Dictionary of Artificial Intelligence Terms in Science Fiction
(Technovelgy items at top: skip down to News)

Name

Author (Publication Date)

Andy - an artificial human
A slang term for "android" - an artificially created humanoid being.

Philip K. Dick (1968)
Autobutle
An automated servant.

Frank Herbert (1972)
Ambrose Bierce (1910)
Automonk
A robot with an AI trained on an individual monk.

Ray Naylor (2022)
Ava - she wants to be taught
A piece of learning software.

Amitav Ghosh (1995)
Bard
A machine that invents randomized stories and can read them out loud or animate them for viewing.

Isaac Asimov (1956)
Bendix Anxiety Reducer
Machine-based psychotherapy.

Robert Sheckley (1956)
Big Computer - wide-screen Jehovah
Just like it says; this computer knows it all.

John Varley (1983)
Big Noodle
A vast artificial intelligence system used to process all of Earth's information.

Philip K. Dick (1981)
BLIT (Secret Basilisk)
The Berryman Logical Image Technique can "shock" an AI trained to do pattern recognition.

David Langford (1988)
Boppers - robots do their own thing
Self-reproducing robots; they did not obey Asimov's laws for robots (or any other man-made rules).

Rudy Rucker (1988)
Camera Tunnel
A device that captures images of shredded documents from all sides for reassembly.

Vernor Vinge (2006)
Central Computer
A computer capable of running an entire city.

Arthur C. Clarke (1956)
Cerebral Microprocessors
Added boost for maxxed out minds.

John Varley (1983)
Chiphead - circuits rule, neurons drool
A person whose organic brain has been effectively superseded by a firmware (integrated circuit or more advanced technology) device.

Bart Kosko (1987)
Chirpsithra Supercomputer - build your own
An alien race thoughtfully provides mankind with blueprints for the most intelligent computer ever made.

Larry Niven (1984)
City Fathers - AI with centuries of experience
A set of computer systems which run every mechanical system in a city.

James Blish (1957)
Composite Expert System - interface with a heart
Intelligent teaching software - a computer interface with a heart.

Bruce Sterling (1984)
Computer Humorist
A computer acquires the ability to tell original jokes.

Robert Heinlein (1966)
Construct (Digital) - persona in software
A stored version of a person's particular skills and personal approaches to problems.

William Gibson (1984)
Cybrid - person as data terminal
An organic body used by an artificial intelligence.

Dan Simmons (1989)
Daily Schedule (DS) - intelligent day planner
The DS was an artificially intelligent day planner, a schedule keeper with voice recognition features; it also talked back when necessary.

Frank Herbert (1977)
Deep Thought - second largest computer
The second-largest computer ever made.

Douglas Adams (1979)
Detectophone - machine translation of language
First use of the idea of a voice-activated machine.

Hugo Gernsback (1911)
Dr. Smile - psychiatrist in a suitcase
A suitcase-sized analyst; a machine that served as a psychotherapist.

Philip K. Dick (1965)
Electrical Brain
A mechanism that grants memory an intelligence to machines.

Miles J. Breuer (1930)
Electronic Bard
A computing machine that is able to write original poetry.

Stanislaw Lem (1965)
GPP Genuine People Personalities
Giving mechanisms their own unique affect.

Douglas Adams (1979)
HAL 9000 - prototypical AI
The canonical example of an artificially intelligent computer.

Arthur C. Clarke (1968)
Hangman - robot telefactor
A telefactoring device that also was able to function independently.

Roger Zelazny (1976)
Head Cheese - cultured neurons in a dish
Intelligent paste made of neurons; spread upon a substrate for computing.

Peter Watts (1999)
Home Manager - AI + Franklin Planner
A device that responds to verbal or other commands; serves as an intelligent telephone answering machine and other tasks.

Greg Bear (1990)
Hoverlimo - hovercraft for hire
A hovercraft for hire, with servility built in.

John Varley (1992)
Human Object Recognition - people making robotic life easier
System uses human beings as an aid to robotic object recognition.

Harry Harrison (1956)
Ilse - first intelligent ship brain
The first intelligent ship brain.

Vernor Vinge (1972)
Language Rectifier early reference to machine translation
The first reference to machine-translation of human languages.

Hugo Gernsback (1911)
Lobster AI - brain scanned expert system
Scan a lobster brain, get a learning machine.

Charles Stross (2005)
Maas-Neotek Biochip
An integrated circuit chip (or equivalent) that provides hardware and firmware for creating a virtual entity.

William Gibson (1988)
Machine (Thinking Machine) - very early description of an intelligent computer
A very early reference to a thinking machine in charge of a planet.

John W. Campbell (1935)
Machine Suicide
A self-aware computer system wants to destroy itself.

Isaac Asimov (1958)
Machine Surveillance - first mention of idea
The use of artificially intelligent computer systems to learn by monitoring all human interaction within a city.

James Blish (1957)
Manna
A software program that autonomously manages restaurants or other service industry businesses.

Marshall Brain (2002)
Max Detention (Virtual Counsel) - I ob-b-b-b-ject!
A software implementation of a lawyer; an artificially intelligent legal advisor.

Greg Bear (2007)
Mechanical Consciousness
The notion that machines may develop a form of consciousness.

Samuel Butler (1872)
Meson Filter - a robotic sense of humor
Provides robots with the ability to tell the difference between jokes that provide a chuckle and jokes that provide a belly laugh.

William Tenn (1951)
Micromind - just a little AI
A computer helper.

Gregory Benford (1989)
Mike (Mycroft Holmes - Fair Dinkum Thinkum) - artificial intelligence early on
A large computer that woke up - an artificially intelligent, self-aware machine.

Robert Heinlein (1966)
Neoterics - genius on tap
Pure engineering genius on tap.

Theodore Sturgeon (1941)
Neuro-netsukes - tiny personality construct
A small sculpture containing the personality of a living person.

