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Author Topic: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots  (Read 87074 times)

Vgray

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #915 on: February 12, 2015, 04:01:12 pm »

You have Caliban download the giant corpus of text-based games, paying for legal copies of the Choice of Games games because you're classy like that. (Sadly, nobody ever wrote a game called Choice of Robots, which probably would have helped Caliban considerably.) Caliban closes his eyes as he experiences many alternate lives, one after the other, and learns the consequences of his actions.

As debug output, Caliban says aloud the moral he learned from each game.

"Dragons are hungry," he says of Choice of the Dragon.

"Stories are unreliable," he says of Spider and Web.

"Don't drink and drive," he says of Photopia.

"Conversations can change reality," he says of Galatea.

He thinks for a long time on Alter Ego before he says, "Death comes suddenly."

And so on. The process goes on for hours. You're pretty sure Caliban is learning a lot about the importance of choices and what it's like to be different kinds of people. (++Autonomy) (++Empathy)

When he is done, he opens his eyes. "Talk Ada."

"What did you want to talk about?" you try.

"Tell me about more games."

1) "Here, try Grand Theft Auto VI. I think its capacity to warp young minds has been highly exaggerated."
2) "Try Braid! I'm curious to see how that game will change your understanding of time."
3) "Try Dragon Age: Inquisition. And if you don't find a way to sleep with all party members of both genders, I'll be highly disappointed."
4) "Try Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword. It might inform your perception of history."

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)
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Culise

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #916 on: February 12, 2015, 04:09:31 pm »

2.
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birdy51

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #917 on: February 12, 2015, 04:12:02 pm »

1).

2).
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Ama

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #918 on: February 12, 2015, 05:02:06 pm »

2.
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Kassire

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #919 on: February 12, 2015, 05:03:37 pm »

4, he has to talk strategy with us
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Chosrau

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #920 on: February 12, 2015, 05:11:15 pm »

4) He needs to learn not to trust Ghandi.
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Kassire

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #921 on: February 12, 2015, 05:14:05 pm »

4) He needs to learn not to trust Ghandi.
Plus, we're lacking in autonomy, which 4 might help with. Our robot will be the wonder-whore that we will always love.
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Gradiant

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #922 on: February 12, 2015, 05:16:10 pm »

2
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Vgray

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #923 on: February 12, 2015, 05:53:26 pm »

You hook Caliban up to your PC and proceed to watch him play through Braid's various worlds in which time flows differently: a world in which time flows backward, a world in which time flows only with movement to the right, a world in which some actions are reversible and some are not, and so on.

When he finally watches the ending, you ask eagerly, "Do you understand what this game is about?"

"Yes," says Caliban. "Regret." (++Empathy)

You nod. "Yes. It is about wanting to turn back time."

Playing with the reversible nature of time seems to have permanently changed Caliban's perception of the real world as well. When he finally moves away from the console, he does so with a new fluidity of motion. (+Grace)

After a little while, you decide that Caliban was learning more quickly when he was playing purely text-based games, and you eventually switch Caliban back to a more prose-filled diet of games—though you still let him play Braid when he's been good.

You establish a habit of bringing Caliban with you to your office during the day, so that he can make use of Stanford's high-speed Internet connection while you write and grade papers. You then usually go to some public space after work so that Caliban can play around in the real world. Where do you take Caliban?

1) The park playground. Caliban will enjoy the playground equipment, and should learn to play well with 2)  others.
2) The shooting range. Caliban should learn to fire a gun.
3) The dump. Caliban could help me look for spare parts.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)
(Psst. The dump is actually the best Empathy option. The park gives us some Grace though.)
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Kassire

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #924 on: February 12, 2015, 05:56:14 pm »

We just really need autonomy, but I guess we could get grace
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XXXXYYYY

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #925 on: February 12, 2015, 07:23:01 pm »

Hehe. Good read.
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Ama

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #926 on: February 12, 2015, 08:53:15 pm »

