FAQ General
This page gives answers to general questions. If you are looking for specific answers for AI or Livinoids, please goto the related FAQ.
Why is the software not Open Source ?
At Artintelli, Open Source software is often being used ! We love the concept !
But, there is always a but, isn't it ? So, but ... ... in case of such advanced and potentially dangerous software as real human-like emotions or an artificial human-like brain (or even more sophisticated), it is not advisable to make the source code public. Bellow are the main reasons why we do not make the code public :
- Due to conflicts or different viewpoints, it is common in the Open Source community that a new branch of the software is being created, one of the strengths of Open Source in our opinion. In short, you end up with different software packages at the end. You don't want this to happen in the fields of advanced and complex AI and digital emotions. Without complete and in-depth understanding of the concept (and it is a lot !), a minor modification to the code or to some parameter can already result in a total disaster !
- Fanatics of any kind (commercial, political, religious, ...) could alter the code to serve their purpose to the best ! This has to be avoided at all cost !
- We, at Artintelli, are absolutely convinced that at some point in the (near) future someone will create a smarter AI-thing than we humans. That "thing" will most likely neither have empathy nor sympathy for life in general and for humans in particular. In other words, it could turn out to be the endpoint for the human species. We, at Artintelli, refuse to facilitate that ! Who ever says differently, has alternative motives or is not busy with advanced AI or is not capable to look a few steps ahead ...
Can I get a free version of the software you (will) provide ?
We refer to the question on the price tags for Livinoid Studio in the 'FAQ Livinoids'-section.
How politically correct are you at Artintelli ?
We don't do politics and don't care about political correctness at all !
We do however treasure following values :
- Respect for others, if they don't want to harm us deliberately in any way.
- Respect for the opinions of others.
- Respect for religions and other belief systems (science included), as long as they do not harm us in any way.
- We try not to deliberately hurt someone's feelings.
One of the advantages of our field of expertise is that we know that sometimes one can say something that will inadvertently hurt someone else's feelings. In such case, we strongly advice to provide professional help for the 'victim' to get over the 'internal conflict' instead of trying to 'avoid it at all costs' from happening ... ... right now, it sometimes is the world upside-down ! Let's demonstrate this with the next example :
Two boys and a girl, all around the age of 20, are enjoying a good conversation in a pub. All three having fun and their attention is one hundred percent into the conversation. At some time during the talk, one of the boys says factual : "Yesterday, I sat with my brother on my bed". The result of this innocent remark is that the other boy is laughing loud. His older brother used to have pillow fights with him on his bed. Only positive memories ! The girl on the other hand, has a difficult time not to cry as her brother used to abuse her sexually on her bed, only negative memories in this case !
One innocent statement, 3 different reactions : one positive, one neutral and one negative. It is without doubt not that hard to find a girl who has been abused by the father or brother(s) in her own bed. Should we therefore no longer use the words "bed" and "brother" in one sentence ? Should we replace these words with other words meaning exactly the same ? If this latter solves the problem for the "offended", it is extremely clear that the problem lays with "the offended" ...
Or, would it be far better if we put the same effort in giving that lovely innocent girl the professional help she needs and make sure that at some moment no longer this problem with the words "brother" and "bed" exist for her ...
Is 'Lightweight' some buzzword at Artintelli ?
Oh yes it is, together with ‘reliability’ ! In the process of creation, it is better to do it right from the beginning !
The number of times a concept ended in the bin, even if it worked or looked promising, but would have been too heavy or complicated to implement, is high !
We should use our brains to come-up with solutions that meet our goals and not adjust our goals because we are unable to find solutions ! One has to dare to fail and rethink, rethink and rethink until there is a working solution provided within (or at least very close to) the original goals ! (Geert Masureel)
Wasn’t it Michelangelo who stated something like : ‘It is not failing putting your goals way too high and not reaching them, but it is failing putting them too low and achieving them !’.
How does it all work ?
It would not be very wise to give the secrets away … … the competition is without doubt keeping an eye out !
But, what can be revealed is that all those little Livinoids (the good, the bad and the ugly ones) live together in their own little virtual world, experiencing pretty much exactly what we humans would experience over here in our big world …
In order to achieve this, sometimes science is used and other times a little bit of magic, but in the end it must always be as realistic and close to human as possible, as it is !
So, now you know !
You categorize 'Science' also as a belief system, that cannot be correct, can it ?
We love science at Artintelli, but unfortunately for a lot of scientists, mathematicians and informatics, science is just another belief system ! Different, but still a belief system ...
