWGD]

You mean dis?

Indeed, dieser.

 

[jack action]

 

[skyshrimp]

This video showing high speed reactions is all very interesting but not what the adverage person needs .. We need robotic house servants , INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM HUMANS . not the clunking robot looking contraptions which are state of the art at present .... to pick our dirty laundry from the floor and put in the washing machine , wash the dishes, make our beds... they would move with the smoothness and grace of a human . The human form is large , no challenging miniturizationn to overcome . Why his hasn"t been done already is beyond me.

I was just imagining if a family purchased one of the currently available robots (like the G1 Unitree) as a house servant. It would have a learning AI that grew with the household and witnesed al the deaths and births. They could transfer the AI to an upgraded model and it will live with the family for decades until the upgrades became an actual synthetic human. If someone inherited the robot in their will, they could transfer the AI to another robot to give to another sibling.

That is actually almost possible now. It would make a good sci-fi movie.

 

[laymanhobbist]

In mathematics:

* The symbol **x** usually represents an **unknown** quantity or **variable** quantity.
Example:
( 2x + 3 = 7 )

So here, **x** has no fixed value until you solve for it.

---

In computer science / programming:

When you write something like:

```c
int x;
```

it means:

* **`int`** = data type (an integer type — whole numbers)
* **`x`** = the name of a variable (a named storage location in memory)

So this line says:

“Create a variable named `x` that can hold an integer value.”

But does it mean “unknown”?

Not really — at least, **not in the same way** as in math.

In programming:

* `x` is *a container* for data, not an unknown to solve.
* It might start out uninitialized (i.e., it doesn’t yet *contain* a known value), but it’s not “unknown” in the algebraic sense.

For example:

```c
int x; // declared, but has no value yet (uninitialized)
x = 5; // now x holds the integer 5
```

So while `x` might not have a *value yet*, it’s not an *unknown* to be solved — it’s just a variable ( name ) that will eventually store data.

 

[WWGD]

In mathematics:

* The symbol **x** usually represents an **unknown** quantity or **variable** quantity.
Example:
( 2x + 3 = 7 )

So here, **x** has no fixed value until you solve for it.

---

In computer science / programming:

When you write something like:

```c
int x;
```

it means:

* **`int`** = data type (an integer type — whole numbers)
* **`x`** = the name of a variable (a named storage location in memory)

So this line says:

“Create a variable named `x` that can hold an integer value.”

But does it mean “unknown”?

Not really — at least, **not in the same way** as in math.

In programming:

* `x` is *a container* for data, not an unknown to solve.
* It might start out uninitialized (i.e., it doesn’t yet *contain* a known value), but it’s not “unknown” in the algebraic sense.

For example:

```c
int x; // declared, but has no value yet (uninitialized)
x = 5; // now x holds the integer 5
```

So while `x` might not have a *value yet*, it’s not an *unknown* to be solved — it’s just a variable ( name ) that will eventually store data.

It seems you got your posts mixed up. Which post are you addressing here?

 

[WWGD]

You mean dis?

The universe makes sense again. Danke.

 

[Nugatory]

So while `x` might not have a *value yet*, it’s not an *unknown* to be solved — it’s just a variable ( name ) that will eventually store data.

If this is intended as a "random thought" - and yes, it does qualify as such - what's going on here is that the word "variable" means something different to mathematicians and computer programmers. That's not a problem with either the mathematicians or the software people, it's an example of how natural language naturally overload words.

 

[WWGD]

If this is intended as a "random thought" - and yes, it does qualify as such - what's going on here is that the word "variable" means something different to mathematicians and computer programmers. That's not a problem with either the mathematicians or the software people, it's an example of how natural language naturally overload words.

I used to get pretty confused at the swap between the informal use of words in daily language and in the technical sense. Maybe we can choose a special font to go between the two. The term 'Likelihood' comes to mind here, used informally to mean the probability, and technically refers to something else.

 

[WWGD]

If this is intended as a "random thought" - and yes, it does qualify as such - what's going on here is that the word "variable" means something different to mathematicians and computer programmers. That's not a problem with either the mathematicians or the software people, it's an example of how natural language naturally overload words.

And your IDE/Programming environment is like your autistic friend who can't use context to narrow down or discard different possible meanings. You may correctly write 1,000 lines of code and the 1,001 st line contains one mistake and the code will not run/compile.

 

[fresh_42]

I used to get pretty confused at the swap between the informal use of words in daily language and in the technical sense. Maybe we can choose a special font to go between the two.

No way. I can't count how many different fonts I have used throughout the years. I have \mathbb{}, \mathcal{}, \mathfrak{}, \mathrm{}, \mathbf{}, \mathscr{} on this keyboard alone, now add the fonts I downloaded (Sueterlin, Cyrillic, e.g.), Greek, and whatnot. Another font would only complicate things even further, and most of all, would be immediately and inevitably abused by mathematicians.

