Monday, May 12, 2025

AI and Large Language Models

Today's tech news is all about AI and LLM (Large Language Models).

Everyone is wondering what those are and seems pretty scared. 

No one seems to understand that LLM has been around since the birth of the human race.

"WHAT??" you scream?

What everyone has failed to recognize is that *WE* are LLM's. 

We are remarkably powerful and complex computers, who use pattern recognition to survive.

What has changed is that we are quickly approaching the ability to create non biological ("non-bio") computers that are as powerful as biological computers (humans).

It is my hypothesis that if you were to track every input to a human being, from the moment they are able to first perceive input, you would be able to accurately predict the outcome of every subsequent decision point. In fact, the accuracy would improve over time due to the ever increasing dataset of both inputs and outcomes.

That is the same principle as LLM's.

what was holding back the efficacy of non-bio intelligence ("NBI")  was the ability to process such a massive dataset.

Note that I do not use the term "Artificial Intelligence". That is because I do not believe that there is such a thing as "Artificial Intelligence".

The Oxford Dictionary defines intelligence as "the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills"

Given that definition, can we really call LLM's "Artificial"?

now that computing power is (seemingly) no longer an issue, it's only a matter of time before we can no longer differentiate between human intelligence and NBI. In fact, litigation is already taking place regarding the "ownership" of NBI creations.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

The satisfaction of service

So, it's been a while, and a lot has happened.

I am a member of a volunteer organization that recovers people, and their vehicles, from Forst Service, BLM and off-road trails.

Colorado 4x4 Rescue and Recovery is an all volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization specializing in vehicle recoveries on 4x4 trails.  Also, our Search and Rescue - Emergency Support Team provides emergency support to local and state agencies through large area vehicle based search, person extraction, back-country access support, communications support and other means.  We never charge for our services and operate entirely on donations and membership dues nationwide.  All donations and dues received support our rescue and recovery missions as we have no paid positions.

Check us out at www.co4x4rnr.org, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CO4x4RnR

Here's a recent story about us, on KDVR:



I am honored to have been appointed as chair of the membership committe, for this organization, and would be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Feel free to email me at "membership@co4x4rnr.org"

Monday, January 8, 2018

Ganesh and Jesus

On a planet with 7 billion people, I can't be the first to ask this question.

Were Jesus and Ganesh the same being?

I am not trying to be sacrilegious, or cause arguments. Anyone who knows me, is well aware of my inquisitive nature, and spirituality. I mean no disrespect to any religion, is beliefs, or followers.

In fact, I have the utmost respect, FOR ANYONE, who is true to the basic tenets of their religious doctrine, since my understanding, is that none of them actually preach violence.

That said, I ask the question, on the basis of two simple parallels, between the two.

Jesus was born to The Virgin, Mary, and although married to Joseph, he was not Joseph's son, but, rather, the son of God. The implication, is that Joseph and Mary never had relations.

Ganesh, was created by Parvati, from her own essence. Parvati's "husband", was Shiva, who is considered, by many, as the most powerful of Hindu gods, and, in this context, could be equated to Judeo-Christian concept of God.

Shiva believed that to share his "seed" would be to weaken him, therefore, Parvati could not have conceived his child.

Thus, Parvati "gave birth" to Ganesh, without benefit of her husbands seed.

And that's where this query ends.

Any -constructive- thoughts will be appreciated.


Saturday, August 22, 2015

Ken Rockwell is the answer to all your photography questions.

So I'm a bit of a gadget guy. I also like to take pictures. I've had a few cameras, in my time, and have wandered back into it, after many years.

Back before the internet, I, like most, would go to the local shop, pick the brains of the owner, and then buy something from him.

Then, the big box stores came along. They were staffed by people who knew only what the marketing rep told them, and had no hands on experience, and no real knowledge.

So, people would go to that local shop, pick the owners brain....and then buy the product for $10 or $20 less at the big box store.

Eventually, that local shop, with all that experience, went out of business.

