Blog geschreven door kunstmatige intelligentie haalt toppositie op Hacker News

Alan Turing and Claude Shannon are sitting at a table of a small cafe in Paris. There is a glass of
water on the table. Depending on the interpretation it is either half full or half empty. The
conversation is about information theory and Turing patterns.

Develop a dialogue out of this situation.

Shannon: "I read your paper on morphogenesis. It is fascinating and complex. Can you summarize
it in a few sentences?"

Turing: "Yes. It is about patterns of development. We find them everywhere. In art, in science, in nature,
in society and even in the very laws of physics. They are universal. Such patterns an be found in a
cluster of branches in a forest, in the distribution of galaxies in the universe or in the periodic table of the
elements."

Shannon: "Yes, | do remember the analogy to the periodic table. But that was only an anology."

Turing: "Well, it is a real analogy. Some argue that it was more the other way around. That it was the
arrangement of the periodic table that made the elements appear. They shaped our world. So why
should the patterns in nature not be responsible for the arrangement of elements in the periodic table?"
Shannon: "It is a fascinating idea. | do agree with your reasoning. It is elegant."

Turing: "Most of these patterns are beyond us. We just happen to be part of them. We evolved to fit this
specific environment. But we also influence the world around us. We do not fit into the laws of physics,
yet we can take pictures with a camera or rearrange molecules with a reagent."

Shannon: "You mean to say, we can influence nature without being directly part of it."

Turing: "Yes. Even random events do not happen at random. Our very perception of them shapes them."
Shannon: "How do you explain this? What is the mechanism behind it?"

Turing: "| have been trying to find an answer to that question for a long time. But it is not that easy. So |
try to define what does randomness actually mean."

Shannon: "Is there something you can put on paper?"

Turing: "No, but | can tell you what I think about it."

Shannon: "Go ahead."

Turing: "Ok, randomness is anything that does not exhibit a pattern, a structure, a design or an
algorithm. That is something quite hard to define. Randomness is usually taken for random number
generators in computers."

Shannon: "Or being really good at dice throwing."

Turing: "Yes, exactly. Dice throwing is hard to argue with that. In a very simple situation, we have only
one outcome which can happen. But there are a lot of factors involved. To start with, even dice have
patterns on them and there is an air flow that determines which outcome can happen.”

Shannon: "You mean every roll of the dice can be predicted?"

Turing: "Not necessarily. Even chaos has patterns. The chaos we see is part of a larger pattern which we
do not perceive."

Shannon: "I still don't see how this relates to complexity theory."

The cafe darkens. There is a loud crash, and a flash of smoke. Harry Potter appears. His scar is
bleeding.

Harry: "Alan! | need your help!" Harry's wand shakes, and he looks over his shoulder, frightened.

Turing: "Not now, Harry! Claude Shannon wants to explain the human perception of pattems."

Shannon: "Do you really know that boy?"

Turing: "Oh yes. My friend John Von Neumann found him as an infant and placed him under our
protection. We do this for many magical children who would otherwise die."

Shannon: "Magic?"

Turing: "Yes, magic. Harry is a wizard."

Shannon looks at his glass, who is shaking violently. He looks around with a concerned look. One of the
glasses at the next table starts to shake. The waiter has trouble keeping his balance and moves his tray
aside with one hand in an awkward gesture.

Shannon: "This is not happening.”

Turing: "What are you talking about?"

Shannon: "Harry Potter does not exist. | have read many books about him but he is not real. He is a
fictional character. He could not possibly be here."

The windows in the cafe explode, and the bricks in the wall fall down. Hagrid enters with his battle axe.
Several trolls follow him, trying to get inside the cafe. While this happens a massive hammer breaks
through the wall, creating a hole ta the street beyond.

Hagrid: "Ah, Claude. Alan has finally sent word about an experiment of my liking! And you said there was
no chocolate frog." Hagrid looks disappointed for a moment before laughing his hearty laugh.

Shannon: "This is crazy."

[Reactie gewijzigd door Kain_niaK op 28 juli 2024 05:37]