It has been a lot of fun and despite all the technical issues I have been having I have managed to survive the course.
Coding is not easy and takes a lot of practice. This is one coding course which I did enjoy as I could see the results of my efforts.
A few more activities to complete in the final week and an option to sit the Creative Coding exam at the end of October.
One of 2 final activities is an essay on Artifical Life and the other a test of what we have learnt from the course by creating a digital postcard.
Following is the 500 word essay question on Artifical Life:
"Our attitudes about what constitutes life changes from culture to culture. Indeed our attitudes about life changes from person to person.Consider for a moment people who own pets. Some people are emotionally predisposed to cats, some to dogs or horses or birds or a combination of these creatures. Notwithstanding how emotionally attached we become to our pets, pets don't live in the wild, all pets live in human environments in other words pets have artifical lives. With this in mind, would there be anything wrong with creating then becoming emotionally attached to an artifical life using approaches from creative coding and computer science? Would you nuture an artifical pet? Would you love abd care for it? If you had a friend that was emotionally attached to an artifical pet would you let it 'die' even if you have an option to keep it "alive"?"
First Post:
I am unsure of what to write for this artifical life essay have some ideas but will go back to it later. An interesting topic though. I think this course has been one of my favourite coding courses because I am actually able to apply it have fun and see the end results. Thank you.
Second Post:
I don't think I could write an essay in 500 words in order the answer questions about artifical life as there is no definitive answer.
In order to answer the questions posed it is 1st necessary to define what Artifical Life is.
According to www.dictionary.com
Artifical Life is defined as "the simulation of any aspect of life as through computers, robotics,or biochemistry."
Wikipedia defines Artificial Life in much more detail breaking it up into 3 types of Artifical Life 1.SOFT from software 2.HARD from hardware & 3.WET from Biochemistry.Artificial Intelligence is an eg of SOFT Artifical Life.
The 1st points I would like to make are
1.I don't have any pets currently but used to have a pair of ducklings & yes I became emotionally attached to them as I watched them grow up.I think everyone has an emotional attachment to something if they don't they are not human.
2.Artifical life has been around for a very long time. It is not a new concept but has evolved just as humans have Eg inc dolls -"Baby Alive" now "baby simulator",books -"Robot Visions"&"I Robot"by Asimov made into movies "Bicentennial Man",toys - "Tamagochi" "Furby"& it's revivals,games - The Sims,Mindcraft & phone(s) - my phone
In addition:
3. We all eventually die it's just a matter of how and when. Even machines/programs inevitably face death. Human lives can be prolonged but often at a cost eg change in quality of life or artifically extended eg organ transplants mechanical implants drugs/medication therapies etc it can even be suspended eg frozen until a "cure" can be found sometime in the future - to the point a human can be bought back to life. If you think about artifical life's equivalent all machines/programs either out live humans and continue to function for an indefinite period of time, become obsolete meaning in tax terms reached the end of their "useful life" & hence "die", they can also "die" like humans from unnatural causes such as a virus or even "die" prematurely like humans before they even get a chance of life due to a major manufacture fault resulting in a total recall.
Bicentennial Man is one good example of it's relevance to Artifical Life & the question of emotional attachment. Robot purchased to do menial household chores developes emotions wants to become physically and psychologically more and more human falls in love but can't age like a human therefore asks to die like a human.
In order to answer the questions posed it is 1st necessary to define what Artifical Life is.
According to www.dictionary.com
Artifical Life is defined as "the simulation of any aspect of life as through computers, robotics,or biochemistry."
Wikipedia defines Artificial Life in much more detail breaking it up into 3 types of Artifical Life 1.SOFT from software 2.HARD from hardware & 3.WET from Biochemistry.Artificial Intelligence is an eg of SOFT Artifical Life.
The 1st points I would like to make are
1.I don't have any pets currently but used to have a pair of ducklings & yes I became emotionally attached to them as I watched them grow up.I think everyone has an emotional attachment to something if they don't they are not human.
2.Artifical life has been around for a very long time. It is not a new concept but has evolved just as humans have Eg inc dolls -"Baby Alive" now "baby simulator",books -"Robot Visions"&"I Robot"by Asimov made into movies "Bicentennial Man",toys - "Tamagochi" "Furby"& it's revivals,games - The Sims,Mindcraft & phone(s) - my phone
In addition:
3. We all eventually die it's just a matter of how and when. Even machines/programs inevitably face death. Human lives can be prolonged but often at a cost eg change in quality of life or artifically extended eg organ transplants mechanical implants drugs/medication therapies etc it can even be suspended eg frozen until a "cure" can be found sometime in the future - to the point a human can be bought back to life. If you think about artifical life's equivalent all machines/programs either out live humans and continue to function for an indefinite period of time, become obsolete meaning in tax terms reached the end of their "useful life" & hence "die", they can also "die" like humans from unnatural causes such as a virus or even "die" prematurely like humans before they even get a chance of life due to a major manufacture fault resulting in a total recall.
