Designerly Curiosity - NPR
So it's been a while since I've posted anything, but I've done quite a few things! I'm going to break it up into a couple different posts based on topic so it's easier for me to organize my thoughts and hopefully easier for you to read and digest.
I’m been listening to quite a bit of NPR since the semester began. Since I drive it’s easy for me to get more than 2 hours each week. Not everything I listen to is interesting: tasting wine, whether or not the super bowl will come back to Indianapolis in the near future, things of that nature. But there have been a few topics which I’ve found to be very interesting which I’ll summarize and give a few of my own thoughts.
The relationship between humans and robots was being studied by Clifford Nass, a professor at Stanford. He made a series of experiments testing the “rule of reciprocity” between humans and machines. The rule basically means if someone does something nice for you, you will do something nice for them. He found that people will apply that principle to machines as they do with other people. There was also a part of the experiment where participants had to turn off the machine and were told it would "kill" the machine by erasing all of its memory as if it never existed. The machine also spoke to the participants saying things like "Please don't kill me." The participants had difficulty turning off the machine but in the end they all did so. I found this interesting because as technology for machines and AI advances the line between human and machine my become unclear. It reminds me a bit of the movie IRobot.
Another topic I've been hearing a lot about lately is the sequester. I still don't know exactly what is going on, but I've heard Democrats and the President think it's a bad thing and Republicans think it's a good thing. I'm not sure what to make of it. I know funding for certain programs will be cut which the effects may be felt at some point... But I don't really have an opinion on it since I don't completely understand it, the effects, and why it's happening. I plan on doing some research on it when I have some free time, but I have a long list of things I've been putting off for when I have free time...
I've heard some news from Europe such as a King of England's body being found under a parking lot, the Queen having some sort of stomach illness, and horse meat being labeled as other kind(s) of meat. The meat thing is the most worrisome to me. Meat getting labeled as another kind of meat isn't a completely horrible thing, but as someone with a food allergy it makes me concerned. Could the same thing happen with other kinds of food? What will happen to those with food allergies? I hope this things get worked out and people will be more watchful of mislabeling food.
That's all I can think of for the moment for NPR, expect another post soon!
