Various enterprises and personal interests, such as Man-Machine Interaction (MMI), gesture studies, signs, language, social robotics, healthcare, innovation, music, publications, etc.

Category: Academia Page 1 of 4

Conferences, workshops, publications, etc.

Thoughts on Homo Deus

Today I prompted ChatGPT as follows:

Pretend you are (1) a law maker, (2) a philosopher, (3) an AI engineer and (4) a book reviewer. Please provide your opinion on the book Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Hariri in the form and style of a book review for your peers in a peer reviewed journal.

It generated:

1) As a Lawmaker

Title: “From the Legislative Lens: A Review of Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Hariri”

In “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow,” Yuval Noah Hariri paints a future in which human beings ascend to godhood, aided by our technological prowess. His book is filled with thought-provoking ideas that challenge us lawmakers to reconsider our fundamental perspectives on human rights, data privacy, and the balance of power.

Hariri’s proposition of Dataism as the potential future religion is an exciting yet disconcerting idea, shedding light on the political complexities and ethical dilemmas that are starting to arise in our data-driven society. The concept prompts us to reflect on how we must adapt legislation to handle unprecedented issues, like data ownership, that may arise from such a transition.

His exploration of technology-driven social stratification is also crucial to our work. Hariri’s warning of a ‘useless class,’ or those unable to keep pace with rapid technological advancement, raises serious concerns about how we can promote social equity and justice.

Overall, “Homo Deus” is a must-read for lawmakers navigating the unprecedented legal and ethical challenges of an increasingly data-driven world.

2) As a Philosopher

Title: “Humanity’s New Gods: A Philosophical Critique of Homo Deus”

In “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow,” Yuval Noah Hariri explores the implications of a post-human era. His work is dense with profound and intellectually challenging ideas, questioning humanity’s place in a future world defined by our own creations.

His hypotheses about the ‘human gods’ resonate with Nietzsche’s idea of the Ubermensch, yet with a technological twist. Hariri’s notions of Dataism extend beyond the scope of science into the realm of metaphysics, urging us to question the nature of consciousness, free will, and personal identity in a data-driven world.

However, Hariri’s assumptions about the human quest for immortality, happiness, and divinity could have been analyzed further through different philosophical perspectives, such as existentialism or Buddhist philosophy, which embrace mortality, suffering, and impermanence.

“Homo Deus” serves as an urgent call to philosophers to engage with the philosophical implications of rapid technological and scientific advances, to ensure humanity’s wisdom evolves alongside its knowledge.

3) As an AI Engineer

Title: “Molding Our Tomorrow: An AI Engineer’s Examination of Homo Deus”

Yuval Noah Harari’s “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” offers a captivating yet alarming vision of a future where humans are no longer the most intelligent entities. As an AI engineer, I find Hariri’s assumptions regarding the potential of artificial intelligence both exciting and contentious.

His prediction of human obsolescence due to advancements in AI and biotechnology is unsettling, yet valid. It underscores the importance of developing ethical AI systems that augment rather than replace human abilities, and ensuring that AI benefits are accessible to all.

Hariri’s Dataism hypothesis aligns well with the increasing influence of big data and AI in our society. However, it also underscores the importance of privacy, transparency, and explainability in AI systems, all critical factors for establishing public trust in our work.

While “Homo Deus” does not delve deep into the intricacies of AI development, it provides a valuable outsider’s perspective that reminds us, AI engineers, of the larger social and ethical implications of our work.

4) As a Book Reviewer

Title: “Foreseeing the Future: A Review of Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Hariri”

Yuval Noah Hariri’s “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” masterfully intertwines history, science, and philosophy to offer a speculative look at the future of humanity. Hariri’s writing style is engaging, accessible, and sprinkled with humor, which makes for a pleasant read despite the book’s weighty subject matter.

Hariri’s exploration of our potential future – particularly the rise of Dataism and the advent of ‘godlike’ humans – is a narrative full of twists and thought-provoking insights. The idea of a ‘useless class’ emerging due to technological advancements is particularly jarring and underlines the urgency for societal adaptations.

While Hariri’s predictions can at times feel overly deterministic, they undeniably provide valuable fodder for discussion and contemplation. His visionary insights demand our attention, urging us to critically assess the direction in which our society is heading.

In “Homo Deus,” Hariri invites us not only to foresee the future but to actively participate in shaping it, making the book an indispensable read for anyone interested in the human saga and our role in its unfolding.

Follow-Up Questions and Answers

I went further, see here, and once again I was amazed at how valuable ChatGPT is for me when I am trying to understand something. I can talk to it, ask questions, let it generate ideas and concepts based on suggestions, and all the while it never once needs a new drink.

Life Lessons

I Love this great video by Tim Minchin.