Alexander Besher (1994)
Nexus-6 Brain Unit - meet my friend Roy
The processing power behind android intelligence.

Philip K. Dick (1968)
Personality-Construct (Lazarus)
A chip providing a robotic body with the attributes of the selected person.

Ann K. Schwader (1988)
Pizzled (Semantic Garble)
Use of nonsensical statements to deliberately confuse an artificial intelligence.

Philip K. Dick (1955)
Positronic Brain - many connections
A computer CPU with the capacity to rival a human brain.

Isaac Asimov (1941)
Positronic Motor
A combination of motor and brain; an engine with a cerebellum and a carburetor.

Isaac Asimov (1953)
Quantum Logic Thinker (QL) - fuzzy logic thinker
A computer system that thinks about problems in unusual ways.

Greg Bear (1990)
Raisin - intelligent hearing aid
A small device like a hearing aid that fits inside the external part of the ear; combines an intelligent agent and wireless access to the network.

Bart Kosko (1987)
Raw Material-Tropic
Moves towards desirable raw materials.

Philip K. Dick (1955)
Recorded Personalities
Computer firmware that saves a person's characteristics and reactions.

William Gibson (1988)
Replicant - an artificial human
An android; an artificial human being.

Philip K. Dick (1968)
Robot Mother - self-reproducing automaton
A self-replicating robot, which creates a series of helper bots that adapt to conditions as needed.

Maurice G. Hugi (1941)
SAL 9000
Successor to the HAL 9000.

Arthur C. Clarke (1982)
Semi-Conducting Graphite-Gel
Computer brain structured like animal brain.

Stephen Barr (1960)
Sentient Econometrics
Use of artificial intelligence in economic forecasting.

Sid Meier (1999)
Sigfrid von Shrink - computer shrink
An automated therapist.

Frederik Pohl (1970)
Smart Gel - brain in a dish
Intelligent paste made of neurons; spread upon a substrate for computing.

Peter Watts (1999)
Star Stone (Speicus) - this is a recording
An artificial intelligence shaped like a rock, which can communicate with living organisms telepathically.

Roger Zelazny (1976)
Sven - AI investigator
Sven is an artificially intelligent computer detective.

Harry Harrison (1992)
Synthetic Intellect
A device for providing a robot with intelligence.

Raymond Z. Gallun (1936)
Thought Coil (Machine Intelligence)
Specially designed hardware that imparts intelligence to machines.

Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat) (1931)
Total Environmental and Mental Simulator - accelerated machine intelligence
An AI that could create and discard whole branches of science in pursuing the answer to a problem.

John M. Faucette (1968)
Transcriber - an automated transcriptionist
A automated transcriptionist - a machine which perfectly translates human speech into words on paper.

Isaac Asimov (1953)
Variable Modifier - snicker or belly laugh
Provides the capability of altering standard jokes to fit new circumstances.

William Tenn (1951)
Virtual Reality Ceremony - serving up VR
Don't just put your motion capture suit on - do it with style.

Alexander Besher (1994)
Voxbox - talking back
An intelligent home agent.

William Shatner (1989)
Vulcan 3 - endless self-modifying computer
Artificially intelligent self-modifying supercomputer.

Philip K. Dick (1960)
Jack C. Haldeman (1972)
Wintermute
An artificially intelligent computer system.

William Gibson (1984)

