geekosystem

Tired of playing video games now that the sun is starting to make regular appearances and the outside world is looking more inviting? Good news! Now there's a computer program that can play your video games for you! Computer scientist Tom Murphy has developed an artificial intelligence that can play NES games like Super Mario Bros. all by itself. It doesn't even have to trade off the controller with its kid brother every other life.

IBM's Watson supercomputer is a pretty smart machine, already capable of trouncing our finest humans in trivia contests. There's always room for improvement, though, and in a move certain to leave Peter Thiel like, SOOOOO pissed, the team developing Watson is sending the computer to college, where it will bone up on coursework in English and math. Pretty soon, not only will Watson be better at trivia than you, it will also be able to trounce you in beer pong, meaning it's officially time for us to just pack it in as a species, folks. The machines have already won.

The gameplay of recently released platform puzzle game A Puzzling Present may seem on the familiar side, but it's safe to say that no matter how well trod this side-scrolling puzzler may feel at times -- when you're reversing the gravity of a level with the push of a button, for example --  you've probably never played anything quite like it. That's because the maps and gameplay for the game -- in which you play a gift hunting Santa sprite tasked with retrieving presents using new powers that are reassigned every level -- wer designed mostly by an artificial intelligence program known as ANGELINA.

As if getting into a good school, paying off your student loans, and learning proper hygiene procedures weren't enough troubles, college students are about to have another concern on their hands in the form of competition from robots. Japanese researchers at Fujitsu are working on an artificial intelligence program that is smart enough to get into the prestigious University of Tokyo. The hardest part, oddly enough, is getting the AI, affectionately known as Todai Robot, to pass the math portion of the entrance exam. While computers are generally very good at math, that's only half the battle here. The calculations come easily to Todai Robot, understanding the questions is another matter.

The short answer is "no." The long answer is actually really interesting, and has to do with the nature of the mirror test, the design of the robot, and the roots of intelligence. Also, there's a fun video of the robot, whose name, incidentally, is Qbo ("que-bee-oh") learning to recognize himself in a mirror. So let's get started, shall we?

Stanford University is now expanding computer science courses available online, for free, for any students who wish to join. It all began a few weeks ago with an introductory course on artificial intelligence (AI) taught by the award-winning professors Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig. Now, two new courses are available; the first, an Introduction to Databases taught by Professor Jennifer Widom; the second, Machine Learning with Professor Andrew Ng. Over 100,000 students have signed up since the courses were announced. Prospective students need only know one programming language well enough to complete the assignments. The most important requirement is that students commit the time for the class: A few hours of homework and two rounds of lectures running two and a half hours each per week. Professors will aggregate online student questions and answer the top rated ones, and students will receive feedback on all of their work. Additionally, a study group is being run on Reddit for the AI course. 

Edwin Jarvis is a nearly fifty year old Marvel Comics character, first created as Tony Stark's butler who eventually became caretaker to the Avengers Mansion, making him the "Alfred" (just so DC reader's have something to latch on to) of the Marvel Universe's biggest, most changeable superhero team.  Jarvis also appeared in the Iron Man movie, as the AI that ran Tony Stark's house and gave him advice on the more mundane operations of the Iron Man suit. But you don't have to be a billionaire (or a Federation Captain) to talk to your apartment and have it obey you. Chad Barraford is doing it right now.

Since founding Second Life, Philip Rosedale has moved on: he currently runs LoveMachine, a company that describes itself as "a team of people using disruptive technologies to very rapidly build things that can make money and have a shot at saving the world." Case in point: they're currently working on a project to simulate a functional, virtual brain that manifests itself as a sentient artificial intelligence in the world of Second Life, and even dreams.