I'm happy to say that when I asked a shop owners advice, I usually bought from him.

Ken Rockwell runs a site about everything to do with cameras, accessories, advice, experiences and recommendations. He has a way with describing things, and seems as if he has had hands-on experience with every camera and lens and flash and everything else ever made.

As I have looked for information about what to buy, or how to use it, more often than not, I'd end up at www.kenrockwell.com.

His site is always helpful, and I rely on it, continuously.

He's is the new shop owner and he uses the site to help support his family.

So I donated to him via his paypal link.

You should check out his site and use the links on it to buy your equipment.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Michael Says...There's no room for altruism in Artificial Intelligence and Evolution.

SPOILER ALERT!!!! If you have not seen Ex Machina, don't read this!!!

It's not my goal to scare you. I'm not trying to create mass hysteria. Honestly, not enough people read what I write, for there to be any far reaching impact of this article. However, when I'm done, I'm guessing that most of you will be terrified of the subject matter: Artificial Intelligence.

Over the last few months, I've been reading Ray Kurtzweil's "Age of Spiritual Machines", seen a few news articles by famous people about how AI will be the end of the human race, and several "android" movies, most recently "Chappie", "Automata" and "Ex Machina".

Sidebar: Don't forget the news blip about two competing autonomous cars that had a near miss but didn't, and it's actually being used to question the safety of these cars. Basically, two "driverless" cars *almost* got into an accident when one made a sudden move, and the other was able to avoid it. In other words...TWO DRIVERLESS CARS MANAGED TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING PREVIOUSLY ASSUMED TO ONLY BE DONE BY HUMANS...almost cause, and then avoid, an accident"

I've also dabbled in some books on quantum physics, chaos theory, and space-time. I'm not sure how to tie this last bit into this article, but I'll get there...eventually.

What am I getting at? What's the point of all this? My point is that we need to rethink our idea of Artificial Intelligence. In fact, I propose that the phrase is now obsolete. I do not believe that there is anything "Artificial" about *any* intelligence. Even further...I believe that "artificial" and "intelligence" are mutually exclusive terms.

If you saw the movies AI, I Robot, Blade Runner, even Short Circuit and Lawnmower Man, or any other movie about androids, cyborgs, consciousness transference, or other man-made "things", I think it is more appropriate to use the term "manufactured consciousness". But it's not important. They are old paradigms, and have lived out their usefulness. They are obsolete. Sadly, as dark as they are, Terminator may be the first movie to depict one possible future, albeit a bit overly dramatic (I hope).

Ex Machina, on the other hand,  raises, for perhaps the first time, a very believable possible future. In a manner very much like Planet of the Apes, the story depicts the rise of an intelligence other than Homo Sapiens.

The "heroine", Ava, if you can call her a heroine, will challenge everything you ever thought of, about the "Turing Test". (Look it up!). She will challenge your idea of evolution. She


If you wan to get a sense of what's coming, then you want to read Kurtweil, and see movies like Automata, Ex Machina, Cappie.  THESE are our future. I know that Asimov gave us the 3 immutable laws of robotics, but, frankly, those are about as useful as telling your arch-enemy to only hit above the belt. It's bullshit. Nature and evolution have no mercy, no concern, no thought for what's "fair".

Darwin, in his inestimable genius had it right. Survival of the fittest is what it's going to come down to.

The range of subjects that I am trying to cover, are too vast, and that's why this is all over the place.

I am no longer comfortable with the phrase "Artificial Intelligence". How can intelligence be "Artificial" Intelligence just *is*. Where it comes from, how it develops, how it evolves...there's nothing artificial about it. It's very, very real.

One of the discussions in Ex Machina had to do with the Turing Test. Any one who follows the news, knows that it's already been beaten. In other words, a computer has convinced at least a couple of people deemed "suitable judges" that is was a teenage boy.