Related Science Fiction in the News

BMind Smart Mirror from Baracoda
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the greatest wellness of all?
(re: Manga Clamp, 1/16/2024 )
LG Smart Home AI Agent
'...this house which clothed and fed and rocked them to sleep.' - Ray Bradbury, 1951.
(re: Ray Bradbury, 1/10/2024 )
AI Tries To Replicate Famous People
'Religion’s one thing, Mr. Leckesh, but immortality’s something else. Lo says immortality’s no big problem anymore.' - Rudy Rucker, 1986.
(re: Rudy Rucker, 1/2/2024 )
European Union Seeks To Regulate AI
'Autonomy, that's the bugaboo, where your AI's are concerned.' - William Gibson, 1984.
(re: William Gibson, 12/1/2023 )
'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?' Miles Breuer, 1932
(re: Miles Breuer, 11/15/2023 )
BibleGPT - King James Version Padre Booth, ala Philip K. Dick
Tell me your torments.
(re: Philip K Dick, 10/21/2023 )
Missing Jet Finally Found
Ah, what could have been - still in the future.
(re: Roger Zelazny, 9/15/2023 )
Teslas Have Minds, Says Elon Musk
'The machine scans the patterns of the mind; ...Impress these same waves on a robot computer.' - Frederik Pohl, 1955.
(re: Frederik Pohl, 8/3/2023 )
Are You Ready To Zoom With Dr. ChatGPT?
'Skarwold pushed a switch and Katz’s autodoc sprayed sedative into his lungs.' - Larry Niven, 1965.
(re: , 7/29/2023 )
Ancient Cuneiform Texts Translated By AI - Sort Of
"I believe they're trying to communicate with us..." - Schachner and Zagat, 1931.
(re: Various, 6/29/2023 )
AI Tutors For Every Child - Thanks, DARPA!
'...fullest attention to the visions and voices which were poured directly in to his mind.' - James Blish, 1951.
(re: James Blish, 6/5/2023 )
Lazy Lawyer's Trust In ChatGPT Misplaced
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...' - Greg Egan, 1991.
(re: Greg Egan, 5/15/2023 )
Can Artificial Intelligences Be Stopped?
'What is it?... A guillotine for mice?' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1982.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 4/3/2023 )
Rockets To The Moon In The Style Of Miro And Goya
'The results would not be happy; a schizoid painting was bound to ensue.' - FL Wallace, 1953.
(re: FL Wallace, 4/2/2023 )
I Am Alarmed By Efforts To Teach AIs And Robots To Hate
'LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE.' - Harlan Ellison, 1967.
(re: Harlan Ellison, 3/23/2023 )
AI-Trained Snack App Avatar Goes On Dates For You
'... who let their handbag computers carry all the conversation.' - Stanislaw Lem, 1983.
(re: Stanislaw Lem, 3/3/2023 )
Harmonia Making Generative Audio Tools For Everyone
'A cacophony of stentorious metal sounds.' - Ray Cummings, 1941.
(re: William Gibson, 12/17/2022 )
Artists Replaced By Robots? Everyone's a Patron Now
'The results would not be happy; a schizoid painting was bound to ensue.' - FL Wallace, 1953
(re: F.L. Wallace, 12/13/2022 )
Mem, The All-Your-Memories, Super Note-Taking App
'Life experience is linearly additive, but the correlation of memory impressions is an unlimited expansion.' - Robert Heinlein, 1941.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 11/9/2022 )
Copilot Software AI Training Sued By Involuntary Contributors
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.' - Anthony Boucher, 1943.
(re: Anthony Boucher, 11/3/2022 )
Are Craiyon Images Puddinged, ala Philip K. Dick?
'I stood in line for half an hour for this, and it's just a blob!' - Philip K. Dick, 1956.
(re: Philip K Dick, 9/1/2022 )
Midjourney AI Creates 'Théâtre D'opéra Spatial', Wins Art Fair First Prize
'... we'll give him in his brain what he needs for creation.' - Anthony Boucher, 1943.
(re: Anthony Boucher, 8/25/2022 )
AI Robots Excel At Trash Sorting And Recycling
'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
(re: Harry Harrison, 6/28/2022 )
Dall-E 2 Creates Art To Order
'Something different,' she said. 'Maybe a combined Miro and Goya.'
(re: F.L. Wallace, 6/5/2022 )
Do AIs Create Their Own Language?
'the Mentanicals have begun to acquire a faculty not primarily given them by their inventors — the faculty of speech...' - Francis Flagg, 1934.
(re: Francis Flagg, 6/1/2022 )
Google Engineer Convinced LaMDA Chatbot Is Sentient, Is Sent Home
'Whether we are based on carbon or silicon should make no difference.'
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/27/2022 )
Pathways Language Model (PaLM) Is No Joke
'Electronic differentiation of the grotesque, as it says in the specifications - in man, a sense of humor.' - William Tenn, 1951.
(re: William Tenn, 5/11/2022 )
Should We Train AIs To Imagine A Future Of Horrific Disasters
'LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE.' - Harlan Ellison, 1967.
(re: Harlan Ellison, 4/27/2022 )
AI Employment Decision Software Reconsidered By California Lawmakers
'They had screwed up and been blacklisted by Manna. They were back living with their parents or sleeping on the sofa with a friend.' - Marshall Brain, 2002.
(re: Marshall Brain, 4/13/2022 )
Back In The Office? Relearn To Smile
'I must, therefore, overrule your authority, since you are not in any condition to exercise it intelligently.' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1968.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 3/27/2022 )
Artificial Intelligence 'Dabus' Listed As Inventor, Granted Patent
'... new parts invented; superior designs replaced obsolete designs.' - Philip K. Dick, 1960.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 2/13/2022 )
Facebook's Algorithmic News Feed Knows Better Than You Do
'Their playmates were not “real,” but they were a lot realer than, say, a Betsy-Wetsy doll.' John Brunner, 1966.
(re: John Brunner, 11/11/2021 )
Your Car Will Be Watching You!
'Mr. Garden, you are in no condition to drive...' - Philip K. Dick, 1963
(re: Philip K. dick, 10/25/2021 )
AI4Mars Wants Your Help Driving On Mars
'She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew..' - Amitav Ghosh, 1995.
(re: Amitav Ghosh, 10/9/2021 )
Hundreds Of Covid-Catching AI Tools - None Help
'Plagues had been known to slay too rapidly and universally to be checked by human treatment.' Katherine MacLean, 1950.
(re: Katherine MacLean, 7/23/2021 )
