Curious Random Thoughts

Professional sports teams and Olympic athletes are singularly focussed in excelling in their fields. They have years of practice in their field of sport before they get to where they are. In the process they rely on an army of support professionals to get there. A typical sports team is equipped with physiotherapist, nutritionist, multiple coaches, trainer, statisticians, psychologist and many others. Each athlete has a very specific regimen of exercise, diet and cross training. For example, if the athlete is in the field of soccer they typically also play another sport like basketball to cross train. They have specific set of exercises at the gym set by their trainer. They have a specific sleep routine. They are aware of their peak performance hours. During this time they really practice their sport without any distractions. There are no phones around and no meetings to attend. If they start having any self doubt about winning or if they have any other distractions in their mind they ...

  Possible minds - 25 ways of thinking AI by John Brockman If you are looking for a great summer read and a book that is thought provoking then look no further than “Possible minds - 25 ways of thinking AI” by John Brockman. This book is an amazing collection of essays from leaders of different fields who have made contributions to the field of AI. The author does a great job in introducing the authors and providing interesting anecdotes. All the essays have deep insights on a variety of fundamental questions about AI. Can true Artificial General Intelligence be achieved? Have you ever wondered if a robot can sign a legally binding contract? Can a computer that is really good at playing chess or Go be good at inventing a captivating new game? Can a robot self-repair? Can a robot achieve the randomness of a human brain? Can an AI system understand what is ethical and what isn’t in trying to optimize the solution to a problem? Would an AI system achieve fear of death? Can AI systems ...