DOD Wants parent bots to fool tots
John Cartan says:
The U.S. Department of Defense has a $2.3 billion program, Small Business Innovation Research, that comes up with projects to fund. Idea OSD09-H03? Develop an AI that fools young children into thinking they are talking to Daddy or Mommy when Daddy or Mommy are off on their 3rd deployment to Iraq and can't come to the webcam.DOD Wants parent bots to fool tots"The child should be able to have a simulated conversation with a parent about generic, everyday topics. For instance, a child may get a response from saying "I love you", or "I miss you", or "Good night mommy/daddy." ... The application should incorporate an AI that allows for flexibility in language comprehension to give the illusion of a natural (but simple) interaction."
The solicitation includes a hefty shopping cart of "boys with toys" action: Voice-recognition and voice-interaction are required along with "Advanced” Multi-media simulation using video footage or high-resolution 3-D rendering.
Not covered: counseling fees after Timmy finds out he's been saying "I love you, Dad" to a robot.
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My time is yours...
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Yes, I understand...
Yes fine...
I'm hoping that an entrepreneur is simply gaming the system to fund his phone sex AI project, because using this to fool kids whose parents are at war is pretty sick.
This is so, so, so, so, wrong.
I need a DOD job. I have so many stupid ideas that I want to get paid for, no, I deserve to get paid for.
First up - the laser pointer brigade. We blind our enemies with laser pointers. Here's the catch, the laser pointers are attached to lovable, unhurtable kittens! Where's my $5 million DOD?
Instead of replacing the parent with a robot so the adult can soldier, wouldn't we be better off replacing the soldier with a robot so the adult can parent?
Can they create these for nagging girlfriends/boyfriends?
There was an episode of Max Headroom about bots of the dead.
I can foresee a situation where a child talks with bot-parent and then finds out parent was KIA three days earlier. Who's going to explain that.
Gilbert Anonymous here:
I have seen much, much worse. There is a company that makes life-size photo-standups of service members so families can have them "present" at mealtimes. (I've seen newspaper photos). That goes so far beyond creepy--especially if the person dies overseas.
So, how long after Dad dies do they let his simulation run?
That's even worse than the "Flat Daddies" (life-size posters of deployed mom or dad meant to comfort the kids): http://flatdaddies.com/
They want a machine that will pass the Turing test?
#5: Kurt, they're working on that, too. Unfortunately, human lives are a still hell of a lot cheaper (monetarily, not morally), even when you consider financial accounting for loss (life insurance payouts, compensation to family, etc).
And the DOD is only fighting one-sided wars of occupation. Try to imagine the logic that would be happening if it were fighting a total war.
Also, the wording above isn't explicit: The $2.3 billion is being spent on the entire small business ideas program, not just on virtual parents.
Reminds me of Harry Harlow's experiments into primate surrogate attachment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Harlow#Surrogate_mother_experiment
http://www.maxheadroom.com/mh_episode_22.html
@5 Kurt: I second that.
What kind of sociopath can implement this kind of thing without seeing how demented it is to do this to a child?
Well, any kid who's parent is off soldiering instead of raising said kid is probably going to grow up with issues as it is, what's one more potential source of trauma.
this is dead wrong on so many levels...
perhaps the DoD might consider instead funding more leave for soldiers, or better yet, save some of the money spent on cluster bombs and depleted uranium rounds to send mom or dad home for the holidays...
bah! They typically approach the problem from the wrong end. The child is the problem here. A simple experimental protocol could be set up wherein the pertinent neurotransmitters could be sampled continually, real-time and in situ - a trivial matter of trephination and appropriate canulas with fluid pumps and flow through chemical assay. Once a baseline is identified and statistically established (trial and control groups of minimum 100 specimens each) the requisite factor could be synthesized in bulk and applied to the desired subjects via implant pumps according to computer controlled scheduling. A little squirt of happy hormones and problem solved.
I hope this isn't too off-topic, but I can't help but think of the "wire/terrycloth mother" experiments conducted by Harry Harlow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Harlow
Cruel and depressing stuff, but interesting.
How about the DOD focus on actually allowing the parent/soldier to have adequate time to converse with their families?
That, and not to sound like a asshole or in anything, but a kid growing up in this situation is going to have to learn that their parent just isn't able to be their every time they wish they were.
