Year: 2019

Artificial intelligence is an ability to calculate but it misses morals and it certainly misses the spark of creativity that is characteristic of life.

Machine learning algorithms have given computers the ability to learn from available data, where programming becomes an internal function to the machine. That internal programming function and the language it uses is often incomprehensible to the human programmers.

A link-up of millions if not billions of sources of information in what is called “the internet of things”, would feed the data from all monitoring cameras and sensors to a central artificial intelligence. Some say this will be a boon to mankind and others warn that there are dangers.

I was traveling yesterday. To get from Terceira island to Rome, I took an early flight out to Lisbon, and from there on to Rome. Got up at 4:30 in the morning to get to the airport in time. Although unusual for me to get up that early, it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it. The flight itself was a wonderful experience. I had been unable to secure a ticket in economy class, so I put my hand in my pocket (figure of speech, it was all done with plastic money) and spent the money for a flight in business class. It cost me, but I am happy I did.

On both flights I had a row of seats for my self, and excellent service. Thanks TAP staff – you were great and your readiness to help much appreciated. Flying in Business gave me some time to think … time I usually don’t just take out of my day. And so I was daydreaming … imagining what the world will look like a few years hence. I would like to share the vision I had with you.

We pride ourselves to be at the top of the food chain … but are we really?

In the animal world, we have the lion who knows he’s the strongest predator and has no equal. Yet, humans hunt the lion with spears, traps and now with guns. We can kill the lion or catch him at our pleasure. In the seas, no fish is more voracious than the shark. Sharks know they are at the top of their food chain. Yet we catch the shark with bait and hook and kill him. Many a shark is caught only to be mutilated. Humans – if we can call them that – cut off the shark’s fins and throw the still living creature back into the sea to die a painful death. The fins are dried and sold for good price as a delicacy.

So humans, we think, must be the most powerful creatures in the world. Even the scriptures tell us that the world is ours to inhabit and control. It is true … if we only look at the physical, the world of animals that surrounds us, we’re hot shit, we’re really in control. But as soon as we consider the spiritual, the picture changes.  Continue reading “Are humans really at the top of the food chain?”