Sam Harris

Deep Blue II is a fictional computer robot designed by Microsoft to beat the chess champion of the world Mikhail Spaskiovich.  This first episode, their opening match, deleted.

Second episode - Deep Blue II and Spaskiovich having a conversation in a Starbucks - deleted.

unsmoked - 08 September 2008 06:22 PM

Blue:  I’m not called Deep Blue II for nothing you know.

Spaski:  Alright, DEEP BLUE II.  Please tell me the future of civilization.

Blue:  It’s a simple equation.  The human moral sense isn’t evolving fast enough to keep up with your technology.  Let me correct myself.  Your moral sense isn’t evolving at all.  Your primate ancestors threw rocks at each other and now you are throwing nuclear weapons at each other.

Spaski:  So civilization is doomed?

Blue:  Well, your king is sitting with his head down waiting for al Quaeda to get the bomb.  Your queen is thinking, “Hey, we’ve got to do something before the shit hits the fan.  I’ve got to move now.

Spaski:  Who is the queen?

Blue:  Queen is a misnomer.  It’s Big Brother.

Spaski:  OK, what is Big Brother going to do?

Blue:  You all have to have ear tags.  There’s no other way.

Spaski:  No privacy?

Blue:  Everyone has to be monitored.  All ten billion of you.
People like me will be in charge of ten thousand people like you.  Watching.

Spaski:  Watching?  Spying?

Blue:  Monitoring.  Watching for suspicious behavior.  Some of you will have green ear tags, some orange, and some red.  Religious people like you will have red ear tags, if you know what I mean.

Spaski:  Heightened surveillance?

Blue:  Of course.  Higher risk for shenanigans.  We learn from the past, right?

Spaski:  Yea?  Well, I can think of a thousand plots that you would have no way of detecting - ever!  Not unless you can read people’s minds.  That’s why you’re going to lose this afternoon. (referring to their chess game)

Blue:  That baby’s yelling is bugging the hell out of you, isn’t it?

Spaski:  (squeezes eyes shut and rubs brow with both hands)
This isn’t making a good movie.  You’re ruining things for Sony.  No one wants to hear this shit!

Blue:  (chuckles)  They don’t want to hear it because it’s already happening.  Anyway, not to worry about our movie.  They’ll edit this out.  You’re clever, aren’t you Spaski?  You know the score.

Spaski:  I’m having my doubts.  That’s your strategy, right?

Blue:  Wage war with surprise moves.

Spaski:  You didn’t really throw yesterday’s match, did you!

Blue:  Was that a question?  No lilt at the end.

Spaski:  Also, what do you know about civilization?  Anybody can look up stuff on the Internet.  Christians getting red tags - what a line of crap!  It’s computer error we have to be afraid of for Christ’s sake!

Blue:  (chuckles) Better start praying for computer error. Mikhail my boy, you’re goint to need it this afternoon.

Spaski:  I’ve got a headache.  I’m postponing the match.  That baby!  Can’t she see it’s bugging everybody?  What’s it screeching about?

Blue:  Its future?  Sugar dementia?  It just ate a huge glazed donut.

.....what?

rogerflat - 16 September 2008 08:30 PM

.....what?

The subject is artificial intelligence.  Before long we’ll be able to talk to our computers.  Picture yourself sitting in your lazy-boy.

Roger:  How many got killed in Iraq today?

Hal:  Americans?  Or Everyone?

Roger:  Everyone.

Hal:  Including traffic accidents?

Roger:  No.  Just war casualties, Iraqis and Coalition forces.

Hal:  Including the cook who fell off a ladder in the Green Zone?

Roger:  No!  Dammit!  Look it up in the New York Times for God’s sake.  I’m writing a report.  I need it now!

Hal:  Morning edition?  What kind of report?

As far as ‘The End of Faith’ is concerned, do you think Christians will ever notice that they ‘think’ like machines?  Consider the very limited data they have when you ask them about Jesus.  When you ask a Christian a question, does the answer come from creative thinking, or from a disc (the Bible) in their brain?  When George W. Bush asks God if he should go ahead and bomb Iraq, where is the answer coming from? 

In the next 50 or 100 years, how ‘sophisticated’ do you think Deep Blue II will become?  How quickly will he be able to refer to everything on the Internet and offer advice on, say, dealing with global warming, famine, flooding, etc.?  Will he be able to tell the President, “Don’t invade Iran.  Bad idea.  Repeat.  Bad idea.”  (“Don’t move that bishop!  Repeat.  Move that bishop and I’ll checkmate you!”

Unsmoked,

Where do you get your weed from? It must be some good shit!

rogerflat - 17 September 2008 06:32 PM

Unsmoked,

Where do you get your weed from? It must be some good shit!

Well, should I continue the Dialgues of Deep Blue II or not?

Computers dictating to humans. That’s crazy talk I tell you.

rogerflat - 18 September 2008 09:27 PM

Computers dictating to humans. That’s crazy talk I tell you.

Speaking of crazy talk, here’s some that I’m sure you’ll all find amusing:

rogerflat - 19 September 2008 01:54 AM

A lot of people don’t want to walk down the street and have to see the ugliness and awkwardness of homosexuality. Many heteros just don’t want to see girly men and manly women interacting romantically. Parents don’t want to have to explain it to their kids when their young kids see it and are curious. And more importantly, hetero parents don’t want to get the punch to the gut that is hearing your child tell you that they are gay. As I’ve mentioned in other threads, I’ve seen this happen first hand an it is really ugly.

rogerflat - 18 September 2008 09:27 PM

Computers dictating to humans. That’s crazy talk I tell you.

How about computers that ‘look’ at all the data and ADVISE humans?  Computers that tell you that a painting is fake?  Tell you that waging a particular war will lead to disaster?  A computer in your car that slams on the brakes and saves your life?

Say you have a green light and are about to drive through an intersection.  Your co-pilot, a robot sitting next to you, suddenly dictates, “Stop now!”  A high speed chase is in progress and your computer robot knew it was coming.  He dictates to you and saves your life.  You’ve probably heard the computer on an aircraft when the pilot is too low and approaching a mountain chain hidden by clouds, or darkness.  “PULL UP!  PULL UP!  PULL UP!”