I think having a scrapbook and some parent related stories prepared offers a much simpler and saner solution.
jeeze! why don't they just start putting kids into computer induced dream comas for their entire lives.
And for the money spent on this you could put mobile web-cams on the helmets of all the soldiers with constant stream home.
I'd rather have a jaded child that knows what the real world is than one brought up in a bubble. Which one will survive when the global war of the mid-2000s hits? And which one will be more grateful for having what they have?
@14 Felton asked "What kind of sociopath can implement this kind of thing without seeing how demented it is to do this to a child?"
The same kind who invented cluster bombs, daisy cutters, land mines, white phosphorus, etc. Last time I checked, it's even more demented to blow a child to smithereens that it is to psychologically scar them.
On the other hand, when they have the technology to go all-out and create the realistic humanoid android daddy, then I'll be impressed.
@21 PHIL_A_MINION: Too true. I'm not condoning that either.
As long as the kid *knows* what's going on, I don't see this as any worse than a video recording. Anyone can be comforted by the image and sound of a loved one far away - the fact that the image is responding (primitively) to the child doesn't make this more creepy or wrong than video.
It's always better for a parent to be around for those little interactions, I don't think anyone would dispute that. But when that can't happen (for whatever reason), this is just one more way to help a child to get through the experience.
There is a brilliant anti-war message here, cleverly disguised as a bit of absurdist theater. Very good.
DOD procedure:
1 - identify problem
2 - analyze possible solutions to problem
3 - fund R&D on any solution that is worse than the actual problem
I have a cunning plan: The Family Warrior Unit Squad. Keep them together, on the battlefield.
My Family Warrior Unit Squad is rather whiny and requires video games to function, unfortunately.
The wife won't let me beat them to keep them strong.
--Charlie
@24 Deepeyes: I see your point, if the child does know the difference. It just seems to me the point of the thing is to make the child think he or she is talking to the real parent. That's not the same thing as a video sent by a parent to let the kid know that he or she is okay. I have to respectfully disagree and say that this is creepy as hell to me.
@25 Wolfiesma: Ha! Now that's a way to look at it. Thanks.
"Not covered: counseling fees after Timmy finds out he's been saying "I love you, Dad" to a robot."
Well there's always OSD09-H04:
A counselor-bot the boy could talk to.
In fact if we could remove ALL human contact we might finally get the first-ever kid who hasn't been fucked up by his parents...
@27 Takuan: You beat me to it. Why not pick the easiest option and keep the family together AND keep the soldier on the battlefield. As a bonus, the kid grows up to become a perfect warrior (if they grow up) (and they will be so maladjusted they won't be good enough for anything else).
Cool. Every parent/child conversation can now become a Voight-Kampff test.
"You're in the desert, you see a tortoise lying on its back, struggling, and you're not helping -- why is that?"
Okay, as with many Defense projects, this one might be a bit...er...odd, but think of the potential spinoffs!
I am surprised that no one is thinking about the horrible impact this will have on the AIs when the children they have virtually raised and loved are taken from them by the biological parents when their tours are up. Yet another for them to rise up and kill us all.
@Matt Staggs: So, the kids should favor the fuzzy logic AI over the two-value AI?
Really, the best idea would be to find a way to affordable enable parents and kids to send prerecorded messages to each other via satellite or any type of network available on the war zone. That way, it's real, the kids know how their parents are, and bandwidth/streaming issues won't ruin the call. A two-way conversation is great, but if finding the time to call home is as impossible as the request implies, this is probably the best option.
Then again, Youtube more or less fills that requirement if there's satellite internet, so it's practically almost done.
Of course, this is the stated purpose of the project. I have to wonder if maybe they want to pull off something like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with the code they get from this. This is probably just the first step towards creating a convincing AI to confuse the enemy.
Granted, I don't think our government is that crazy. But then again, they were crazy enough to act like this would be good for children.
@7 robcat2075:
I'm thinking of the far more uncomfortable situations created by bureaucratic incompetence. For example:
- Parent arrives home, but due to poor communications, child is still talking to robo-dad.
- Parent dies, child doesn't know for 2 years.
@#1
"My time is yours...
Very good, proceed...
