notes from presentation

oops. i totally forgot to post this 2 weeks ago after my presentation, so here it is.
amber

-Idea of a computer being able to mimic human thought patterns and processes.(interactive/non linear narratives?)
-Interactive narratives almost seem to demean the audience, by giving specific instructions, and making it appear that they have control over what they see, but in reality, it is all very pre determined, no matter how many variations are possible.
http://www.whoisflora.net/
-Internet navigation itself is the extreme example of interactive narrative, and the user has complete freedom over what they see. It is a narrative in the non traditional sense (Aristotelian model of narrative: beginning, middle, end,) There is no final destination, in internet navigation, just various degrees of focused vs mindless meanderings in cyberspace.
-This presentation is based somewhat on my own process of internet searching, (which made formatting it into a cohesive presentation quite difficult…but that proves my point)
-This tendency of computers to mimic human characteristics to become more user friendly is still of interest.
-Emoticons: Introduce element of paralanguage(non-verbal elements of language which convey emotion & meaning)in digital communication/sterile impersonal environment.
-First emoticon was made by Scott E Fahlman in 1982
http://research.microsoft.com/~mbj/Smiley/Smiley.html
http://messenger.msn.com/Resource/Emoticons.aspx
http://www.iit.edu/~jfas/articles/animeemoticons.html
- Emoticons all reference humans (generally the face) These uber-powerful machines (computers) still need human characteristics to be accessible.
-The ultimate machine, Human being. (2 branches: Singularity and Transhumanism)
-Technological Singularity: When technological change reaches such a rapid and profound pace that it represents a rupture in the fabric of history. With this exponential growth, technological growth will surpass human biological evolution.
Term was coined by Verner Vinge, in the 80’s. He predicted that in the future a form of “super intelligence” would take over the world.
-Computers possessing “human” intelligence/mimicking humans
Eliza: Created by Joseph Wiesenbaum in 1966. (Chatterbot, simple code, Mimics Rogerian Therapist.)
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/if/canon/eliza.htm
-Kismet: Programming a robot to show emotions, based on its surrounding environment.
Mark Napier C Bots
http://www.potatoland.org/
-Parallel to the idea of singularity is the idea of transhumanism: movement that supports the use of new sciences and technologies to enhance human mental and physical abilities. Nathan Shafer-parody of cryogenic life prolonging possibilities.
http://www.nshafer.com/
http://www.cryonics.org/
http://www.fm2030.com/ (Upwingers manifesto)