Posts by TD

54

Is AI going to change the world?

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

had lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.

of one of australia's best universities.

he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.

TD

I think there's an important difference between the infancy of flight and the infancy of what we're calling AI.

Unlike many of their predecessors, the Wright brothers were not simply mimicking the actions of birds with little to no understanding of power to weight ratios. They were truly, actually flying. --Not exactly like birds do, but via a mechanical application of the same principles.

AI, as we use the term today is a mimicry of the human mind via clever algorithms and vast repositories of facts, but it is not truly intelligent in the sense that humans are. Unless and until we actually understand how the human mind works, we are not likely to be able to build a machine that works along similar principles.

It's not that I'm not impressed with what's been accomplished so far. I was enthusiastic enough to participate in a test program for what is still the most advanced driverless system around. My first hand observation is that it's not enough to be able to interpret the intentions of another driver. In the example I gave, the AI must possess the judgment to know when a traffic law can be broken and why.

54

Is AI going to change the world?

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

had lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.

of one of australia's best universities.

he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.

TD

AI is still stumped by even the most basic human interactions.

Even the simple act of a driver, who legally has the right of way, yielding it to you via a hand gesture (Say for example, traffic has backed up to the point where you are unable to exit a parking lot) completely stumps the most advanced, AI powered driverless vehicle.

Human writers, both male and female struggle to create believable characters of the opposite gender. There are entire books on the subject, because the average person is simply not aware of the nuances. Sorry to be a pessimist, but I don't see AI reaching this level of sophistication anytime soon.

11

Do You Remember This Speaker?

by Atlantis in

jw
friends

do you remember this speaker?.

https://imgbox.com/no37wjiy.

how many people remember the old laurel race track where we had conventions back in the 60's?

TD

I remember Laurel...

Facility was designed around the horse racing schedule, which made it a genuine glass oven in Summer.

54

Is AI going to change the world?

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

had lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.

of one of australia's best universities.

he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.

TD

If his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.

One day perhaps.

In the near future, only jobs that can be distilled into algorithims are likely to be replaced.

AI is not likely to replace Archtitects, Graphic Designers, Engineers, Surgeons, Attorneys, First Responders, Social Works, Chefs, Mechanics, etc., because despite the advances, AI is still not capable of analytical thinking, judgement, creativity, and innovation.

40

Lots of empty seats at Jehovah's Witnesses Convention in Tucson, Arizona

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

https://youtu.be/5926nhzyz90.

the jehovah's witness 2023 convention theme is, ''exercise patience''...by looking at the attendance at this tucson, arizona convention, it should be changed to, '' jehovah's witnesses...running out of patience''.

.

TD

Makes you wonder though.

The JW's have a nice, nearly new assembly hall right off of McCartney Road in Casa Grande, about midway between Phoenix and Tucson.

Why not use that? I don't know what the rent on the Tucson Convention Center Arena is, but I'm pretty sure it's not free.

14

Why didn't God create us to be obviously different?

by SydBarrett in

jw
friends

a silly question since i'm an atheist but one i thought of as a kid jw.

why weren't human's created to be obviously different from animals?

among believers there is some sort of universal hierarchy.

TD

It's just a rhetorical question that I wondered if anyone else ever had as a JW

Yes. In the context of the JW worldview I wondered (as an adolescent) why, if we were not intended to get sick, do we have the mechanisms for coping with it when we are.

A fever, a runny nose, coughing, sneezing, etc., might make us miserable, but it is our immune system at work.

42

JW current stance on Vaccines?

by lcarter017 in

it came to my attention that the covid-19 vaccine works by editing the genetic code of the mitochondrial dna, using gene therapy.. you should seriously question the moral implications of allowing a part of your dna to be modified.

does anyone have any concerns about this?if anyone has any questions, i can do my best to explain.

i personally find it very suspicious how they chose to word it, and conveniently inform us of this fact "after" people have taken the vaccine..

TD

In the case of Rubella, (At least) Catholic writings treat the vaccination as the lesser of two evils (i.e Passive versus Active cooperation in sin)

In other words:

Yes, abortion is a sin and yes, benefiting from that sin even decades after the fact constitutes passive cooperation.

But,

Since unborn children are extremely vulnerable to Rubella, refusing to have your child vaccinated, would endanger the lives of others and would constitute the active commission of sin should any harm arise from this negligence.

I don't have a dog in this fight either, but do find the thought process interesting.

42

JW current stance on Vaccines?

by lcarter017 in

it came to my attention that the covid-19 vaccine works by editing the genetic code of the mitochondrial dna, using gene therapy.. you should seriously question the moral implications of allowing a part of your dna to be modified.

does anyone have any concerns about this?if anyone has any questions, i can do my best to explain.

i personally find it very suspicious how they chose to word it, and conveniently inform us of this fact "after" people have taken the vaccine..

TD

mRNA and some other vaccines are developed however with the assistance of aborted babies’ stem cells, which (strict) Catholics and various Evangelical groups won’t accept but JW leaves it open to interpretation.

Yes. We can add Rubella, Varicella, Hepatitus A and Rabies to the list, but to be fair, we're talking about lineages that are 30 to 60 years old.

42

JW current stance on Vaccines?

by lcarter017 in

it came to my attention that the covid-19 vaccine works by editing the genetic code of the mitochondrial dna, using gene therapy.. you should seriously question the moral implications of allowing a part of your dna to be modified.

does anyone have any concerns about this?if anyone has any questions, i can do my best to explain.

i personally find it very suspicious how they chose to word it, and conveniently inform us of this fact "after" people have taken the vaccine..

TD

I guess it depends on how you look at it. An automobile contains about 3 grams of platinum, mostly in the catalytic converter, but since the automaker is not in the business of mining metals, refining them, brokering them, or even necessarily manufacturing their own catalytic converters and spark plugs, you can't honestly say that large amounts of platinum were handled in the production of a car.

Similarly, a pharmaceutical company is not in the business of slaughtering animals or collecting blood donations, or even necessarily manufacturing their growth mediums and/or other vaccine components, so you can't honestly say that large amounts of blood are used in the production of an inactivated or live-attenuated vaccine.

The situation changes with post-exposure vaccines that contain gamma globulin, but even then, I don't think JW's have a problem with it (?)

42

JW current stance on Vaccines?

by lcarter017 in

it came to my attention that the covid-19 vaccine works by editing the genetic code of the mitochondrial dna, using gene therapy.. you should seriously question the moral implications of allowing a part of your dna to be modified.

does anyone have any concerns about this?if anyone has any questions, i can do my best to explain.

i personally find it very suspicious how they chose to word it, and conveniently inform us of this fact "after" people have taken the vaccine..

TD

Most of the inactivated and live-attenuated vaccines contain small amounts of serum albumin either as an adjuvant or excipient. Examples would include MMR II, MUMPSVAX, ATTENUVAX, MURAVAX II, VARIVAX and VAQTA, by Merck & Co., EOLARIX, INFANRIX, and GLAXO by SmithKline Beecham, PENTACEL by Aventis Pasteur, and Connaught Laboratories IPV.

JW's do not consider albumin to be a "primary component" of blood and JW parents don't seem to be troubled by it, if they think about it at all.