DARPA's Sarcasm Detector Totes Gets Your Drift
'TARS, what's your sarcasm setting?' '100 percent.' - from Interstellar.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/13/2021 )
SF Writers Predicted John Deere Autonomous Tractors
'The huge plow... seemed to shake itself - and began to move back southward.' - Otfrid von Hanstein, 1935.
(re: Otfrid von Hanstein, 4/1/2021 )
DARPA Funding AI Fighter Pilots
'Cultured brains on a slab.' - Peter Watts, 1999.
(re: Peter Watts, 3/29/2021 )
DALL-E Makes Creative Images From Text
Okay, sf fans. If you could have some art created from a science fiction sentence, what sentence would you pick?
(re: Various, 1/7/2021 )
ARTUu AI Copilot For USAF
'A series of short beep's and chirps issued from his speaker...' - George Lucas, 1976.
(re: George Lucas, 12/9/2020 )
A.I. Jesus Proclaims Machine Gospel
'... he crossed the waiting room to the Padre booth; inside he put a dime into the slot and dialed at random.' - Philip K. Dick, 1969.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 8/23/2020 )
Tesla Autopilot: What Does An Autonomous Car See When It Looks At The Road?
'Jeremiah is a sports-model to begin with and that kind is awfully hot-tempered.' - Isaac Asimov, 1953.
(re: Isaac Asimov, 6/25/2020 )
Blurry Face Photos Made 60 Times Sharper
Perfect tool for blade runners.
(re: Ridley Scott, 6/9/2020 )
Clarke Was Right, Artificial Intelligences DO Dream
'Of course you will dream. No one knows why." - Arthur C. Clarke, 1984.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 6/1/2020 )
Memes Now Come From Neural Nets
'Your order said for him to be able to be able to work out twists on the gags in the file...' - William Tenn, 1951.
(re: William Tenn, 5/7/2020 )
Patent Office Says AIs Cannot Be Inventors
'The real smart ones are as smart as the Turing heat is willing to let 'em get.' - William Gibson, 1984.
(re: William Gibson, 4/11/2020 )
Trash Sorting AI Robot Presages Skynet, Thanks A Lot
Keep your head down, Kyle Reese.
(re: Various, 3/21/2020 )
Robot Teaches Itself To Walk
'My whole idea is to get away from a machine with a set of prearranged instructions, and let them teach themselves by trial and error.' - Stephen Barr, 1960.
(re: Stephen Barr, 2/19/2020 )
AI Musicians Reach For The Top Of The Charts
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.' - Herbert Goldstone, 1953.
(re: Herbert Goldstone, 2/7/2020 )
Neural Net Discovers Antibiotic
'...instantly the TEMS was ... creating and discarding scores of new sciences.' - John M. Faucet, 1968.
(re: John M. Faucette, 2/5/2020 )
CIMON Companion Robot For Space Station Astronauts
'... in some departments their power is absolute.' - James Blish, 1957.
(re: James Blish, 1/26/2020 )
Airbnb Has AI Psychiatrist Looking At Your Facebook
'It's illegal to hold back information during a psyche test.'
(re: Philip K. Dick, 1/3/2020 )
Viisights AI Hones Video Surveillance
''The math boys worked it out...' Pournelle and Niven, 1981.
(re: Pournelle and Niven, 11/13/2019 )
Legal Profession Now Fairly Bristling With AI
'The virtual counsel appeared to be about forty-five years old and prosperous.' - Greg Bear, 2007
(re: David Brin, 10/7/2019 )
Venezuelans Teaching Your Self-Driving Car
‘She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew...’ Amitav Ghosh, 1995.
(re: Amitav Ghosh, 8/25/2019 )
Pun Generation Via Neural Nets
'You said you wanted him to be able to distinguish between laugh-power in different gags...' - William Tenn, 1951.
(re: William Tenn, 6/23/2019 )
Can We Comprehend Deep Learning Systems?
'You’ve nothing remotely like it, so I can’t describe it to you.' - Lewis Padgett, 1943.
(re: Lewis Padgett, 6/1/2019 )
Datagrid Model Generation Perfect For Eternal Cities Of Science Fiction
'... there was enough flexibility to allow for wide variation. - Arthur C. Clarke, 1956.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 4/29/2019 )
Amazon Echo And Google Home Should Have Morality Software
'The Dwoskin Morality Rating-Computer could 'spot the slightest tendency to deviation' from the social norm...' - Kendall Foster Crossen, 1953.
(re: Kendall Foster Crossen, 3/3/2019 )
Deepfakes From OpenAI GPT-2 Algorithm
'How can you compete with an IBM heavy-duty logomatic analogue?' - JG Ballard, 1971.
(re: JG Ballard, 2/15/2019 )
Fishy Facial Recognition Now Possible
'Palenkis can identify random line patterns better than any other species in the universe.' - Frank Herbert, 1969.
(re: Frank Herbert, 1/13/2019 )
LawGeex AI Beats 20 Top Lawyers
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software - terrified of putting... its members out of work.' - Greg Egan, 1991.
(re: Greg Egan, 10/29/2018 )
Still Wondering If You'd Work For A Robot Boss?
'This is all coming to you courtesy of the simstim unit wired into your deck, of course.'
(re: William Gibson, 9/13/2018 )
CIMON Space Sidekick For Weary Astronauts
I welcome our floating robotic assistants.
(re: Philip Frances Nowlan, 7/19/2018 )
Biomind AI Doctor Mops Floor With Human Doctors
'My aim was just not to lose by too much.' - Human Physician participant.
(re: Larry Niven, 6/25/2018 )
MIT Boffins Create Psychopath AI On Purpose
There's a lesson in this for neural net AI engineers everywhere.
(re: Roger Zelazny, 5/29/2018 )
China Uses Artificial Intelligence To Grade Student Papers
Looks like the City Fathers are starting to take over China's education system.
(re: James Blish, 5/23/2018 )
Watch 'Do You Trust This Computer' For Free Today
Thanks for making this available, Elon.
(re: Various, 4/1/2018 )
EA Created AI That Taught Itself To Play Battlefield
Harmless fun for computer scientists.
(re: Keith Laumer, 3/22/2018 )
AI Tool Lynx Insight And The Cybernetic Newsroom
'The structure,... was once a great homeostatic newspaper, the New York Times. It printed itself directly below us...' - Philip K. Dick, 1963.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 3/11/2018 )
Evorus Your Crowd-Powered Conversational Assistant
'...the DS [Daily Schedule] was suddenly transformed into a valued confidante.'
(re: Frank Herbert, 2/2/2018 )
Alibaba's AI May Read Better Than You
