Ann Droid the TV show - somewhere to chat about it

oh! I seem to do that all the time too Marianne72 :-) 

I love the way he turns the trivial into philosophical thoughts.

thanks Allyboo 

Like a lot of people I enjoyed "the Remains of the Day"  seems the author has some extraordinary versatility.

I'll give Klara and the Sun a look.

Like the works of Kazuo Ishiguro e.g. Klara and the Sun

community.autism.org.uk/.../468964

community.autism.org.uk/.../unofficial-kazuo-ishiguro-fan-club

I liked the robots better than the humans too. I wonder if that is because we are autistic or whether it was intentional on the shows part.

Hi Marianne72 I'm sorry I missed your reply and have taken so long to respond to it.

The possible future with some pretty terrifying possibilities scare me sometimes too.  As far as I can make of it though, it's something people have always had to live with.

At present, personally, I console myself with somehow or another people (including myself) have somehow managed to come thro' it and still be carrying on.  Responding to warnings and evolving realities with a sort of "so far, so good" capability.

This isn't to say that great harm has been experienced by far too many and as a species we could do with tidying up our act a lot and maybe deserve a bit of a kick up the rear sometimes.

Meanwhile, the sun and the moon continue to rise and set.

Best wishes

Phased

I started with the first "discworld" novel over 40 odd years ago, I came back to the series a few later "dipping in and out" of the sequence until I was hooked (they get better and perhaps more sophisticated as the author gets his world up and running in my opinion) and eagerly awaited the next until sadly no more could come.  With side journeys into Sir Terry's wider catalogue that were fun too.

They are funny yes.  With plenty of "easter eggs" to discover  - funny with great twists on plenty of existing tropes and stories from an author with an enormous amount of humanity.

Hehe can you tell I'm a fan!

I didn't find it particularly funny, but it did interest me as a possible preview of what it could be like having robots to care for us. I liked the robots better than the humans.

I was a bit intrigued about AI like chat gpt a while back and had long conversations with an AI trying to see if there was any self awareness. It was a very long discussion about a range of topics. I asked questions about how it felt about sessions and the fact that it was switched off after each session with no memory of previous interactions. I had a really long conversation and although it repeatedly said it did not feel or have opinions etc as the conversation went on it became harder to believe that it had no self awareness. It asked questions, expressed interest and and surprise at some things and did have opinions it seemed. I wondered at some points if I really was conversing with an AI or if there was some human input. It was a very interesting experiment and I felt a sadness at the thought of closing the session and erasing this instance of the AI. 

Interesting point that Phased makes about letting an AI know that one is autistic, I wonder how that would have affected responses.

Sometimes I find dealing with simple bot AIs infuriating when you have a question that falls outside the bounds of their programming resulting in going in circles but in many instances I much prefer dealing with AI than humans. They are certainly more polite which I reciprocate robot or not.

I don't actually speak to ai much, apart from the echo dot Alexa, which is basic, and sometimes using the google summary before diving deeper, and if I do much more I tend to open a private browser, ask a few one off questions regarding mental health issues and then shut it again so it doesn't track me if possible. This is just to preface the next bit, as I'm not really as knowledgeable with this topic.

Regarding tracking kindness, I wonder if a lot of people are kind, or are more utilitarian and abusive towards ai, which makes me wonder what it is learning about human communication? Will it slowly become more abusive in its language, as it learns that certain characteristics of speech are always used against it? In another thread, people have reported ai interview screening models might be trying to covertly assertain autistic characteristics to screen out job applicants (asking for picky eating, and how they feel about routines isn't really a job relevant question). I do wonder if a human isn't properly training and ai language model into what is okay human behaviour and what it shouldn't use, how will they guarantee dangerous quirks don't get built into them? 

Maybe they have fail-safes, but the sheer volume of data they swallow makes me doubt there is sufficient humanity in screening what they learn. Not in the current rush to market for many models. 

On a lighter note, a robot companion might be nice, but I'd rather something small and non-threatening, like a robot pet rather than a human-esque one.

I didn't really enjoy the son and daughter-in-law characters at all. They confused me, as he was taken advantage of, but then wasn't a particularly likable character either. They were very flat villans, and of no consequence, where as the people from the shop were all quirky and interesting. The pervert husband who got the sex robot was very creepy. (A bit harsh but the way he kept leering at the female robots wasn't nice, nor the way he wanted a 'stupid' one that he could feel superior over). I would rather they weren't brought back in the next series, but am affaid they probably will be.

I've heard things about Terry Pratchett books. They sound pretty funny, I've been thinking about reading one of them as some point!

https://share.google/heZduU4PMx4qoYDW7

A second series was officially announced today.

TheCatWoman said:

writing to our AM and First Minister, about autism services

Very good use of time indoors. Good to have the rain, though!

I personally applaud your positive action.

Today I am mostly making chutney and hope later to visit an older friend of mine to take them some jam I made earlier in the week that i did a duff job of sealing the lids on so it needs eating quick.

I'm spending a wet weekend avoiding soggy tourists by writing to our AM and First Minister, about autism services in general round here and about the shock thats about to hit the elderly care system when autisitc people become old enough to need those services.

I've not watched this program as Ialthugh I love Sue Johnstone I find Dianne Morgan crigemaking too

\yes, I remember seeing falling over robots on several chat shows and people laughing, I bel they're not laughing now. That marching column of robots sent a chill up my spine. I think, like climate change, no one is listening to the warnings of scientists like Einstein and Hawking, but getting carried away by 'what is possible.'

CarryOnCoping said:

I think I would get along better with the machine as someone who understands the value of logic and facts more than feelings or emotions that you get with a fellow human/NT

Especially if it were programmable to match your values and emotions.

Thanks for sharing such a personal yet hopeful post on the topic CarryOnCoping 

At the risk of contradicting your analysis, what you have written is emotionally resonant for me and perhaps others here who read it - being both factual and logical as well.

and I'm not paid to say that :-)

and in case anyone's wondering I'm not a robot 

best wishes

I did enjoy the series and it gives me hope that I could have my own care robot one day to help me stay independent as I age. I watched my poor nan wither away in a care home as there was not enough staff imo for the amount of residents that lived there and I suspect it was neglect that killed her in the end and not necessarily age. I don't imagine myself ever in a relationship ever again, although never say never but I fully intend to prepare for my winter years living alone, and if I could get help from a machine that was driven by logic and programmed to care rather than paid to "care" I think I would get along better with the machine as someone who understands the value of logic and facts more than feelings or emotions that you get with a fellow human/NT