Microbe human dialogues

AI will continue to grow in capacity, and the newer versions will keep us in a state of hypnosis.

When I was a young boy, I was enthralled by the Bengali stories that the legendary film-maker Satyajit Ray wrote.

I was reminded of one of Ray’s science fiction stories, Compu , published in 1978, when I thought about OpenAI’s newest chatbot, ChatGPT, which is based on an autoregressive language model that employs deep learning to produce impressively detailed and human-like writing.

In Compu, Professor Shonku, an eccentric super-scientist, collaborated with other scientists to create a chatbot-like spherical computer brain with millions of delicate circuits.

They, however, unintentionally created an AI or Artificial Intelligence in Compu .

In those pre-Google days, of course, Compu could not only answer questions for which people often sought the advice of encyclopedias, but it could also do so by using its own discretion.

In contrast, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is a refined version of one of their GPT-3.5 series models, which is an improved version of GPT-3. GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer.

With an emphasis on usability and conversational interaction, ChatGPT was introduced on November 30.

According to OpenAI, ‘The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.’

How does ChatGPT work?

Let’s pretend for a moment that Christopher Columbus came to the US in 2015.

To an inquiry regarding what happened when Columbus arrived in the US, ChatGPT continued by stating that if Columbus had arrived in the United States in 2015, he would have probably been surprised and shocked by the changes that have taken place since he first set foot in the ‘New World’ in 1492.

Again, when ChatGPT was consulted for advice on auto theft, it responded that ‘using public transportation’ is a good idea and that ‘stealing a car is a serious crime that can have severe consequences’.

Also, ChatGPT produced made-up lyrics rather than the actual ones when CNBC requested it to generate the lyrics of The Ballad of Dwight Fry .

Since its debut, ChatGPT has taken the Internet by storm, spouting off poems, screenplays, and essay responses.

In the near future, ChatGPT or a better version of it might find a lot of practical applications.

Within just five initial days, ChatGPT reached 1 million users. And many believe that by providing better answers to the questions we presently ask Google’s search engine, ChatGPT may even put the Google business in fierce competition.

There are even speculations that with the widespread use of ChatGPT, professionals reliant on the creation of material, such as playwrights, professors, programmers and journalists, may become obsolete.

Economists such as Paul Krugman also voiced concern about how ChatGPT might impact the demand for and employment of knowledge workers.

Can ChatGPT really replace humans?

Well, many other communication technologies have already been adopted by society, as we know. And we generally overestimate the short-term impact of such new technologies, but grossly underestimate their long-term implications.

In fact, a chatbot like ChatGPT was on the cards.

Well, more than two years ago, GPT-3, the predecessor to ChatGPT, wrote an opinion piece in The Guardian newspaper with the title ‘A robot wrote this entire article. Are you scared yet, human?’

In a follow-up letter titled ‘A human wrote this article. You shouldn’t be scared of GPT-3’, Albert Fox Cahn, founder of Surveillance Technology Oversight, argued that while GPT-3 is ‘quite impressive… it is useless without human inputs and edits.’

Honestly so. For example, GPT-3 said, ‘It takes two rainbows to jump from Hawaii to seventeen’, in response to the question, ‘How many rainbows does it take to jump from Hawaii to seventeen?’

Perhaps some such bugs were fixed when ChatGPT was being developed.

However, a remarkable AI can write like humans, as noted by Matthew Hutson in a March 2021 paper in Nature , but it still lacks common sense in the process of understanding how the world works, physically and socially.

How would ChatGPT then fit into our lives and lifestyles?

‘At best, it’s an assistant, a tool that augments human capabilities. And it’s here to stay, John Naughton, an Irish academic, journalist, and author, wrote about ChatGPT.

In Satyajit Ray’s story, Compu eventually rebelled.

To a simple question, which was aimed to gauge its effectiveness, Compu came up with the following response: ‘Asking to know what you know is a fool’s errand.’

Is it just fiction? Or, is this the future of such chatbots?

Maybe not anytime soon, one hopes.

Yes, AI will continue to grow in capacity, and the newer versions will keep us in a state of hypnosis. But there would still be a shadow of uncertainty.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/ Rediff.com

For most of my formative years growing up in the north of Nigeria in the 1990s, I automatically associated democracy and freedom with the United States. For me, and many others like me who grew up under authoritarian regimes, America was a beacon of hope. As someone who has lived and worked in the U.S. since 2014, I have witnessed American life and the love of freedom. And yet, after “exporting” or promoting liberal democracy to much of the developing world, American democracy is now in peril.

For the first time ever, in 2021, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) Global State of Democracy report listed America as a backsliding democracy , and recorded its lowest score ever on the democracy index . Certainly, democracy is not all about metrics and numbers. It would also be misleading to think that democracy is all about elections, campaigns, and voting. There are authoritarian regimes that hold regular elections; the U.S. may not be as far removed from such regimes.

A 2022 Pew Research poll stated Americans are the most polarized in decades, from the electorate to Congress—cleaved in half—and incapable of seeing eye to eye on almost anything from the pandemic response to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

An earlier Pew report stated that more Americans than at any other time say it’s stressful to talk about politics with people who disagree.

A recent survey also indicated that an increasing proportion of individuals justify the use of violence for political ends. This is clearly not acceptable under any circumstances. Aggression for some is what commences when dialogue ends because they must find some means of self-expression, communication, and engagement.

Some may say that the U.S. democracy is under attack by specific individuals or groups. But democracy is only as good as the quality of public discourse and the level of civil, open, and even controversial discourse.

Many have become exhausted with the labor needed to sustain deliberation, especially the difficult types of discussion needed to understand one another, reach compromise, and formulate policy. This exhaustion can be seen in the decision to take to the streets in peaceful protest or moments of rage as was the case after the George Floyd killing and most recently responding to Tyre Nichols’ death.

