Artificial Intelligence - should we be worried?

There’s a lot in the media at the moment concerning Artificial Intelligence, some hailing it as the next industrial revolution, others as Armageddon waiting to happen.  I know science fiction over the years has been full of the latter.  However, as any writer will tell you a good story needs conflict and in sci-fi what’s better than man vs. machine?.  I also know that Stephen Hawking is suggesting we, or at least some of us, need to get of this planet before the end of the century and find a new home before AI becomes too powerful.  I just don’t see why it has to be that way.  Why does it have to be the alarmist view?  Although, I admit neither I nor the professor will be around at that time, mores the pity. 

For the complete blog follow this link: http://wp.me/p3ycbY-1KR 

Science fiction- how it works

I have recently returned from a ski holiday.  We’d just boarded the plane taxied out when they announced the need to have something checked.  We taxied back and then were told there would be a twenty minute delay.  A groan echoed around the aircraft.  The fact that we were all sitting in a metal tube that in a short space of time would fly us a distance that a few generations ago would have taken weeks to complete was irrelevant.  Also, that it would be at an altitude that is inconsistent with life in normal circumstances, while sipping our drinks and watching moving pictures on hand held devices was forgotten.  All this had me thinking of our relationship with science and technology and the science of science fiction.

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My monthly science highlights - 9)

How time flies when you are enjoying yourself, or at least blogging and before you know it it’s the end of the month and time for my personal round up of nuggets of interest from the world of science.  Again these are not in any order of importance, they are simply what has piqued my interest as numerous headlines flit across social media.  As always I hope you at least find them intriguing, in some cases thought provoking and if you're a writer a little inspiring.

This month the search for ET, Steam powered spacecraft, drones helping to fight disease and more. http://wp.me/s3ycbY-science9 

My monthly science highlights - 8)

The end of the month again and time for another dose of science inspiration. The more I do this, the more I see ideas that only a few years ago were science fiction becoming science fact, or at least being talked about as a serious possibility. So here are a few of the things that have caught my eye in March.  This month's highlights include, amongst others, a new Mars mission, a bug that eats plastic and the possibility of immortality. http://wp.me/p3ycbY-1lP

VW - Global corporations and the future

We all live on the same crowded planet.  How did they think they could keep this a secret?  Sometimes you just wonder how large corporations can get it so wrong? My blog: http://wp.me/p3ycbY-1gS

Technology - my love/hate relationship with it

As a self published author I rely on technology in various forms.  When it works as it should, great.  But as we all know it doesn't always work as it should and then....  http://wp.me/p3ycbY-1dl

Robots - are they making us lazy?

Intelligent machines are having an ever increasing impact on our lives, but not always for the better.  My blog:  http://wp.me/p3ycbY-1cF

Is technology freeing us or wasting our time?

If you are reading this or following my blog you have bought into the technology that enables this to happen and everything that goes along with it.  I just wonder what it is really doing for us.  My blog: http://wp.me/p3ycbY-1aw
 

Future homes - what we really need?

We are happy to spend large sums of money on the latest gadgets, but are there other more important things that we need for our homes if we are to safeguard the future? http://wp.me/p3ycbY-15l

My top 5 science fiction inventions

This weeks blog looks at some of my personal favourite science fiction inventions.  What would yours be?  http://wp.me/p3ycbY-13e

Robots, androids and intelligent machines - what next?

In Sept 2013 I wrote a blog on this subject asking the question 'do we want them to look human?' I suggested the answer was 'no'. But, perhaps it's not that simple?  This weeks blog: http://wp.me/p3ycbY-12O

What happens when robots and machines are smarter than us?

Well I'm back on one of my favourite subjects,
our relationships with intelligent machines.  So what will happen when they become smarter than us - which the surely must?  This weeks blog:  http://wp.me/p3ycbY-12E

What will we be doing in the future - (3)

The final blog in this series looking at how out lives might change in the future.  In the festive season I end on a note of hope for that future. 

What will we be doing in the future - part 2

My second blog looking at the way I see society moving. The trouble is there are so many possibilities.  But then, that's one of the reasons I write Science Fiction 

What will we be doing in the future - part 2 http://wp.me/p3ycbY-113

What will we humans be doing in the future? - part 1

 Machines are taking over more and more jobs.  There is even talk of drones delivering Amazon packages.  So, have you ever wondered what we humans will be doing in the future?  My blog: http://wp.me/p3ycbY-10L

Men and machines - and what does it mean to be human?

Why must it always be an us and them?  In the future will the definition of man and machine become blurred?  and what will it mean to be human?

My Wednesday blog:

http://wp.me/p3ycbY-cT