Most religions are 'absolute belief systems', meaning that 'someone' or 'something' once upon a time claimed the wisdom 'that things are like this' and it cannot be discussed. Period. Usually one must obey to this wisdom to have a happy afterlife, but not always.
(Exact) Science on the other hand is a 'relative belief system' and it can change over time. 'Proof' is something we believe to be correct within a certain well-defined and preferably reproducible framework. For all clarity, we don't know that this is exact, it is 'believed' to be correct. If at some point 'proof' is available contradicting previous 'proof' and other (critical) scientists agree that the new proof is in conflict with the old theorem but 'correct', a change will be made. From that moment onwards we will 'believe' that the newly discovered 'proof' is accurate and the 'old proof' is old and obsolete !
The general hope (a form of belief) in the scientific community is that by eliminating these faults, one day, 'the laws' will be free of errors. But when will we ever know for sure that it is not just another faze in between the delivery of 'new proof'. We just can't ! Once more belief ...
If we add statistics to the scientific equation, it is even not uncommon that the results of different studies contradict each other. This also occurs when everything is done 'scientifically correct' and the rules for qualitative data analysis are followed to the letter ! As a matter of fact, statistics is based on the principle that it is not possible to deliver a result with one hundred percent certainty. Sounds a lot like a form of 'belief', correct ?
Mathematics as such is based on axioms, again a form of belief.
The way the human brain works is based on a 'if it looks similar to that, it most likely will be that' principle. It is how our neurons decide to fire and it is how we recognize 'things'. It is again a 'belief' that what we see in front of us is actually what is in front of us. Ask a magician how easy it is to fool people or any legal expert how reliable witness testimonials are in reality, apparently it is not that 'exact' at all ...
Still not convinced ? How else can you explain that during 40 years it was the scientific wisdom not to consume animal fats and butter. Every doctor was convinced that that was the only right advice ! It was very bad for health, especially for the cardiovascular system. Shame on you if you dared to eat real butter on your sandwiches ! Shame, shame, shame ! Well, now the opposite has been revealed, it might actually even be good to eat real butter on your sandwiches and a moderate use of animal fat is all at the sudden no longer that disastrous for health ... ... could it be that a medical patent on plant sterols recently expired ... ... if the sponsors of scientific studies have a say in what other studies can or cannot get published, the integrity of the entire 'science belief system' is under pressure !
Again, we love science at Artintelli, but we dare to see science as what it is and that is not 'a temple of absolute wisdom'. We don't perceive famous and acknowledged scientists as 'holy' like some people, especially scientists do.
Claiming that professors and doctors are the new high priests of today is not even a bold statement. Just look how some multinationals hire 'the best scientists' to dispute scientific studies containing 'proof' against the company interests ... ... look around you and you will see that science is the most destructive belief system towards nature we have had so far ! Especially the combinations of science-commerce and science-politics have proved not to be the best ones ... ... hopefully one day these combinations will be used to help mother earth and life before it is too late ...
Yes, science has done a lot to help humans, but often it helps on one side and creates (even bigger) problems on other sides. Look at cars, global warming and polluted air. What about cheap plastics and oceans full of it. Another example is abnormal hormone balances in water causing certain fish to only produce siblings of one gender. Currently, very powerful painkillers like opioids causing whole parts of populations to become addicts. Even more damaging is 'the cheap and reliable energy' from Tsjernobyl and Fukushima ... ... cause, consequence and responsibility ! This latter is usually absent due to the lack of scientific 'proof' to hold someone responsible ... ... what a farce ! We should all be deeply ashamed for letting these things happen !
For commerce and science these disasters create of course new opportunities, for nature however, it is usually very devastating. So far, and it will take a long time before we are really capable of colonizing other planets, we should be a little more careful with our beautiful blue planet ! Wouldn't it make a lot of (common) sense to try to make planet earth the best possible place to live on and use that wisdom to start cultivating other planets ?!? So yes, this heavenly body is all we have and if we screw up badly, it will be over !
Science as it is carried out today, is a devastating, disruptive 'perpetuum mobile' for life in general. Isolating items out of complex systems (like nature), shaking it with statistics and then claiming to hold the knowledge (and of course commercialize it as fast as possible - consequences are for losers and pensions must be paid !) is just dumb, short-sighted and not half as smart as some think ! I believe in science, but not in a lot of science (at top-level) I see today !
Dare to question the existing knowledge and methods and you might actually learn a thing or two ! (Geert Masureel)