1427: Self-Aware

[ThePinkSuperhero]

I voted "nerd". Keith's job is on the internet, doing something that most people don't understand. To most people, this means he is a nerd.

[scottperezfox]

Regarding Mike Lawrence and Harry Potter, I can only conclude that he's never read the books. Anyone who enjoys Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, Pro Wrestling, and Comic Books (Marvel _and_ DC) will absolutely enjoy the Harry Potter series. That is a fact.

A few years ago I got my friend Jay into the HP series. He is just as nerdy as Mike, and is a fan of all the above-listed pursuits. At first, he was a skeptic, but after a few chapters, it's golden. I was the same way when approaching Harry Potter.

Mike, read the Harry Potter books. You'll enjoy them. This is the recommendation from a fellow nerd.

PS, anyone reading A Dance With Dragons? I'm about halfway through.

[riles]

Keith does the nerd voice too well to not be at least half nerd.

Also: Mike Lawrence is such a great fucking get in terms of guests. Love every episode he's on.

[Cretaceous Bob]

Originally Posted by Blitzgal

When humans play Civilization, they play against an AI who controls all of the other civilizations. I admit I don't understand a lot about how this AI stuff works, but seems to me that half of that professor's work was already done when he taught a computer to play the game -- there is already an AI system in place when anyone plays it.

What is impressive (based on a brief reading of the articles referring to this subject) is that a computer could actually learn how to play the game, rather than do precisely what was dictated to it by a programmer.

AI in video games is nothing more than a myriad of single decision events that make up a chain of gameplay. Sometimes these chains are linear and non-dynamic, and sometimes programmers also dictate a decision making process that can swap out one decision in the chain for another. It is basically like railroad tracks, and the computerized player is an autonomous train: no matter what the train does, its path has been pre-planned by humans. Appearances of an actual ability of evaluation and freeform decision making is purely illusory; the train is always going somewhere it has been told to by a person. In the case of conventional AI, if you do not lay down a track of decisions for it, it is capable of nothing at all.

What is remarkable about what these articles talk about is that a computer made decisions for itself; it laid its own track. Now, its actual process of learning and decision making can still be broken down to following a series of dictated instructions, but an increasingly complex series of instructions yields similarly increasing dynamism.

To make this more confusing, I suspect that the actual way the AI in question plays the game could actually be emulated and beaten by conventionally programmed AI, but the method at which the AI was arrived at was the remarkable part, not the visible outcome.

[EricJsScreename]

wow very nicely put. Maybe this topic should be taken over to HUAR... this just got real.

[JaymztheKing]

Originally Posted by Cretaceous Bob

What is impressive (based on a brief reading of the articles referring to this subject) is that a computer could actually learn how to play the game, rather than do precisely what was dictated to it by a programmer.

AI in video games is nothing more than a myriad of single decision events that make up a chain of gameplay. Sometimes these chains are linear and non-dynamic, and sometimes programmers also dictate a decision making process that can swap out one decision in the chain for another. It is basically like railroad tracks, and the computerized player is an autonomous train: no matter what the train does, its path has been pre-planned by humans. Appearances of an actual ability of evaluation and freeform decision making is purely illusory; the train is always going somewhere it has been told to by a person. In the case of conventional AI, if you do not lay down a track of decisions for it, it is capable of nothing at all.

What is remarkable about what these articles talk about is that a computer made decisions for itself; it laid its own track. Now, its actual process of learning and decision making can still be broken down to following a series of dictated instructions, but an increasingly complex series of instructions yields similarly increasing dynamism.

To make this more confusing, I suspect that the actual way the AI in question plays the game could actually be emulated and beaten by conventionally programmed AI, but the method at which the AI was arrived at was the remarkable part, not the visible outcome.

This.

Do you really think it would make the news if they just turned on a computer vs computer match of an RTS game? The whole point is that a computer learned the game by itself from reading contextual english out of a manual.

[Blonde_Amazon]

I agree with Scott Perez Fox. The Harry Potter series is an amazing read although the first two books are geared more to a younger audience.

As a nerd (and not all of us are socially inept), I don't think Keith is a total nerd but he has some nerdish qualities that if he wanted to be a nerd, he could be. To put it in Star Wars nerd terms, his midi-chlorian count is high enough to possibly be a padawan, but he choses to be more of a Han Solo than a Jedi Knight.

As I've listened to the show, Keith has shown a knowledge of a lot of nerdy subjects but it is very limited and used to comedic effect just to poke a little fun at our expense. For example, he talked about the four houses of Hogwarts which is easy information to get just from a half-assed watching of a Harry Potter movie.

Mike Lawrence is one of my favorite guests and it is always incredibly funny when he's on. His podcast is amazing too.

[Cretaceous Bob]

Originally Posted by JaymztheKing

This.

Do you really think it would make the news if they just turned on a computer vs computer match of an RTS game? The whole point is that a computer learned the game by itself from reading contextual english out of a manual.

I think it's reasonable for people unfamiliar with the subject to get confused. An AI programmer's job is to obscure how mechanical their device is; unless you are familiar with the craft or product, you might not be able to sort out exactly what is going on.

Also, if we're nitpicking, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game, not an RTS.

[BrotherWayne]

First: great guest, great show.
Second: wanted to vote yes, really I did, but I couldn't. Keith is a superfan for wrestling maybe but that's about it. A nerd will obsess over details and argue them like he's John Adams debating the formation of a new nation -- when in fact they're debating why they couldn't just fly to Mount Doom or why Green Lantern could kick Superman's ass. In other words, they feel the need to debate stupid shit ad infinitum.

Somewhere along the way big fan became synonymous with nerd. I think there's a big difference.

[Junkenstein]

No matter how many times i hear it, "Culture Shocked" is such a cool track.

And Mike is aces.