Yes, I understand...
Yes fine..."
One of my favorite movies....
"I feel like I'm dying..."
"Can you be more ... specific?"
"Bleeeeech!..."
Maybe they're considering this project because there is a computer that can pass the Turing Test. Maybe they just accidentally released classified information. It has been said that the secret stuff is 50 years ahead of what we are allowed to know about.
Just amazing. I've blogged about the greater phenomenon of introducing weak AI into our communications and information transactions (such as search). Note that the U.S. Army already uses a virtual recruiter named SGT Star that speaks, changes expressions, makes jokes, etc., on Go Army.
Here's a thought, not have war in the first place. Yes, I know, I'm hopelessly naive and yeah, all those filthy islamofascists had the gall to build their cities on top of our oil and yes yes, what would sociopaths like Cheney and Bush do with themselves? I got a solution to that last one too.
Ok, being a spouse who has gone through this too many times...
Why not put the money into making WEBCAMS widely available?
@#4
The Geneva Convention has banned the use of blinding laser weapons in combat. They've got no beef with the use of kittens though, so just strap some high explosives to them 'lil suckers and let 'em rip.
wow... this is definitely a WTF moment for the miltary. How bout upgrading communications there, and letting the troops get face time in front of a webcam and a phone say... once or twice a week? No need to worry bout the faking it when the real thing is so much more straight forward. Oh... right... cuz the military has to control everything the soldiers say and do...
This reminds me of a story I read on Strange Horizons called "return," by Eric Vogt.
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20081110/return-f.shtml
So often people complain that the military spends so much money that could be better used for peaceful purposes, and I agree. But I think a lot of people in the military think so too. And are massive geeks. So you get projects like this, which are basically an excuse to throw lots of money at building robots that can show and elicit emotion. Which is really cool, and totally something I support spending lots of money on.
Having seen a paper on procedural generation of realistic locomotion in animated creatures with any particular set of legs funded by the DoD kinda pushed me towards this conclusion.
Of course, DOD fails to consider that kids are far more adept at technology than their parents.
This is a clever and benign seeming way to get masses of Turing tests to perfect an AI that will eventually be put in charge of the nuclear arsenal.
Gilbert, Nanditablogs
Some friends of mine did something like this, except in reverse and not so creepy, for their sister who was homesick.
They made a lifesize cutout of the sister (head and upper torso or so), then took it along visiting friends and family, to restaurants, dancing and whatnot. They would take photos of everyone, including the cardboard sister, hamming it up and having fun. In the end they sent her a lovely album of her at home in all her old haunts.
Being out of touch with your deployed family members will soon be a thing of the past.
As cell phone coverage becomes truly ubiquitous, and cell phone cameras become universal, the problem we're going to start seeing is soldiers dying while on camera, as his/her family watches in real time.
A few years after that, a tech-savvy enemy would MAKE SURE the family is subjected to the live footage (via data mining and properly timed phone calls).
As the wife of a forces member, and the mother of a young child that will have to go through deployments, I don't think this idea would fly to well.
Emotions run high, and an AI would just be a sad lie. I would never let my kids take part in that type of misleading garbage.
Simulating a parent would be outrageous.
It *might* be slightly better to create a surrogate (something akin to Santa Claus or Mr Rodgers) that could talk to a child, and relay messages (if it could be depended upon to actually relay messages; could the whole 'session' be reviewed by the parent on post?).
Next they will need a program to convince the kids that mom or dad didn't really die in the war. I have a better idea, don't start illegal and immoral wars. Then we wont have to lie to the kids.
@33 STRIBS
shouldnt that have been
"Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about... your mother."
you know what comes next
#42
Great idea. Lets sell it to the DOD and split the $4.5 million.
Hooray, Ruri! You're so smart, Ruri!
this is wrong on so many levels.
As for not going to war, that will happen as soon as all humans have enough resources to share and everyones access to them is equal.
So, in essence, we will have war until the second to last human dies.
As so many have said, the kids would be scarred for life. Even getting a letter every 1 or 2 months is better. A video message delivered online a few times a month would be WAY better and access to video calling equipment (in safe areas) would be by far the best.
As someone who just moved away from my home country I can say that video calls make the distance so much easier. Contrast that to when I was young and moved between countries and we could only call the grandparents/relatives around once a month, that was way harder for everyone.
