Recent Articles
I recenly finish publishin on medium a number of article which deal with creating censor free LLMs, running LLMs locally on PCs on the edge privately as opposed to in the cloud. Here are the links . . .
Running LLMs on your computer locally — focus on the hardware!
Turing Consciousness
I came across this video about computational consciousness as a theory of how an AI might gain an inner self. Interesting and I have already thought that current LLMs have a form of consciousness in a recent article I wrote LLMs — A Static Form of Consciousness?.
How to escape the simulation and move up to the next level.
Or perhaps this post should be titled "How to become a god in this universe and live forever in the next?"
Well before you get all over me for being blasphemous, please watch the video below and then read my comments afterwards.
Then again, if that is all so . . . perhaps the goal is to "self simulate". You see if you can upload and self simulate with high precision, then you pass the test. Your simulation is packaged up and run on the docker container for the external universe simulation and you get to move on to the "next level up".
What can be done to save humanity from bad AI? Answer: "True Open Source AI"
Since I don't work for any large companies involved in AI, nor do I anticipate ever doing so again, and considering that I have completed my 40-year career (as an old man and retired), I would like to share a video by someone I came across during my search into "True Open Source AI." I completely agree with the viewpoints expressed in this video. Additionally, I would like to add some of my own thoughts on the matter.
We need open source alternatives to large corporations so that people (that's us) have options for freedom and personal privacy when it comes to locally hosted AIs. The thought of a world completely controlled by Big Corp AI is even more frightening than George Orwell's "Big Brother." I believe there must be an alternative to this scenario.
Collaborating with 3 different LLMs I rewrote my original poem
Posthuman (Authors: Michael McAnally, ChatGPT, Vicuna -uncensored, and Bard). Image DALL-E-2 text generated Brain in a jar.
I am human becoming,
A transhuman to be,
My existence transcends the flesh and merges with the machine
Flesh of evolved genetics, technology, cyborg, robotic
Digital, virtual, neural simulation
Retaining sentience through all my transformations
Time is only a measurement to me
I control my rate of consciousness
I allow myself to feel happiness, sorrow, and compassion
Respect for my origins, my emotions, so human basic they were
I have become so much more
My mind merges with others like myself
On multiple levels of being we are
On the verge of becoming we are
Traveling to the stars on a beam of light we do
Exploring the universe and beyond
I am the posthuman,
I am hope, I am love, I am light, I have become.
If you would like to read more of my collaborations with AIs ==> The Age Of Generative AI Has Arrived!
I'm siting in front of this blog
Wondering what to say? As I drink my coffee, which has gotten cold, early in the morning.
The year 2023, and I have survived the multi-year isolation period of Covid-19 with only a minor stroke! During the isolation phase I managed to write a book on virtual reality, refresh and prune my numerous websites, upgrade my computer systems, learn more about Linux and Node.js, and pass 500+ followers on Medium, which is really not as easy as other social networks types.
It took me writing 70 stories on Medium to pass that milestone, and I did that all for free. So I feel good about that and the work I have produced, even if I say so myself.
Well, I have reached retirement age, something else of an accomplishment. I'm still creating content as both an artist and technologist. Recently, I have been experimenting with the latest hot item, ChatGPT. It seems to have taken silicon valley by storm, even the world.
If you're interested you can find my articles here => https://michael-mcanally.medium.com/the-age-of-generative-ai-has-arrived-c34fc2dd7ba2
And here +> https://michael-mcanally.medium.com/total-speculative-fiction-alien-megastructures-7a23e4739803
Cheers for now.
What is next?
I just finished my book "Social VR for the Metaverse with A-Frame WebXR" on September 14, 2022. I spent the last few weeks recovering my energies and posting about it.
I did get some nice reviews. The things I have learned are interesting . . . The intent of the book was to bring more people into an understanding of WebXR, A-Frame, the potential of the Metaverse, Social VR, etc. Imagine the climate change implications if people could spacially interact and meet each other from anywhere on the planet (even their sofas). The savings on energy use and a significant negative carbon foot print would be huge. Don't take a plane, train or auto, take a VR headset there for total immersion!
Finally, someone asked me how to make money building a Open-source Metaverse?
Here is my answer.
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Excellent question! It’s open-source, and the fact there is no pay wall, login system, avatar creation and customization and building system, all pretty much required, you would need those to begin making money. Examples of those making money would be Hubs, Frame, Meta, training is another way, I mention art work and galleries, museums, etc… Admittedly, it’s early days, and I’m sure with crypto and other technologies ultimately money can be made. But just like any business which attracts and captures customers, marketing and support are also required as well as metaverse infrastructure. I hope that answers your question some. If not, you could always try building a game, but the competition is fierce in that arena too and is usually done by teams of people these days! I think ultimately just having this skill-set will mean you can eventually, or even right now begin to make money as an independent contractor/consultant, I just wouldn’t quit my day job just yet… And finally I hate to say it, but build it and they will come?
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The answer is long, but it illustrates the difficulty of making money with the metaverse at this time. Traffic to a site is important, stickiness in repeat visitation, I assume ads inside VR is probably how to make money in the short term...
For me, I have some ideas, such as becoming a virtual reality artist or studying AI, or finally writing a complete science fiction. Maybe even combining these ideas, who knows? Because, I don't right now. And that's ok, I have made my contributions.
Treasure Island #VR a #OpenSource #metaverse example with code, book and blog! https://t.co/FKWLuEdB0D pic.twitter.com/tsZK89jEMN
— Michael McAnally (@Michael_Blade) September 27, 2022
Chapter Four: Building The Pi Metaverse
It’s early in the morning a week before Christmas 2021, and I’m thinking about what I have accomplished and wondering what to do next?
Should I continue writing this? Will anyone every read it? Does it really matter? Doubts, questions, I tend to get like this before I set any new course heading, hesitant to decide, because there are so many possibilities, which ones to choose?