The Int. Soc. on Gesture Studies

Sinds 2002 bestaat er een International Society on Gesture Studies Ze organiseren conferenties (Austin 2002, Lyon 2005, Chicago2007) en ondersteunen het internationale journal Gesture. Het Nijmegen Gesture Center is een van de steunpilaren (qua mensen en faciliteiten), alsmede de labs van Janet Bavelas, Susan Goldin-Meadow, David McNeill, en het Berlin Gesture Center.

New Publication about Design Methodology

I just added a new publication to my publication list:

Marc Steen, Jeroen Arendsen, Anita Cremers, Arnoud de Jong, Jacomien de Jong & Nicole de Koning (2013). Using interactive model simulations in co-design: An experiment in urban design. CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts. Volume 9, Issue 1. (Purchase online at the publisher)

Title: Using interactive model simulations in co-design: An experiment in urban design
Abstract: This paper presents an experiment in which people performed a co-design task in urban design, using a multi-user touch table application with or without interactive model simulations. We hypothesised that using the interactive model simulations would improve communication and co-operation between co-design participants, would help participants to develop shared understanding and would positively affect the co-design process and its outcomes. However, our experiment (involving 60 people in 20 co-design sessions) only partly confirmed these hypotheses. People positively evaluated the interactive model simulation tools (an interactive map of an urban area, interactive models for traffic, sound, sight and safety, and ‘tangibles’), and these tools promoted communication and co-operation, and the exploration of design solutions. However, people’s experiences of social cohesion and their satisfaction with their own contribution to the co-design process were better without these tools, possibly because using these tools drew people’s attention towards these interactive model simulations and away from the dynamics between the participants. We therefore advocate using such tools selectively, for example, early on in a co-design process, to improve shared understanding of the contents of the problem, rather than later on, when people need to focus on their fellow participants and on the processes of communication and co-operation.

My contribution was the setup of the experiment, the definition of measurements and the analysis (statistical and discussion) of the results. It was work done while I was working at TNO.

Interesting CHRIS video

An important European robotics project called CHRIS (Cooperative Human Robot Interaction Systems FP7 215805) has received its final review last april. They have also created a very nice video that summarizes their work:

As the video show, the work includes the recognition of speech, gesture (pointing), actions, and objects. All within a context of cooperation and safety. But, I will not try to summarize their work. Just watch the video.

Book Review of: Imitation and Social Learning in Robots, Humans and Animals

In 2007 an interesting book was published that I believe is also relevant to gesture researchers:

Imitation and social learning in robots, humans and animals: behavioural, social and communicative dimensions.
Chrystopher L. Nehaniv, Kerstin Dautenhahn (Eds.). Cambridge University Press, 2007 – 479 pagina’s (available online in a limited way, here)

The book is an excellent volume with many interesting chapters, some with contributions by the editors themselves but also by many other authors. Personally, I found the following chapters most interesting (of 21 chapters):

  • 1. Imitation: thoughts about theories (Bird & Heyes)
  • 2. Nine billion correspondence problems (Nehaniv)
  • 7. The question of ‘what to imitate’: inferring goals and intentions from demonstrations (Carpenter & Call)
  • 8. Learning of gestures by imitation in an humanoid robot (Calinon & Billard)
  • 10. Copying strategies by people with autistic spectrum disorder: why only imitation leads to social cognitive development (Williams)
  • 11. A Bayesian model of imitation in infants and robots (Rao et al.)
  • 12. Solving the correspondence problem in robotic imitation across ambodiments: synchrony, perception and culture in artifacts (Alissandrakis et al.)
  • 15. Bullying behaviour, empathy and imitation: an attempted synthesis (Dautenhahn et al.)
  • 16. Multiple motivations for imitation in infancy (Nielsen & Slaughter)
  • 21. Mimicry as deceptive resemblance: beyond the one-trick ponies (Norman & Tregenza)

I’ll probably update this post with more in-depth review remarks later… But at least chapter 21 has connections to earlier posts here regarding animal gestures, such as here.

Thesis of Mats Andrén

For those among you who are interested in good gesture research it may be of interest to know that Mats Andrén, from Lund University, has published (online) his thesis called Children’s Gestures from 18 to 30 months. So far, I am enjoying reading it very much. Good job, Mats, and good luck with the defense 🙂

Press release and media attention for PhD defenses

The TU Delft sent out a press release about my PhD work and PhD defense next monday and that of Jeroen Lichtenauer, who is defending this afternoon, 15:00u Aula TU Delft. And Gineke ten Holt is the third promovenda who is still working on the project (having started later).

