Back home
Sorry to have been so quiet; having a two-week post-worldcon vacation in Japan tends to reduce one's blogging output. Normal service will be resumed shortly.
NB: conclusion #1 from the Japan trip was this: when the Singularity comes, the first AI to transcend will be a Panasonic toilet seat. No, really ...
Comments
"This is not a toilet - this is a fu*ki*g spaceship" (overheard on a toilet at Kobe University Inter`l Center)
Nah, more probably one of these vending machines anyway.
Posted by: Andreas Morlok | September 18, 2007 11:36 AM
Toto Washlets are sure to transcend before Panasonic :)
PS http://www.cleanishappy.com/
Posted by: Francis | September 18, 2007 12:03 PM
I met a toilet seat by Toto. The control panel scared me. (Mind you, I also saw some Japanese kitchen cooking ranges with scary control panels too ...)
Posted by: Charlie Stross | September 18, 2007 12:16 PM
Ah yes, but will YOU be sitting on when it happens?
Posted by: David S. | September 18, 2007 12:20 PM
Yet another case of the AI being given all the crap jobs.
We meatbags are going to be made to pay for that, I can tell...
Posted by: Tony Quirke | September 18, 2007 2:06 PM
Essential toilet reading:
Dragons, Grasshoppers, & Frogs!: A Pocket Guide To The Book Of Revelation For Teenagers And Newbies! (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Grasshoppers-Frogs-Revelation-Teenagers/dp/0595366686
and for those who take their toilet rapture in powdered form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaMq_YOJ4TE
Posted by: Mike | September 18, 2007 2:12 PM
I think you are probably right! I was in the design centre of a big brand electronics company in Japan a few years ago, and used their "facilities"
Now, the loos in the hotels had these high tec loo seats too, but at least they had helpfully labeled all the functions in English and Japanese. In this particular facility I was struggling to figure out which control actually operate the flush, as it was only in Japanese.
Then I spotted a large rectangular button on the side that looked pretty important and thought that must be the one (Not wanting the hot spray, perfume, cool air option)
I pressed this large button. It clicked, and out sprang a full QWERTY keyboard! I kid you not! I have no idea what that might have been for!
Posted by: Mark Green | September 18, 2007 3:18 PM
Let's just hope it will not be an evil AI ! I can't imagine what would happen ... Loads of sh!t probably.
Posted by: Samourai | September 18, 2007 3:46 PM
They've advanced?
Damn. I was there in '89 and I remember being seriously intimidated by the controls on the toilet there. And at the time I was a C64 hacker!
Posted by: InThane | September 18, 2007 4:02 PM
Fortunately, they have a weakness: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6559373.stm
Posted by: Dave Hutchinson | September 18, 2007 4:50 PM
Hmmm, hope they don't add a fan or there are going to be some serious feco-ventilatory consequences.
Posted by: Bruce Cohen (SpeakerToManagers) | September 18, 2007 8:42 PM
The worst part won't be if the AI toilet seats get mad.
The worst part will be if they decide that they want ALL of the excrement, RIGHT NOW, and start extracting it the hard way...
Posted by: cirby | September 19, 2007 1:11 AM
@12 cirby
You win! Crying with laughter here...
Posted by: Shan | September 19, 2007 7:08 AM
And it won't take no shit, either.
Posted by: Phil Hunt | September 20, 2007 1:46 AM
'and for those who take their toilet rapture in powdered form:'
Shades of "Robots are everywhere, and they eat old peoples' medicine for fuel".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVnkd7ot_pw
Posted by: Sebastien Bailard | September 21, 2007 5:09 PM
Here's a question:
Does self awareness imply ego and/or drives outside self preservation and self replication? AI's might be functionally superhuman and self aware, but without any form of desires, pleasure seeking or gratification what would be the point of expending any energy apart from ensuring survival or adherence to programmed parameters?
.... and what on earth would be the digital equivalent of the garden of eden and a certain apple...?
Posted by: Stuling | September 24, 2007 12:52 AM
This isn't really related to anything, but I opened up my copy of this month's Wired, and they have "Halting State" as number five in their Playlist section.
Posted by: Andrew G | September 24, 2007 2:12 AM
I pressed this large button. It clicked, and out sprang a full QWERTY keyboard! I kid you not! I have no idea what that might have been for!
Obviously, the keyboard is for the text version:
You see a panel of small buttons, all alike. Exits are East and Down.
> FLUSH TOILET
I don't know FLUSH TOILET. You see a panel of small buttons, all alike. Exits are East and Down.
> PUSH BUTTONS
You push the buttons, but nothing happens. Exits are East and Down.
> EMPTY LOO
I don't know EMPTY LOO. ....
Posted by: HP | September 27, 2007 8:33 PM