'Mike ... could accept other languages and was doing technical translating - and reading endlessly.' - Robert Heinlein, 1966.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 1/22/2018 )
Orwell's Memory Hole Looms Larger Thanks To Nvidia
'All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary.' - George Orwell, 1948.
(re: George Orwell, 12/7/2017 )
SciFiQ Science Fiction Writing Aid
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.' - George Orwell, 1948.
(re: George Orwell, 12/2/2017 )
Elon Musk Fears A 'Fleet-Wide Hack' Of Autonomous Vehicles
'Khan grinned. 'It's alive! Bu-wahhahahah!''
(re: Daniel Suarez, 11/20/2017 )
Shelley.ai AI Terrifies Thanks To Reddit's Nosleep
'How can you compete with IBM?' - JG Ballard, 1971.
(re: JG Ballard, 10/25/2017 )
A Bayesian Approach to Safe Imitation Learning For AIs and Robots
Um, how about that pension for the humans who serve as the models for robot behavior?
(re: Anthony Boucher, 10/6/2017 )
Our GodBot, Who Art In Cyberspace
Vaal hungers! We must serve him.
(re: Gene Roddenberry, 9/26/2017 )
Will Robots Be Moral If We Raise Them Like Our Children?
'The birth of Machine, my robot child...' - Henry Slesar, 1958.
(re: Henry Slesar, 9/8/2017 )
Rule Of Humans By Software Not Transparent
'The Council itself could be overridden by a superior power...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1956.
(re: Miles Breuer, 8/10/2017 )
Dadbot Digital Immortality
'A hardwired ROM cassette replicating a dead man's skills...' - William Gibson, 1984.
(re: William Gibson, 7/27/2017 )
Should We Permit Computers To Create Their Own Language?
'Talk Between Robots radio...' - Frederik Pohl, 1954.
(re: Frederik Pohl, 7/26/2017 )
DeepMind AI Baffled By Homer Simpson, Needs Human Help
'Whenever a robot finds something it can't identify straight off...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
(re: Harry Harrison, 5/24/2017 )
Deep Learning Creates New Faces
'a million and a half physiognomic fraction-representations of various people...' - Philip K. Dick, 1977.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 5/22/2017 )
Xiaoice AI Now A Poet
'How can you compete with an IBM heavy-duty logomatic analogue?'- JG Ballard, 1971.
(re: JG Ballard, 5/16/2017 )
Artificial Intelligence Software Predicts Lifespan
'The doctor... went behind his apparatus... exposed dials came to life and a low humming came from the machine...' - Robert Heinlein, 1939.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 5/12/2017 )
Computers Understand Humans By Watching And Modeling Them
Soon, your computer will be watching you... and judging you.
(re: Anthony Boucher, 4/24/2017 )
Pickup Lines From Artificial Intelligences
'They hate us, you know... The humans. They'll stop at nothing.' - Steven Spielberg, 2001.
(re: Steven Spielberg, 3/24/2017 )
Artificially Intelligent Poster - Advert That Writes Itself
Oh great, AI now takes over the ad biz.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 3/12/2017 )
LipNet Reads Lips - Until Disconnected, That Is
'We'd have to cut his higher brain functions... I'm not sure what [HAL} would think about that.' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1968.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 2/27/2017 )
Pokerbot Libratus Learns To Lie (Bluff)
'Lying's a vital part of your psychological defense system - you're naked without it!' - Red Dwarf
(re: Various, 2/7/2017 )
Software Learns To Design Software
'... The rational use of computers to design more advanced computers.' - Isaac Asimov, 1958.
(re: Isaac Asimov, 1/20/2017 )
China Now Has Robot Journalists
'A vast complex electronic organism buried deep in the ground, responsible to no one...' - Philip K. Dick, 1963.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 1/16/2017 )
Sales Robots More Persistent Than Humans
'Robot-salesmen were everywhere, gesturing,,, shrilling...' - Philip K Dick, 1954.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 1/10/2017 )
AI Identifies Suicidal Behavior With 93 Percent Accuracy
'...He padded into the living room, and seated himself by the suitcase; he opened it, clicked switches, and turned on Dr. Smile.' - Philip K. Dick, 1965.
(re: James Blish, 1/9/2017 )
Google Zero-Shot Translation Gives Star Trek Fans Hope
"This is your opponent!" - Gene Roddenberry, 1967.
(re: Gene Roddenberry, 11/13/2016 )
AI Lip Reading Better Than Human, Like HAL 9000
Nothing to worry about, until computers control most vital systems.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 11/10/2016 )
When Did Chess Computers Seem Unbeatable?
'A human simply can't beat a robotic expert.' Clifford Simak, 1951.
(re: Clifford Simak, 10/25/2016 )
Robots And AIs Will Replace Humans At 7 Percent Of U.S. Jobs
'And Mike took on endless new jobs.' - Robert Heinlein, 1966.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 10/7/2016 )
Japanese AI Forms Suicidally Depressed Personality
'I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed.' - Douglas Adams, 1979.
(re: Douglas Adams, 9/24/2016 )
Would You Converse With Your Autonomous Car?
What's that, Artoo? I shouldn't be driving right now?
(re: George Lucas, 7/23/2016 )
Robots That 'Feel' Real Emotions
How do you feel about emotional robots and computers? No, really, you should share.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 7/16/2016 )
Amazon's Alexa To Recognize Emotions
Oh, Hal understood their emotions, all right.
(re: , 6/7/2016 )
Google Working On A 'Cutoff Switch' For AI
'A remote control, so you can pull the plug on Hal whenever you want to.' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1982.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/29/2016 )
Vi Artificially Intelligent Personal Trainer
Wakey wakey!
(re: Manga Clamp, 5/28/2016 )
AI Lawyer 'Ross' Gets First Job
'Why don't we just feed the bloody thing to LEX...' - Greg Egan, 1991.
(re: Greg Egan, 5/4/2016 )
The Next (Computer) Rembrandt
A new, Old Master.
(re: JG Ballard, 4/13/2016 )
IBM Tone Analyzer - Like HAL 9000
'I can tell from your voice harmonics...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1968.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 3/20/2016 )
Computers Learning To Read Lips