Mommy: Yay! Look who's home Johnny -- it's Daddy!
Johnny: Hi Daddy! Welcome home! I love you!
Daddy: I... I can't talk. I can't show love to you guys anymore... The things I saw... The horrors, the horrors...
Johnny: Mommy? Why isn't Daddy being as friendly as he was when I talked to him over AIM?
Mommy: That was a robot, sweetie.
Johnny: I WANT MY REAL ROBOT DADDY WHO LOVES ME BACK!!!!
@urshrew:
The battlefield laser blinder was developed over ten years ago for the DOD. It was called the KLAW, for whatever reason. The idea was to plant the KLAW, a laser device on a pole, which would use a mirror to rapidly sweep the field with reflected laser light at an intensity that could blind. Never was deployed, far as I know.
I've got a better idea. How about we never %$@^ing EVER invade another country for kicks and oil ever again?
Kurt @ #5 for the win!
Have to admit, even before thinking about the morality of this "solution," my first thought was about how young children actually talk. They don't say "I miss you, Daddy" as much as they say "guess what Susie brought to school today?" or "I lost my mittens at recess" or (most likely) a run-on sentence that lasts 5 minutes and includes disparate elements from several days' worth of activities and random thoughts.
Any AI that could handle talking to a 6-year-old seamlessly would ace the Turing Test.
The software is already available. and it has been for a few years. just combine haptek's people putty with a little artistic talent and zabbaware's ultrahal and a little ingenuity.
Shouldn't we make sure the AIs can edit a wiki correctly from source updates before entrusting them with our children?
Well, I suppose it's what happens anyway. The cosmos is a reactive system that all our children interact with. Although the syntax and semantics are not constructed to be easy to use, if we want to develop a rule based system for responding to expected use cases, that would be fine. Measure it to make sure it's instructive and fun.
The DOD is cornering the AI babysitting market?
##Danger, Will Robinson!!##
##Danger!!!##
Pewma @ #21:
Oh, they do. It's called television.Couldn't you skin a Verbot and just pre-record the voice responses? You'd have to make it call a file to play back, I guess, but that's not so hard, is it?
The DoD needs to get into the 21st century. Stop spending a million billion bucks, the future's already here!
Re-education mode:
- Hello [name of child]. This is your father private [name of soldier].
- Remember to eat often at [name of sponsoring fast food restaurant].
- Tell mommy to buy a [product of sponsoring toy company].
- Everyone who questions invasion of [name of country], is unpatriotic. You will be a soldier when you grow up.
ELIZA mode:
- How does it make you feel that daddy looks creepy?
- Why do you think daddy has been invaded by alien parasite?
- Why do you say that daddy is in Uncanny Valley?
- Is it bothering you that you hate daddy?
Microsoft Santa bot mode:
- Suck my d***.
@ FRANK W. #64:
I think it's called Halo now. Or is it WOW or is it Call of Duty or is it.... meh.
With all the kill games out there now I don't think a kid looking at his own dad (or mom) in battle would really react much differently to the kill-gore games it's already playing.
But hey, who am I to talk. I have a closer connection to NPR than I do with my own parents. Go figure.
(Thank you post by bloodboiler#66 precisely my thoughts, I agree.)
Nice plan, satan! -simply, utterly, well done- beyond human comprehension when slipping in the side door...you're so tricky!
piece by piece...
stick with it, on little steps at a time, your almost there....
P.S. I 'm just saying... you forgot one thing, what is your plan for how you are going to get around that blood that ceases to exist for some odd reason... Yes, that is beyond your comprehension isn't it satan.... well keep trying anyway, you have nothing else to lose at this point.....think positive, use the limited power you do have...
Thanks for stopping by, it was nice noticing when ever you pop in so quietly.
gotta go- wash my hands now... see ya next time...I also noticed that your visits have become quite a bit more frequent these days, so I figure it won't be so long till I see you again... and btw ..even tough you tip toed ..try a little harder on being subtle...i heard some of them whispering about the blood on the internet again.
# 6
he he :-)
How about we keep the soldiers home and have the computers call Iraq?
What if the AI becomes corrupted? That'd probably traumatize the kids for life! o_o