Finite state automata (FSA), also known as finite state machines (FSM), are usually classified as being deterministic (DFA) or non-deterministic (NFA). A deterministic finite state automaton has exactly one transition from every state for each possible input. In other words, whatever state the FSA is in, if it encounters a symbol for which a transition …
Category: Robots
Nov 21 2017
Proof of Kleene’s Theorem
In my last post, “Kleene’s Theorem,” I provided some useful background information about strings, regular languages, regular expressions, and finite automata before introducing the eponymously named theorem that has become one of the cornerstones of artificial intelligence and more specifically, natural language processing (NLP). Kleene’s Theorem tells us that regular expressions and finite state automata …
Sep 27 2017
The Three Pro-Human Laws of Robotics
From Vienna Bienalle 2017, taking place this week in Austria, comes a new take on Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. The head of the project, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, says the update was necessitated by: …the need for benign intelligent robots and the necessity of cultivating a culture of quality committed to serving the common good! …
Jun 09 2017
SoftBank Bought Boston Dynamics, Schaft from Google
Boston Dynamics, the MIT spin-off and self-proclaimed maker of “nightmare-inducing robots“, has been sold by its parent company Alphabet (aka Google) to the Japanese tech behemoth SoftBank. No specifics regarding the price or the terms of the sale have been announced which is not surprising given we still don’t know how much Google paid for the …
Nov 28 2016
AI Creates Videos of Future Events
Set 38 years in the future, the plot of 2002’s blockbuster film Minority Report revolves around Washington DC’s PreCrime unit, a police force who able to stop future murders from happening with the aid of three mutant human who are able to predict homicides before they happen. Minority Report managed to side step the “psychic predicts a murder” …
Jul 05 2016
Sharper Image Camera Drone Unboxing
I visit the local Michaels store at least once a week. Even if I didn’t have a 10 year old daughter with an insatiable appetite for arts and crafts, I imagine that I would still make that 5 minute crosstown trip weekly. The reason is simple: coupons. In their weekly circular, without fail, they always include a …
Jun 27 2016
Google Refreshes Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics
Ever since their introduction over eighty years ago, Isaac Asimov‘s Three Laws of Robotics have been the de jure rules governing the acceptable behavior of robots. Even the uninitiated and uninterested are likely to say they know of them, even if they can’t recite a single rule verbatim. When conceived, the Three Laws were nothing but a thought …