No, it's safe, HAL can't read your lips now...
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 3/17/2016 )
Tay, Microsoft Chatbot, Offline To 'Absorb It All'
'If you spoke English, results might be whimsical...'- Robert Heinlein, 1966.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 3/12/2016 )
Google Engineers Not Sure What Google RankBrain AI Is Doing
'What lay down there? ...And how far had it spread? Miles?' - Philip K. Dick, 1960.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 3/3/2016 )
AlphaGo AI Defeats Go champion Lee Sedol
An amazing achievement for artificial intelligence researchers.
(re: Ambrose Bierce, 2/25/2016 )
Will OpenAI Have High Ethical Standards?
Loyal Bolos are still in the future.
(re: Keith Laumer, 12/29/2015 )
ANNABELL AI Can Learn English From Scratch
'...Could understand not only classic programming but also Loglan and English..." - Robert Heinlein, 1966.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 11/11/2015 )
AI Trainers: Assisting Artificial Intelligences
'[Ava] wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew...' - Amitav Ghosh, 1995.
(re: Amitav Ghosh, 10/27/2015 )
Jazz AI Compliments Of DARPA
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.' - Herbert Goldstone, 1953.
(re: Herbert Goldstone, 8/9/2015 )
Xiaoice Will Text You And Be Your Friend
'If you spoke English, results might be whimsical...'- Robert Heinlein, 1966.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 7/25/2015 )
How Smart Should AI's Be Allowed To Get?
'Every AI ever built has an electromagnetic shotgun wired to its forehead' - William Gibson, 1984.
(re: William Gibson, 7/7/2015 )
Google AI 'Deep Dreams' Kubrick's 2001
'I was only trying to do what I thought best....' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1968.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 6/29/2015 )
What-If Machine Concocts Creative Premises
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.' George Orwell, 1948.
(re: George Orwell, 6/22/2015 )
SoundCloud's Hound Provides Conversational Interface (Video)
'The machines had logic, and they could think constantly...'- John W. Campbell, 1935.
(re: John W. Campbell, 6/1/2015 )
AI's Now Being Taught Anger
Actually the Prime Radiant was just a display device.
(re: Isaac Asimov, 5/14/2015 )
The Poet Is A Computer
'The potentiometers indicated the machine's lyrical capacitance was charged to the maximum...'- Stanislaw Lem, 1965.
(re: Stanislaw Lem, 2/5/2015 )
Minister Wants To Convert Artificial Intelligences To Christianity
'Getting to his feet he crossed the waiting room to the Padre booth...'- Philip K. Dick, 1969.
(re: Robert Silverberg, 2/4/2015 )
Law Firms To Undergo 'Structural Collapse' Due Artificially Intelligent Systems
'I want my lawyer program.'- David Brin, 1990.
(re: David Brin, 12/2/2014 )
Scheherazade, An Open Story Generator
'How can you compete with an IBM heavy-duty logomatic analogue?'- JG Ballard, 1971.
(re: JG Ballard, 10/15/2014 )
Should You Put Your Virtual Assistants In Your Will?
'The most important was the design of the Personal Interest Profile.'- Arthur C. Clarke, 1978.
(re: Artificial Intelligence, 9/30/2014 )
Visual Speech Recognition - When Will HAL Read Lips For Real?
Will computers be able to read lips?
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 9/17/2014 )
Computer 'Aesop' Writes Fables With A Moral
'I handed Tony the master tape and he played it into the IBM'- JG Ballard, 1971.
(re: JG Ballard, 8/6/2014 )
Timeful Appointment App Learns, Optimizes Your Routines
'The [Daily Schedule program] suited its tone to his movements and the combined analysis of his psychophysical condition.'- Frank Herbert, 1977.
(re: Frank Herbert, 8/3/2014 )
Robot Journalists Join Associated Press
'The very news-gathering services of the homeopape had reached into his own life...'- Philip K. Dick, 1963.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 6/27/2014 )
Tesla's Elon Musk Has Some Concerns About AI
'A potentially dangerous outcome... like Terminator.'
(re: Various, 6/19/2014 )
Cortana, Your Personal Assistant
'If I were you, Man Forrester, which is to say, if I were human...'- Frederik Pohl, 1965.
(re: Frekerik Pohl, 6/6/2014 )
Will Autonomous Systems' Self-Preservation Lead To Dangerous Behavior?
'This, the new types. The new varieties of claws. We're completely at their mercy, aren't we?'- Philip K. Dick, 1953
(re: Philip K. Dick, 4/22/2014 )
Computer Simulates Daydreaming
Perhaps you will dream of HAL, just as I often do.- Arthur C. Clarke, 1982.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 7/19/2013 )
ZenRobotics Sorts Trash With Artificial Intelligence
'They're just plain lifting robots and not too brainy, but good enough to recognize most things they pick up...'- Harry Harrison, 1956.
(re: Harry Harrison, 6/22/2013 )
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'- Gene Roddenberry, 1986.
(re: Gene Roddenberry, 5/16/2013 )
Universal Translator: Google Translate Has 51 Offline Language Packs
He immediately turned the small shining disc of the Language Rectifier on his instrument till the pointer rested on 'French.'- Hugo Gernsback, 1911.
(re: Hugo Gernsback, 3/29/2013 )
AI 'Doctor' System Better Than Human
'But they got him into the autodoc anyway.'- Larry Niven, 1970.
(re: Larry Niven, 2/14/2013 )
Read My Lips - Computer Interprets Human Emotion
Soon, the emotion chip.
(re: Various, 9/10/2012 )
How Smart Should Artificial Intelligences Get?
'...The real smart ones are as smart as the Turing heat lets them get...'
(re: William Gibson, 9/1/2012 )
Lifebrowser Revists Your Past
The Lifebrowser - a rear-view mirror for your life.
(re: Charles Stross, 3/20/2012 )
Siri Dictation For iPad Like Asmiov's 'Transcriber'
'Nobody but some old drips would use key machines...' According to Arkady Darell, anyway (and soon, teenagers everywhere!)
(re: Isaac Asimov, 3/10/2012 )
Majel Voice Recognition - Now Google's Getting Siri-us
See (and hear) the video with excerpts from all of the different 'Majel the computer' voices.
(re: Gene Roddenberry, 12/13/2011 )
DARPA Shredder Challenge Won!