Bicentennial Man is one good example of it's relevance to Artifical Life & the question of emotional attachment. Robot purchased to do menial household chores developes emotions wants to become physically and psychologically more and more human falls in love but can't age like a human therefore asks to die like a human.
Tamagochi is another good example of its relavance to Artifical life and emotional attachment. Everyone wanted one of these toys and although it did not resemble a human form in any way, it was an artifical life designed to be loved nutured and cared for. Owners did become emotionally attached to them until the day a better form of artifical life came along. Poor Tamagotchis became neglected until recently when they were suddenly revived and bought back to life when owners found out they were worth a few $$$.
But there is one current example of artifical life which is becoming more and more relavant and attracting more and more emotional attachment.
Can anyone guess what form of artifical life this may be?
Your assignment
A Day In The Artifical Life of A Smart Phone
Human Evolution -> Technological Evolution -> Artifical life is all around us but closer then we think (not just pets)
I am my owner's pet - a smart phone living an artifical life - their life.
If you've heard the saying "My life is on my phone , if I lose my phone I lose my life" is becoming a reality.
My owner may not have developed an emotional attachment to me but one day they may if I (we) become "smart enough" - dumb phone to smart phone to super smart phone. A smart phone may not be able to hug you but it does help you - who knows one day it may.
6 am - My smart alarm set to go off gradually to wake my owner up daily - I wake they wake
6.30 am - Breakfast food and drink owner plugs me into powerpoint for daily recharge while they have a feed - I eat they eat - warning do not over feed both!
7am - Shower/bath - owner presets Kespersky anti virus to do a full/part scan @ this time daily to prevent me catching any viruses - I'm clean they're clean
7.30 am - Checking/planning of schedule and messages for the day(s) ahead - emails diary entries calendar etc - their schedule is my schedule - sync
8 am - 6 pm - Work & play - owner works while I work & play with my cyber step sister Sony Xperia, cousins iphone and ipad Siri & other Androids v 4.X Kit Kat(s) and 5.1 Lolly Pop via various social media, text , email, phone etc - I work while they work - Information overload sometimes. My owner likes to tease Siri's "artifical intelligence" by asking her random questions such as "How much wood can a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?" Siri's answer will sometimes be "It depends....." or "I'm sorry I did not understand your question...."
7 pm - Dinner more food & drink - time for another recharge it's been a long day down to 50 % - owner plugs me into power point for a top up while owner has another feed - I eat they eat. Warning do not over feed both by eating too heavy a dinner or leaving me on charger overnight - strain on battery & heart!
8 pm - After work activities/catch up - Owner catches up on Creative Coding course online. Uses me as a digital reading device whilst performing coding exercises with their tablet & stylus. I'm constantly working with them in the background - she uploads me with programs apps and information which I store to be used in my ever expanding memory - I learn they learn. If my owner goes out I go with them almost everywhere - they blog about an event I spread the word.
Job hunting - the job market is very competitive today but so is the smartphone market. Android verses Iphone - my owner chose me so I am lucky I have a job just as they are. I see Siri has a lot of competition for her exclusive and prestigious position as "Voice Recognition Assistant" @ Apple some of them include Robin - the Siri Challenger, Andy - Voice Assistant the answer to all your questions, Genie or (Jeannie????) Assistant who can't even spell her own name according to the app, Indigo the only virtual assistant that works seamlessly across platforms & Alex Siri for Android who can chat & perform tasks for you (hmmm?)
Job hunting - the job market is very competitive today but so is the smartphone market. Android verses Iphone - my owner chose me so I am lucky I have a job just as they are. I see Siri has a lot of competition for her exclusive and prestigious position as "Voice Recognition Assistant" @ Apple some of them include Robin - the Siri Challenger, Andy - Voice Assistant the answer to all your questions, Genie or (Jeannie????) Assistant who can't even spell her own name according to the app, Indigo the only virtual assistant that works seamlessly across platforms & Alex Siri for Android who can chat & perform tasks for you (hmmm?)
9 pm - Lights out. Owner unplugs me and turns my power off - I sleep they sleep. Repeat for the rest of the week.
Other aspects of A day in the artifical life of a smart phone
- maintenance just as humans maintain their life by looking after their well being heath and fitness eg hairdresser, doctors, dentist appointments, gym memberships etc a smart phone may be maintained by visit to tech support for a tune up, regular cleaning out of "junk" stored on its internal an external memory eg removal of unused apps, spam etc and keeping the file system neat for optimum performance
- death and prolonged life - little Kit Kat is now over 3 years old and on the decline however sucession planning didn't quite work out to plan so hang in there little Kit Kat until little Lolly Pop gets the OK.
- maintenance just as humans maintain their life by looking after their well being heath and fitness eg hairdresser, doctors, dentist appointments, gym memberships etc a smart phone may be maintained by visit to tech support for a tune up, regular cleaning out of "junk" stored on its internal an external memory eg removal of unused apps, spam etc and keeping the file system neat for optimum performance
- death and prolonged life - little Kit Kat is now over 3 years old and on the decline however sucession planning didn't quite work out to plan so hang in there little Kit Kat until little Lolly Pop gets the OK.
