6.01.2005
Robot Salesmen
AI Seduces Stanford Students
I know what you are probably thinking. You are thinking, "if there is one thing robots won't be able to do, it's selling stuff to human beings." But if that is what you are thinking, you would be wrong. From the article:
This article further clarifies that process:This is the huge advantage robots have. Every year they get better and better and better, until they are much better than humans at everything. Welcome to the Robotic Nation. See also Robots taking jobs.
I know what you are probably thinking. You are thinking, "if there is one thing robots won't be able to do, it's selling stuff to human beings." But if that is what you are thinking, you would be wrong. From the article:
- Researchers at Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab strapped 69 student volunteers into an immersive, 3-D virtual-reality rig, where test subjects found themselves sitting across the table from a "digital agent" -- a computer-generated man or woman -- programmed to deliver a three-minute pitch advocating a notional university security policy requiring students to carry ID whenever they're on campus.
The anthropomorphic cyberhuckster featured moving lips and blinking eyes on a head that nodded and swayed realistically. But unbeknownst to the test subjects, the head movements weren't random. In half the sessions, the computer was programmed to mimic the student's movements exactly, with a precise four-second delay; if a test subject tilted her head thoughtfully and looked up at a 15-degree angle, the computer would repeat the gesture four seconds later. For the other half of the participants, the program used head movements recorded from earlier students, ensuring they were realistic but unconnected to the test subject.
- The results... were dramatic: Only eight of the subjects detected the mimicry (one of them falsely). The remaining students liked the mimicking agent more than the recorded agent, rating the former more friendly, interesting, honest and persuasive. They also paid better attention to the parroting presenter, looking away less often. Most significantly, they were more likely to come around to the mimicking agent's way of thinking on the issue of mandatory ID.
This article further clarifies that process:This is the huge advantage robots have. Every year they get better and better and better, until they are much better than humans at everything. Welcome to the Robotic Nation. See also Robots taking jobs.
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This is a pretty interesting article. I recall reading a book like this one that suggested mimicry is the secret to ninja mind control :)
As for the stipend, it is the worst policy idea since communism.
First it isn't necessary. Just like farming, manufacturing and almost all physical-labor will be taken care of by a small percentage of the population. The rest of us will be forced to think to make a living. Read this.
Secondly, stipends like Alaska's work only because there are other people who are interested in the natural resources not easily available elsewhere. Who would pay for the stipend? I don't mean the government: where does the government get the money?
The only answer is ‘those who produce wealth’. And now you know why the founder of Ikea doesn't live in Norway: tax arbitrage. The quickest way to eliminate the wealthiest people is to tax them so much they leave your country but still trade with it. Look at California.
And if you start talking about solving this by making the stipend system global, you really need to step back from the communist rhetoric and read this.
There are many other critiques, but the stipend 'solution' doesn't need to hear them all to be repudiated. I’m pretty sure mimicry couldn’t convince most folks otherwise :)
The real solution is human ingenuity in the short term, and a mind-machine interface in the long term.
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As for the stipend, it is the worst policy idea since communism.
First it isn't necessary. Just like farming, manufacturing and almost all physical-labor will be taken care of by a small percentage of the population. The rest of us will be forced to think to make a living. Read this.
Secondly, stipends like Alaska's work only because there are other people who are interested in the natural resources not easily available elsewhere. Who would pay for the stipend? I don't mean the government: where does the government get the money?
The only answer is ‘those who produce wealth’. And now you know why the founder of Ikea doesn't live in Norway: tax arbitrage. The quickest way to eliminate the wealthiest people is to tax them so much they leave your country but still trade with it. Look at California.
And if you start talking about solving this by making the stipend system global, you really need to step back from the communist rhetoric and read this.
There are many other critiques, but the stipend 'solution' doesn't need to hear them all to be repudiated. I’m pretty sure mimicry couldn’t convince most folks otherwise :)
The real solution is human ingenuity in the short term, and a mind-machine interface in the long term.
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