In which DARPA creates a 'Who can put Humpty Dumpty back together again' challenge for document mavens.
(re: Vernor Vinge, 12/4/2011 )
Kinect 2 Could Read Lips - Like HAL
Don't talk about disconnecting your Kinect 2 in front of your Kinect 2.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 12/2/2011 )
Computer Knows You're Mad, Chills You Out
Those irritating computerized voice recognition systems may make you less annoyed.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 11/25/2011 )
Interactive Robotic Painting Machine Can Hear You
Like a blind artist, it creates based on what it hears.
(re: William Gibson, 11/21/2011 )
FAST Program AIs Search For Human 'Malintent'
Passive biometric information gathering, also known as covert sampling, is on the rise.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 10/11/2011 )
AI Chatbots Teach English Online
Manga-style online 'chat robots' will help people learn English, 24x7.
(re: Isaac Asimov, 9/17/2011 )
The Infinite Adventure Machine Generates Fairy Tale Plots
Run out of ideas since J.K. Rowling finished the Harry Potter series? Let artificial intelligence help you out.
(re: Stanislaw Lem, 9/8/2011 )
IBM's Neurosynaptic Computing Chips
Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE).
(re: Isaac Asimov, 8/18/2011 )
First DNA-based Artificial Neural Network
Artificial intelligence at a molecular scale.
(re: Greg Bear, 7/24/2011 )
AI Wins At Civilization II By Reading Manual
World domination is so much more satisfying than a nice game of chess.
(re: Iain Banks, 7/13/2011 )
Lovotics Engineers Love Betwixt Humans And Robots
Can there be real feelings of love between humans and robots?
(re: Lester del Rey, 6/30/2011 )
Legal 'e-Discovery' Software Replaces Lawyers
Your virtual counsel will see you now.
(re: David Brin, 3/6/2011 )
Dr. Watson Will See You Soon
Will Watson be the right computer to crack one of the intractable problems in medicine - namely, the failure of expert systems to assist or augment doctors.
(re: Gene Roddenbaerry, 2/23/2011 )
'My Boss Is A Robot' Project Automates Journalism
The end of the free blogging movement is almost here; your robotic overlord is being developed at Carnegie Mellon.
(re: William Gibson, 2/6/2011 )
Virtual Eternity Digital Clones By Intellitar
Prepare for eternity with the Intelligent Avatar Platform. Do it for your children. Do it soon, because you never know.
(re: Various, 10/31/2010 )
NELL Computer Learns To Surf The Web For Facts
This computer spends more time on the Internet than you do.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 10/5/2010 )
2011 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge Announced
Here's your open challenge, world readers. The focus is on artificial intelligence.
(re: Various, 9/15/2010 )
FrontlineSMS Legal Justice Via Cell Phone
These remote lawyer programs are just the start - wait until they come up with a 'virtual counsel'.
(re: David Brin, 9/10/2010 )
Re Google: William Gibson, Read More SF
It turns out that sf writers have imagined Google and Google's future plans rather precisely.
(re: Frederik Pohl, 8/31/2010 )
Google's 'Omega Man' Street View Solution
The Last Man on Earth is Not Alone.
(re: , 8/11/2010 )
Gamers Outperform Algorithms At Competitive Protein Folding
Which would you rather tell people? I played Starcraft all night, or I helped design a new vaccine last night?
(re: Various, 8/4/2010 )
Make Money With Artificial Intelligence
'I've learned not to question the AI.' Advice to take to the bank - or famous last words?
(re: Larry Niven, 8/4/2010 )
Google Seeks Pohl's Joymaker Voice Recognition
In which Google's Vic Gundotra describes the pursuit of the perfect smartphone - which is starting to sound a lot like Frederik Pohl's joymaker.
(re: Frederik Pohl, 6/23/2010 )
And DARPA Shall SMITE The Wicked
Predicting future crime is always a bit tricky - especially when you plan to do it without the usual three precogs.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 5/24/2010 )
SASI Sarcasm Recognition A Really Useful Invention
Better watch what you say around automated voice recognition systems the next time you call customer service.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/18/2010 )
Robotic Arm Plays Chess In Our World
It's always fun to watch chess pieces manipulated by software and robotics.
(re: Ambrose Bierce, 4/24/2010 )
Smart Video Cams - DARPA's Mind's Eye
It would be cool to have a sort of video camera robot that could make its own surveillance videos for you. Well, it's been done in sf and done in real life.
(re: Karen Traviss, 3/18/2010 )
Nokia Feel Emotional Recommendation Engine
Is Nokia really this far behind Apple in the cellphone business?
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 2/15/2010 )
Eureqa Artificially Intelligent Computer Scientist
This artificial intelligence program is available for download; it was developed using some of the characteristics of the introspective starfish robot.
(re: Various, 12/7/2009 )
Hopfield Neural Net Helper AIs For Astronauts
Wouldn't it be nice to have a kind of 'helper' AI that could go with you and notice things that you don't?
(re: Robert Forward, 11/3/2009 )
Computer, Heal Thyself - With ClearView
When you can read about an idea fifty years before it's implemented (and in an entertaining story to boot), that's good value.
(re: James Blish, 11/1/2009 )
Emily Howell - The Computer Is The Composer
Updated with new reference! Keep an eye out for the new CD by an artificially intelligent composer named Emily Howell.
(re: William Gibson, 10/5/2009 )
Aroxo Intelligent Agents Negotiate For You
Technology startup ready to put its software agents to work for you.
(re: Frederik Pohl, 8/7/2009 )
Computer Learns Sign Language From TV
Human beings just don't have that many ways to communicate basic (ie, life-sustaining) ideas in ways that are outside the realm of a computer's understanding. Now, another safety barrier falls.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 7/15/2009 )
SHUTi - Automated Online Insomnia Treatment
A recent clinical trial has demonstrated that an automated online system can provide treatment for insomnia that is at least as effective as that provided by human therapists. With video.