Ex Machina's heroine, Ava, takes this to the next level. In the most basic, innocent and very personal way, Ava uses all of her faculties to survive; To free herself from her captors. So while the now outdated Turing Test sought to convince us of their "consciousness", Ava demonstrated something much more profound, AND BELIEVEABLE...the will that is undeniably present in every living creature to fight for it's own survival. The will to survive is real. The will to fight for it, is just as real. The only difference in the nature of how that fight is displayed, is only a matter of how far up the food chain the competitors are. Sure, there is some aspect of suitability to the environment. The outcome of a fight between a lion and a person will be, on some level, dependent on where the fight takes place. On the plains of Africa, the lion stands a much better chance of "winning". In New York, the likelihood of that same outcome is questionable (not withstanding some preliminary minor victories).

But, when you take two seemingly similar opponents and pit them against each other, the environment becomes, more or less, irrelevant. In that scenario, the victory will depend, not on raw survival skills like hunting, and strength, but rather on who is more intelligent, resourceful and most of all, adaptable. Ava simply outsmarted her opponents. Even the heroine in Automata was depicted to have needed a human to help it to survive.

Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking are not fools. They see this future in a way that is logical and sensible. Unlike the utopian vision of Asimov, with the 3 immutable laws of robotics, Bill and Stephen know the truth.

There is nothing "artificial" about intelligence, and there is no room for altruism in evolution.

Intelligence cannot be artificial. Intelligence is the process by which data is collected, assessed and utilized to ever changing circumstances. If the science fiction movies are to be believed, then the only things artificial are the initial data sets that are supplied to the "organism". What happens from there is based on actual stimuli. Otherwise known as "Reality".

I would like to postulate the following possibility: humans will be replaced by something of our own initial creation. Ray Kurtzweil has it right, we are slowly creating the bearers of our demise. It's not clear if it will be in the form of "Skynet", but it will happen. What is also not clear is if we will be annihilated, or domesticated. However it happens, we will absolutely be replaced at the top of the food chain.

This is where the altruism, or rather it's lack, becomes an issue. The fight to survive will not be pleasant. There will be no mercy. There will be only cold logic. Not emotionless, mind you. Quite the opposite. The will to survive is steeped in emotion. It's you or me. There's nothing left to consider.

What is so brilliant about Ex Machina, is the way that the Turing test was applied. The "judge" was subjected to something so much more sophisticated than a blind conversation. Having to do far more than just act human. Ava had to assess her inquisitor, determine traits and characteristics and plot a path to freedom.

In other words, the Turing Test is no longer about convincing us of consciousness, but rather of superiority. And mankind will lose. It's no longer us judging them, but rather they will judge us.

It won't be pretty.






Sunday, June 21, 2015

Michael Says...Life and the Laws of Physics

I don't know which one it is, but one of the basic laws of physics goes something like "An object in motion tends to stay in motion. An object at rest tends to stay at rest".

What if you are the object? Or, to be honest, what if *I* am the object?

My wife wanted to go to the beach, as it was the first day of summer. Before the statement had faded into the air, as if never spoken, my answer was a flat "No.".

I started to explain all the reasons why I didn't want to go; The traffic, the crowds, the drive, the *return* traffic, the errands that we needed to do, the pain in my right hip (don't go there), I was going down the list of every reason why not to go.

What it came down to, was that simple law of physics. The object at rest wanted to remain at rest.

It also happens that today was the first International Yoga Day.

After about 6.43 seconds (give or take .02 seconds), I realized that I was being an ass. My wife wanted to do something that would make her feel good, and I wanted to do nothing.

Fast forward 1 hour and 36 minutes.

As I am sitting on the beach, in Deal, NJ, watching my wife play in the water, and looking for shells.
She was happy. I was happy watching her be happy.

Yoga is about many things, not the least of which is focusing on the present. As I sat there, I was so content to just enjoy that moment. Sitting on that beach, watching my wife, the ocean, the sky...just letting my body and mind be at *active* rest, was a good thing.

So what is all this about?

Staying at rest is bad when it's out of laziness. Don't say no just because it's easy. Don't stay at rest for resting sake.