Today I started learning about MarkLogic NoSQL DB and Semantics/SPaRQL and remembered an article about a robot that had become "self-aware" and thought it would be fun to analyze. 

Watch the video located at the bottom of the article first:

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-robot-passed-a-self-awareness-test-that-only-humans-could-handle-until-now-2015-7

Hey.. this robot is using semantics! Now, I have only spent a couple of hours learning about semantics, but the following paragraph is my fun little analysis of this self-aware robot: 

The robot already has a triple(s) stored in it's db saying [subject: the three robotspredicate: have been given object: dumbing pill]. Also, the robot has a triple stored saying [subject: dumbing pill predicate: makes mute object: robots]. Further, the implication of mute (perhaps with some rule-set for predicates which includes dictionary verbs, maybe there is an ontology triple for "beings", provided the context here, it could discern the correct definition of mute, something like this). The experimenter queries the robots, asking which one of them had been given the "dumbing pill". Provided that it 'knows' (based on it's RDF triple store - schema-less atomic triples with objects of triples being the subjects of others) what "dumbing pills" are and that they were randomly given out to two of the three robots; the robot couldn't infer whether or not it had been given one and the experimenters query returned, "I don't know" from one of the robots. So the inference doesn't exist yet and the robot is forced to answer up front. It apparently journals meta data about the transaction here as well and also sets a timeout. The robot has 'understanding' of what speech is and that it is returning speech as a response to the query and when it does this, it then updates it's database with the fact (triple) that it can speak after the previous transaction took place. Thus, it creates an inference that factually proves that it was not given the dumbing pill; revisits the query and then returns the correct answer. Since the answer to the query was able to be returned by the robot within the timeout window etc. the robot apologizes and then provides then answer. 

I thought this was a bit more fun of an example than analyzing the semantics of my search engine results or netflix suggestions or something like this :)

At any rate, taking just a couple of hours to learn about semantics has given me a better perspective of structured data (relational databases/SQL) and the "walled garden" (regarding incompatible data forms/frequent schema updates etc.) - versus NoSQL document dbs (Big Data/Internet of Things) such as MarkLogic; which has the ability to store documents (XML-Xquery/JSON-JavaScript), data (binary-images), and triples (facts) in the same database. I can see how MarkLogic is uniquely designed to integrate data from a [variety] of sources in various forms (e.g. combination queries- which I think others will be looking to adopt and an example of why MarkLogic is a leader). Also, it brings to mind the clash of structured/unstructured data and how they should inevitably be combined into single DBMS platforms. In regards to semantics specifically, I can already see how it is possible for developers to create smarter applications that generate better answers to more difficult questions.

Here is some Semantics learningz:

http://info.marklogic.com/rs/371-XVQ-609/images/Semantics%20for%20Dummies.pdf

I don't know how these robots were developed exactly, but was just using this example for funz. Now, about these robots and their semantic-linkages/self awareness...

Stephan Hawking was somewhat recently quoted warning of the this semantic machine learning, saying the following:  

"I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race... Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it will take off on it's own and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate.. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete and would be superseded."

Also, recently Hawking, Musk, Wozniac, and others warning of military AI arms race.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/07/28/elon-musk-and-stephen-hawking-think-we-should-ban-killer-robots/

Somewhat related, the British Navy has already begun 3D printing drones:

http://www.businessinsider.com/watch-british-researchers-launch-a-3d-printed-drone-off-of-a-battleship-2015-7

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Allec N, Choi M, Yesupriya N, Szychowski B, White MR, Kann MG, Garcin ED, Daniel MC, Badano A. Small-angle X-ray scattering method to characterize molecular interactions: Proof of concept. Sci Rep. 2015 Jul 10;5:12085. doi 10.1038/srep12085. PubMed PMID: 26160052; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4498188.

Pelton, M., "Modified Spontaneous Emission in Nanophotonic Structures." Nat Photon, 9,  2015, 427-435, 

A blog reflection written by Women’s Center intern Bree Best

For the past several months I have been trying to conceptualize what I wanted to say about white privilege and protesting, the struggle of identifying power structures, access to privileged dissent, and a whole litany of other things that I could go on about dealing with Racism = Prejudice + Power. One recent experience sticks out in my mind as indicative of just how harmful white privilege can be in spaces that are supposed to be about social justice.

Thirty-five of the 46 women who have publicly accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault are featured on the cover of New York Magazine.

At the end of March 2015, I went to protest Bill Cosby at the Lyric in Baltimore and immediately I noticed the appalling disparity between white women to women of color. As I looked for the protest organizer to discuss my concerns, I heard the protesters shame the patrons as they were walking into the Lyric – patrons who were overwhelmingly people of color. I came to protest Bill Cosby’s rape allegations and bring awareness to sexual assault, not to further marginalize already marginalized people.

When I expressed my concerns to the white woman protest leader, her response was immediately defensive: “We’re supposed to shame the patrons. They’re the ones that paid for the tickets to come see this show. That’s how a protest works.” I tried explaining my discomfort as a woman of color seeing mostly white women protesting a black man by yelling at people of color and mentioned that many of these same people being yelled at may have experienced white people yelling at them while protesting for Civil Rights, so perhaps a different strategy would be worth considering.

Peak white feminism at a Slut Walk NYC march in 2011. Using racism to combat sexism = FAIL.

Ultimately, I ended up leaving the protest after the organizer told me that I was being combative (among other unsavory things). As I drowned my intersectional feminist rage in Blue Moon and mixed drinks, I considered how much more effective the protest could have been if the white organizer and participants had used an intersectional lens to think about how systems of power influence their lives, including their approach to activism. We need more critical dialogue not just about race and racism but specifically about whiteness, which is often forgotten in these discussions because it is the invisible norm against which everything else is othered. 

Disrupting this white-centric framework is crucial for engaging in anti-racism. On a national scale, the Black Lives Matter protests are a direct interruption of that a Eurocentric worldview. Just as we need to decenter whiteness in the physical spaces like these protests, we also need for “allies” to decenter whiteness mentally so that they can engage in social justice without reproducing oppressive power structures or erasing the voices of people of color.

I’ve been in many situations like the Cosby protest when a white person got defensive when I pointed out a racial disparity or racially motivated power dynamics and I tried to push them to understand how problematic that can be, at which point they would either leave or ask me to leave by insinuating that I was being “difficult to work with.” These racial interactions are an everyday occurrence for me because I and many other black people must continually navigate “white space” while also decentering whiteness. However, in order to effectively dismantle white supremacy, black people cannot be the only ones working to disrupt white space – in our communities and our minds – but rather white people must also take on the often-uncomfortable challenge of confronting their own privilege.

Most places can be considered spaces of privilege and prejudice unless they actively work against oppression.

With white spaces being virtually everywhere, my beloved Women’s Center at UMBC is no different. Throughout my internship I’ve had many conversations with Women’s Center staff about we can continue working to decenter whiteness, including more intentionally focusing on the voices and perspectives of women of color and developing strategies to more effectively enable white people to engage in constructive dialogue around race and racism. Dismantling white supremacy is a daunting task and I am equipped with the skills and opportunities to aid in this endeavor despite how exhausting this work can be.

As with most social change work, progress in anti-racist work takes time, a humbled nature, and patience. People make mistakes and call each other out. If that is the case, use the white leadership from the Cosby protest as an example of how not to react. Instead I would suggest: Take a breath, assess your privilege, welcome the lesson, and ask engaging questions that focus on creating an effective impact in communities of color. If people want to build diverse communities, then we as a community have to acknowledge and embrace our differences through understanding the greater systems at large that privileges few and oppresses many.

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