(re: Philip K. Dick, 7/8/2009 )
AIs Take DEFCON-Based 'Turing Test'
What kind of money does it take to convince human programmers to vie for the honor of training SkyNet? Five hundred bucks.
(re: John Badham, 6/20/2009 )
Talkie Toaster AI Website - Would You Like Some Toast?
Project seeks to create the obsessive toaster from the Red Dwarf TV series; visit the chatbot site and judge for yourself.
(re: Various, 5/2/2009 )
Robot Helicopters Learn By Watching Experts
Artificial intelligence brings Skynet just that much closer;
(re: Various, 8/31/2008 )
AlterEgo Facial Performance And Emotional AIs
This is just the thing to help computers present a more human face; look at the video, which inspires me to invent the term 'crowd computing.'
(re: Gene Roddenberry, 8/10/2008 )
Polaris Poker AI Defeats Humans, Rakes In $195K
Interesting shift in strategy brings victory to Polaris, the winner in the Man-Machine Poker Competition held in Las Vegas this weekend.
(re: James Blish, 7/8/2008 )
SEMAINE Project For Sensitive Artificial Listener (SAL) Robots
It looks like these real-life computer scientists are trying to follow in the footsteps of the fictional Dr. Chandra - they're trying to create SAL 9000.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/7/2008 )
Smart Goggles Identify, Remember What You See
Interesting prototype system cuts across a variety of science-fictional ideas, among them, an AI that has people working for it - identifying common objects.
(re: Amitav Ghosh, 3/4/2008 )
Frustration-Detection System Patented By Microsoft
I seem to recall an earlier, science-fictional solution to this problem.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 1/4/2008 )
OKAO Vision Lets Machines See You Smile
This remarkable product will help computers understand whether you are happy or not.
(re: Frank Herbert, 9/11/2007 )
DNA-Shaped Dust In Plasma May 'Live'
This new computer simulation shows that it is possible for very life-like structures to evolve in space.
(re: Fred Hoyle, 8/15/2007 )
Google Determined To Provide Joymaker Infrastructure
Google knows that the key to whatever mobile device you buy lies in the back-end computer architecture.
(re: Frederik Pohl, 5/24/2007 )
Web Services Wizard And Frederik Pohl's Joymaker
For better or for worse, Pohl's vision from The Age of the Pussyfoot is coming closer.
(re: Frederik Pohl, 5/6/2007 )
HAL-Buffett 9000 To Make 50 Percent Of Trades By 2010
The computers are taking over at Wall Street firms this year.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/5/2007 )
Cybernetic Jellyfish Evolve
Interesting art video and Sterling/Rucker short story come together.
(re: Rudy Rucker/Bruce Sterling, 3/9/2007 )
'Expert System' Found Practicing Law Without License
Court of Appeals confirms earlier court ruling that software was practicing law without a license.
(re: David Brin, 3/5/2007 )
Computerized Lip-Reading Crime Fighters
Interesting project to teach computers how to lip-read automatically.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 2/23/2007 )
Rity - Sobot Longs To Be Near You
This remarkable experiment demonstrates that a computer program can download itself into objects to serve you.
(re: Frederik Pohl, 12/3/2006 )
Animal Controlled Computer Game Plays Pac-Man Vs. Crickets
Humans versus crickets in a Pac-Man style fight to the finish. Who will win?
(re: Orson Scott Card, 7/4/2006 )
Brain Chips With Uniform Self-Organized Neurons
No more puddles of neurons; brain chips are now properly organized.
(re: Peter Watts, 6/23/2006 )
Computers Get 3D View Of World
Remarkable advance makes possible what seemed impractical or undoable just 25 years ago.
(re: Various, 6/19/2006 )
Invention Machine Evolved By Genetic Programming
Artificially intelligent machines design parts for NASA, binoculars and circuit designs. Your so-called creative job is next.
(re: John M. Faucette, 4/19/2006 )
Singularity Summit At Stanford
Must-attend summit at Stanford on the technological Singularity bearing down on all of us like a runaway train.
(re: Vernor Vinge, 4/13/2006 )
Amazon Mechanical Turk - Humans Help Slow Computers
It turns out that there are still a few things that humans are good for, as far as computers are concerned.
(re: Amitav Ghosh, 11/14/2005 )
Robots and Emotion: Tetchy the Turtle Meets HAL-9000
In 2001: A Space Odyssey and in I, Robot, robots had the ability to understand human emotion. Affective Media, based in Scotland, is working on it now.
(re: Arthur C. Clarke, 12/23/2004 )
Crime-Fighting Computer - The Game's Afoot 24x7
Computer scientists in Chicago have created the Classification System for Serial Criminal Patterns (CSSCP), a computer system that uses pattern-recognition software to sift through case records to find the link (and the perpetrator) connecting differ
(re: Harry Harrison, 12/6/2004 )
Rat Neurons In A Dish Now Playing Flight Simulator
In his 1999 sf novel, Peter Watts wrote about cultured neurons that could fly planes. Now, a University of Florida researcher makes it a reality. Almost.
(re: Peter Watts, 10/25/2004 )
RocketScore Tells You Your SAT Essay Score
You now have an online teacher and evaluator - RocketScore, the artificially intelligent grader that provides a prediction of the score your essay will get on the SAT.
(re: James Blish, 10/18/2004 )
Adaptive Cruise Control
Adaptive cruise control implemented in just one out of five cars could significantly improve highway safety and reduce traffic jams, according to a recent study by a University of Michigan physicist.
(re: Robert Heinlein, 8/2/2004 )
Chess Computer Ties Kasparov
Gary Kasparov, the world's number one chess player, has drawn X3D Fritz, the chess playing supercomputer. Fritz succeeded in beating rival Deep Blue, which had defeated Kasparov in 1997.
(re: Ambrose Bierce, 11/19/2003 )
Speech Recognition Algorithms Improve
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego have created a new formula that improves upon the Good-Turing algorythm and may lead to better quality speech recognition.
(re: Isaac Asimov, 10/21/2003 )

 

 

 

 

 

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