TU Delft nieuwsbericht: Computer helpt dove kinderen met leren gebarentaal
The english press release: Computer helps deaf children learn sign language
In het kort op de TU Delft EWI website

Search google for Dutch news: here
Search google for English news: here
Search google for German news: here

Nederlands nieuws
TU Delta (goed achtergrondverhaal)
Volkskrant
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Product

Engelstalig nieuws
Science daily
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German / Deutsch
Pressetext (good story, email contact, revisions)
Innovations report
Wikio

Eila Goldhahn

Eila Goldhahn:
What can be learnt from the MoverWitness Exchange for the development of gesture-based human-computer interfaces?

Goldhahn holds a very cloudy talk about people being movers and witnesses, holds up Durer’s famous woodcut of perception drawing. I am totally missing the point. We the engineers should all be ‘movers’ as well? So we can share a more embodied knowledge with each other or with our ‘subjects’. Really, no idea what she is trying to get at. But it must be my limited engineer’s point of view or something.

Fortunately she is going to show us some videos. Perhaps it will become clearer now.
– A man is licking a wall, apprently enjoying a very deep sensory haptic embodied experience…
– A woman is looking like she needs to go to the bathroom…
– Ah, a nice one with people falling/flying. She mentions how associations and imagination can play a role in our perceptions (really?) and how these can mediate between the mover and the witness. Good point.

Asked about a more concrete example of what is missing in ‘our methods’ she points out how, in the talk by Stoessel on the elderly, how they could have engaged the movements of the elderly in a more open way. One could let the elderly talk about how they had experienced the movement and then see if this coincides with the ‘witness’s observation of the movement. Hmm, interesting.

GW2009 Keynote: Antonio Camurri

Keynote: Antonio Camurri (also here)
Toward computational models of empathy and emotional entrainment

Casa PaganiniInfoMusEyesWeb

Camurri has already done a lot of interesting work on movement and gesture, all of it in the ‘expressive corner’, working with dance and with music.

He just talked about a really nice application: He created a system to paint with you body movements, But it does so only if you move without hesitation. So, patients with hesitant movements (Parkinson?) get a stimulus to move better.

Next, about part of Humaine: something about the visibility of emotion in musical movements (not the sounds). There were previous talks in this area:

Florian Grond, Thomas Hermann, Vincent Verfaille & Marcelo Wanderley:
Methods for effective ancillary gesture sonification of clarinetists

Rolf Inge Godøy, Alexander Refsum Jensnius & Kristian Nymoen:
Chunking by coarticulation in music-related gestures

Next work with Gina Castellana (?): influence the way you listen to music through movement and gesture. Nice video.

There is also work on robotic interfaces. A ‘concert from trombone and robot’. Stockhausen, Milano. Robot had a radio, drove around, so spatially and in playing the robot had to be in tune with the trombone player. Collaboration with S. Hashimoto and K. Suzuki (Waseda University), See here for a publication.

He also worked together with Klaus Scherer from Geneva. Gael talked about Scherer’s work on the emotions as being quite good.

Camurri seems to be involved in many European networks and projects.

He is now explaining a project on synchronization. Quite interesting stuff about violin players (as cases of oscillators) try to get synchronized with a manipulated signal or with each other. It is going too fast to write much about it, but it all looks really nice. Violinists synchronizing their movements. And he is making much of a concept called ’emotional entrainment’. There is decent explanantion of the term here, but I’ll quote it:

A Quote by Daniel Goleman on emotional entrainment, influence, charisma, and power
Setting the emotional tone of an interaction is, in a sense, a sign of dominance at a deep and intimate level: it means driving the emotional state of the other person. This power to determine emotion is akin to what is called in biology a zeitgeher (literally, “time grabber”), process (such as the day-night cycle of the monthly phases of the moon) that entrains biological rhythms. For a couple dancing, the music is a bodily zeitgeber. When it comes to personal encounters, the person who has the more forceful expressivity – or the most power – is typically the one whose emotions entrain the other. Dominant partners talk more, while the subordinate partner watches the others face more – a setup for the transmissions effect. By the same token, the forcefulness of a good speaker – a politician or an evangelist, say – works to entrain the emotions of the audience. That is what we mean by, “He had them in the palm of his hand.” Emotional entrainment is the heart of influence.
Daniel Goleman : Harvard PhD, author, behavioral science journalist for The New York Times
Daniel Goleman
Source: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Page: 117

Interesting remark about the violinists who synchronize with an adjusted signal: They did not hear their own sound but rather a manipulation of the pitch of the movement. So what they did did not match what they heard. At some point these players got motion sickness…

Now there is a weird video from the opera, where a man and a woman use a chair to communicate (?). He lost me there for a moment.

Announcement: eNTERFACE 2009, European Workshop on Multimodal Interfaces, 13 July – 7 Aug, Casa Paganini (here)

Questions:
– About publications: you can download them from ftp.infomus.org/pub/camurri

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