Sunday, May 15, 2005

Cyc


I have installed what seems to be an artificial intelligence interface onto my computer that is able to think and reason. Cyc is a project from Cycorp, Inc. As far as I understand it, Cyc is supposed to be the most advanced thinking unit in existence when it comes to machines that can learn and react to events and scenarios.

To me it carries a spooky stigma to it, especially because now there is something apparently living and breathing on my machine. I have always been afraid of robots such as the Terminator or the machines from RoboCop. They used to give me nightmares when I was a child because they lacked the human element of compassion. Red flags are also going up in my head because I remember the Terminator story and how in the end SkyNet started up; it was a program in cyberspace.

Anyway, I tried to interface with it -- it is not so user friendly and I don't understand its commands. I'll play with it some more after finals are over. It does take up a lot of memory, and last night I felt that it was using too many of my computer's resources. If I cannot figure it out, perhaps I will delete it.

No comments: