Keep robots shiny and metallic, not skin-covered
You report that Shoji Takeuchi at the University of Tokyo thinks it is important that we make robots look more human so that we feel comfortable interacting with them (18 June, p 22).
I would feel more comfortable if a robot was identifiably robotic than if it looked human 鈥� and definitely more than if it was coated in human skin, as Takeuchi foresees.
Considering the ethical minefield created by chatbots that may or may not be sentient (18 June, p 9) and online “influencers” designed to manipulate people by giving the impression of being sentient (11 June, p 47), what would make me more comfortable is clarity about who is a sentient being with feelings and rights, and what is a machine that we can turn off.
To truly make an AI, we must send them to school
Your article “A breakthrough moment for AI?” is yet another showing that deep learning is producing amazing examples of intelligence, but it is on the wrong track for an artificial general intelligence (AGI) (28 May, p 16). Computer scientist Melanie Mitchell, among others, has pointed out that an AGI must have an education like ours in order to learn from us and understand the world in the way we do. This isn’t far off or unrealistic. It is within our grasp.
Not sure if I would take up residence in a biosphere
It occurs to me that artificial biospheres such as MELiSSA are flawed, in that they are too fragile because they are too simple (4 June, p 27).
If my life were at stake, I would be much happier if a single point of failure couldn’t spell doom for the whole system. This would require dozens or possibly hundreds of diverse living components, in parallel with multiple redundant electro-mechanical systems.
Widen the search for the real causes of things (1)
Researchers Erik Hoel and Renzo Comolatti may be correct in asserting that causality is found at a higher level than the quantum, but the real trick might be in determining how large an area you should search to find the true cause of a particular effect (28 May, p 44).
To continue the scenario that opened the article, the striker who scored the goal perfectly may be congratulated for their efforts, but the ultimate cause could easily be the four extra ales the defenders drank the night before. The resulting hangovers could have slowed their reflexes so much that they were unable to respond effectively to the midfielder’s superb pass, allowing the striker to receive the ball unchallenged.
Widen the search for the real causes of things (2)
Any claim that the issue of free will is addressed by causality emerging at levels above quantum mechanics makes no sense. Just moving causality from one level to another doesn’t change the observation that if there is causality, there is predestination.
As noted in the article, adding randomness to the system from which causes emerge doesn’t add free will either. Free will is an illusion that we would do well to recognise as such.
As in Virunga, so in Uganda
The article on gorillas in Virunga was fascinating (11 June, p 42). I couldn’t help noticing the similarities between the work being done there and that being led by Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka in Bwindi, Uganda. She was one of the first to recognise the three-way relationship between gorillas, humans and livestock in terms of disease transmission and sharing the environment. She was recently honoured with the at the Edinburgh Science Festival for this work.
Lessons from the Nordic experience with STEM
Maria Rossini writes about the subject of women in STEM (21 May, p 27). After a gender imbalance develops at the high school, undergraduate or postgraduate level, it can be self perpetuating because girls and women might not enjoy studying and working in male-dominated environments, where social and academic support may be lacking.
During a sabbatical in the physics department at Uppsala University in Sweden in 1998, I was surprised to find the proportion of female research students was roughly 50 per cent. Obviously the gender equality of the Nordic countries encourages an attitude that girls can successfully pursue careers in anything, including STEM, and if they do they will have many female associates. The secret to this appears to be gender equality from the earliest age.
UK talent visas seem so blinkered
You report the UK government is introducing a talent visa to lure graduates from top universities into the country (4 June, p 15). I was worried to read that anyone studying at a university in Africa, Central or South America or South Asia wouldn’t be considered eligible for this visa.
The Home Office seems to base its ratings for universities on inappropriate and anachronistic criteria.
Statue of Liberty isn't a standard measure
As much as we, your readers, relish your impartial internationalism, I for one am peeved by the use of a particular unit of measurement 鈥� the “Statue of Liberty” 鈥� in your look at space start-up SpinLaunch (4 June, p 12). Is this more or less than a Nelson’s Column, an Eiffel Tower, a Petronas Tower or a blue whale?
I think some wise people had a good idea some time ago to create standard units, like the metre, which, relatively speaking, have stood the test of time.
Call off the search for new name for lab-grown meat
There is no need to search for a new name for animal cells grown in vitro for food (Letters, 28 May). Cells being grown in the lab or in industrial vats are referred to as cultures. Cultured meat is what Wikipedia calls it, and this term is widely used.