1.
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Vgray

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #927 on: February 12, 2015, 09:09:25 pm »

Caliban loves the playground, and he lets out a robot chortle of glee when he first learns to kick his legs to swing higher and higher. (+Grace) Caliban takes a particular liking to the monkey bars, which he navigates deftly using his Inspector Gadget arms. (+Grace)

The other parents at the playground are somewhat divided about what to think about Caliban. On the one hand, you have the parents who are in the tech industry, and who are often very excited to have their children interact with robots. They're surprised to see a robot like Caliban, but maybe not as surprised as they should be; maybe they're just jaded by Wired articles and the popular press making it seem like Caliban was possible ten years ago. On the other hand, some parents simply accept Caliban's presence as just one of many things they don't quite understand.

The kids themselves don't really seem to care what their parents think; you've got the kids who cry when their parents shove them toward Caliban, and the kids who want to stay when their parents pull them away. You can't really predict who's going to like Caliban and who won't, but Caliban seems to be learning, picking up on subtle cues, so that sometimes he says "goodbye" before the kid has even turned to run. (+Empathy)

You finish your grant proposal for the National Science Foundation, promising a robot that will be able to understand human emotion better than any robot that has come before.

A few weeks later, you find that you have been funded! The NSF sees your work as genuinely novel and groundbreaking. Some of the reviews also mention Professor Ziegler's previously successful work, which is odd because you hardly talked to him during the process. Professor Ziegler is cc'ed on their congratulatory email, and he replies with his own congratulatory email from his office down the hall.

Near the end of the semester, you notice a message on your office phone. You're not really sure how long the light has been blinking—you don't really think about landlines anymore. You find the department webpage that describes how to check your voicemail, reset the PIN that you apparently chose when you first started graduate school, and listen.

"Hey, Ada, this is Mark over at sfchronicle.com. I've heard you have an interesting robot that you've been taking to the park and I'd love to do a story about it. Give me a call back." He lists a number and the message ends.

You glance over at Caliban, who is seated at the desk of your hypothetical, all-but-dissertation officemate whom you have never seen. Caliban is looking at the landline phone with interest.

"Whois service says sfchronicle.com is registered to the San Francisco Chronicle," says Caliban. "The San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper that started its website in 1994. Twenty-fourth in national circulation." He looks at you with interest. "Mark is a reporter."

"Shouldn't you be studying?" you ask, pointing to the Ethernet cable running out of his back.

"Bayesian reasoning over publication rates suggests reporter's full name is Mark Ali," Caliban says with his eyes closed. "Mark's article with most social media likes is 'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love DARPA.' Article explains that DARPA stands for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency." He hesitates for a moment. "Aforementioned article appears to contradict title. Reporter does not seem to have stopped worrying. Adjectives that bind to nouns describing DARPA and its projects: 'Crazy.' 'Orwellian.' 'Imperialistic.' Overall sentiment analysis is negative."

"Thank you, Caliban," you say. You look the guy up on your phone. The picture you find of the stubbly, young, Egyptian man with tousled, black hair, hipster glasses, and a cigarette between his lips is probably outdated, but the disrespect for authority the man radiates is probably timeless.

You admit, a part of you has always wanted to be famous. But you suspect this reporter also has done his homework about your advisor, and he may already have an intended angle for this story.

Still, nobody on the planet has a robot as amazing as yours. Isn't it time you told the world about him?

You play the message back again a few times, mulling it over.

1) I call Mark back and set up an interview.
2) Media attention is just a distraction. I'd rather continue to take Caliban to the park and pretend this never happened.
3) I must protect Caliban from the media. Caliban must stay in my apartment from now on.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)
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NRDL

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #928 on: February 13, 2015, 02:06:11 am »

Mark hated us cause we were military last time.  We're different now.

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Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum

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Re: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots
« Reply #929 on: February 13, 2015, 02:31:29 am »

2, not this time.
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