 

[WWGD]

No way. I can count how many different fonts I have used throughout the years. I have \mathbb{}, \mathcal{}, \mathfrak{}, \mathrm{}, \mathbf{}, \mathscr{} on this keyboard alone, now add the fonts I downloaded (Sueterlin, Cyrillic, e.g.), Greek, and whatnot. Another font would only complicate things even further, and most of all, would be immediately and inevitably abused by mathematicians.

I meant a general font to separate the formal use of a fixed term to determine if it's used formally or informally.

 

[collinsmark]

I meant a general font to separate the formal use of a fixed term to determine if it's used formally or informally.

Good luck with that, but chances of it sticking are virtually nil (if the past is any indication of the future). Language is chaotic and weird.

Just think of how kids* commandeered the use of the word literally, making it an emotive, sarcastic synonym of figuratively. "My head literally exploded when I heard the news about Jesse." The same fate would await the font.

*kids at the time, of a few decades ago

 

[WWGD]

Good luck with that, but chances of it sticking are virtually nil (if the past is any indication of the future). Language is chaotic and weird.

Just think of how kids* commandeered the use of the word literally, making it an emotive, sarcastic synonym of figuratively. "My head literally exploded when I heard the news about Jesse." The same fate would await the font.

*kids at the time, of a few decades ago

I will try to find a way, irregardless ;).
Edit: I would use parentheses with my hands at times. Maybe there's some gesture that can be used to the effect of the distinction for/in speech.

 

[Nugatory]

I meant a general font to separate the formal use of a fixed term to determine if it's used formally or informally.

Many legal documents do that. At the beginning of most of my insurance policies there is a section of definitions, stuff like “PERMITTED DRIVER means ….” and throughout the document the term is capitalized to indicate that that is exactly what is intended.

 

[fresh_42]

Language is chaotic and weird.

The better wording would be that language is highly context sensitive.

I will try to find a way, irregardless ;).

Don't we already have italic, cursive, all kinds of quotation marks, hyphen, semicolon, parentheses? What more do you need?

 

[WWGD]

The better wording would be that language is highly context sensitive.

Don't we already have italic, cursive, all kinds of quotation marks, hyphen, semicolon, parentheses? What more do you need?

Maybe just that at least one of those is consistently used, implemented.

 

[collinsmark]

The better wording would be that language is highly context sensitive.

What I meant to convey is that languages change over time. Sure you can define your terms for a specific document (as @Nugatory points out above), but expanding usage outside of use specific documents with well defined terms (e.g., a glossary), the general usage of any given common language changes chaotically.

 

[skyshrimp]

Does anyone here worry that AI will make them unemployed in the near future?

It will soon process information instantly, rendering your services obsolete.

 

[fresh_42]

Does anyone here ...

At PF?

... worry that AI will make them unemployed ...

Well, we aren't employed.

... in the near future?

There is a trend of fewer new posts over the last decade, but I don't think this is because of AI.

It will soon process information instantly, rendering your services obsolete.

No. Learning in STEM fields cannot be compared with studies like law, where mainly facts are important rather than their combinations, or with courses like anatomy. You can learn facts in mathematics or physics, but you won't understand them just by facts.

 

[WWGD]

At PF?

Well, we aren't employed.

There is a trend of fewer new posts over the last decade, but I don't think this is because of AI.

No. Learning in STEM fields cannot be compared with studies like law, where mainly facts are important rather than their combinations, or with courses like anatomy. You can learn facts in mathematics or physics, but you won't understand them just by facts.

If it were possible for AI to do that there wouldn't be hundres/thousands of Annotator jobs in several areas.

 

[Rive]

It took only half an hour with an oldtimer Slot1 device to remember why did I hate Asus motherboards so much way back...

 

[Borg]

I tossed out some trash in the kitchen at work this morning and saw that someone had thrown out two bins worth of perfectly good, unopened and unexpired food. Usually people put things on the counter if they don't want stuff. What a senseless waste.

 

[BillTre]

 

[skyshrimp]

I ordered lamb shish tonight as I’m too sick to cook anything. I can honestly tell you that my recipe is tastier. The secret is to marinate the lamb in minced onion over night.

 

[Borg]

Went to the theater last night. Parked at a garage advertising $16 after 5pm (going rate in DC). Came back at 9:15 to discover that the garage closed at 7. Fortunately, we live next to a metro station and got home OK. I'll be having a conversation with them when go back this morning to find out why they were advertising their evening special when they were closing soon. Not that they will care of course.

EDIT: After some explaining of the situation and a call to the remote customer service, they let me out with no charge (the price had escalated to $37 overnight). The two metro tickets for my wife and I the night before and my return in the morning were exactly the original $16 so it worked out except for the hour and a half lost going back in the morning.