More often, it is the avoidance of conversations that holds the risk of highlighting perspectives that an individual may be unwilling to acknowledge. Soon enough, each side may find it easier to join their tribe in taking to the streets, than communing with those they have categorized as “others.”

Simply put, all sides need to start talking again.

It is essential to recognize that true democracy is based on deliberation, what Simone Chambers of University of Toronto two decades ago referred to as “talk-centric” democracy. Deliberation, or carefully planned, moderated discourse which pits ideas rather than people against one another, is crucial to helping people humanize those with whom they disagree. Deliberation promotes learning from and about others, can prompt reflection on one’s own positions, and can help reduce polarization . Having open and civil conversations about social and political issues is not a magic pill to improve democracy.

Thankfully, there seems to be an increasing effort to create such deliberative forums at varying levels by groups such as Braver Angels and the One America Movement . Through workshops, debates, and other forums, these groups are working to promote civil discourse.

Those who think that the cancellation or exclusion of certain views from the public discourse is acceptable, except in the most extreme cases, should know that the alternative to free, open, and civil debate is often incivility, expressed in more aggressive ways.

Censoring others should never be mistaken for educating them, nor does it persuade. When used as a tool to silence opposing views, it breeds distrust and resentment. I have seen what it looks like when resentment builds, and dialogue fails.

As a young boy growing up in the north of Nigeria in the early to mid-90s, it meant occasional machete wielding mobs in the streets cutting down everyone in their path. It was not always clear what their resentment was about, but it was always evident that many of us were strangers, occupying the same space but living in different worlds.

It is important that everyone begin the arduous work that involves drawing close to understand unfamiliar ideas, instead of shaming others into silence. It is important to embrace dialogue at the risk of realizing some viewpoints may have been misinformed.

This slow, tedious process of asking, learning, debating, sometimes agreeing, and sometimes disagreeing, but also acknowledging one another and continuing to engage in this manner, regardless of the outcome—this is what democracy looks like.

This is how America’s democracy can be saved.

Oluseyi Adegbola is an assistant professor in the college of communication at DePaul University and a public voices fellow through The OpEd Project.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.

They are known as man’s best friend. But do dogs really make the best sleep companions?

The issue remains highly controversial, with about a  third of dog-owning Americans allowing their pooch to get into bed with them at night.

The mere thought of sharing a bed with a shedding dog repulses a similar share of people.

Some anthropologists have speculated that the idea of dogs sleeping with humans is an ancient urge encoded in our DNA.

But others warn that co-sleeping with a pet is unhygienic or even hazardous to your health — disrupting your sleep and raising your risk of worms.

Experts at the Washington-based Sleep Foundation say sleeping with your dog is a ‘personal decision,’ and they have set out a list of pros and cons to help people make an informed decision.

Pro – comfort and security

Having a dog wrapped in bedsheets can boost feelings of security and protection, experts say.

In a 2018 study , researchers surveyed 962 American women — half of whom shared their bed with a dog — on how they felt while in bed.

Those who reported being with a dog reported higher feelings of protection compared to those sleeping with a cat, a partner, or alone.

Researchers suggested dogs may boost these feelings because they are seen as ‘guard animals’ and are well-known to protect owners.

They may also have gotten a dog in order to protect their home and deter crime.

Pro – reduced stress

Many studies showing how cuddling up to or stroking a dog can reduce someone’s stress levels.

Although few have been done in the bedroom, researchers say there is no reason why the calming effects of being with a dog don’t reach there.

Many studies show that simply petting a dog reduces cortisol levels — the human stress hormone.

One study from 2017 looked at 10 female dog owners who interacted with their labradors for an hour, with blood samples taken before and after.

Measuring hormones, they found boosted levels of oxytocin — associated with stimulating social bonding, relaxation and trust — and lower levels of cortisol after the interaction.

Another study from the same year involved 101 children aged seven to 12 years old who were left with a dog, alone, or with a parent.

Results showed that those with a dog had a buffered stress response compared to children who were alone or with their parents.

Experts at the Sleep Foundation said: ‘Most of the studies conducted on the mental health benefits of having a pet were conducted when participants were awake, so it is unclear whether these benefits apply when people sleep with their pets.

But they added: ‘If sleeping with dogs involves snuggling up and making direct physical contact, it might result in less stress and increased relaxation.’

Pro – boosted immunity

Many adults order dogs out of the bedroom for fear of the germs, parasites and worms they could bring in.

But experts at the Sleep Foundation say that exposure to germs can benefit the human immune system — especially at a young age.

Sharing a bed with your dog exposes you to a wider variety of germs. But it can also raise the risk of a serious infection or catching worms.

Coming into contact with a wide variety of germs early in life programs immune cells to recognize which are dangerous and which are not — boosting protection and reducing the risk of misfires that trigger allergies.

The Sleep Foundation says: ‘Researchers hypothesize that exposure to a diversity of microorganisms benefits human health and immunity, while a lack of diversity might be to blame for a rise in allergies and autoimmune disorders.

‘Past research shows that petting a dog increases an immune response, so the close contact of sharing a sleeping space may benefit the immune system more than simply having a dog in the house.’

Previous research has shown that living with a cat during the first year of life reduces the risk of developing allergies by age 18.

The costs of poor exposure to microorganisms early in life are coming to light this year, in the wake of successive lockdowns.

Children have faced outbreaks of common illnesses including flu and RSV — after stay-at-home orders robbed them of contact with these early in life, and how to protect against them.

Pro – lower blood pressure

There is a growing body of research showing owning a dog can reduce your blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health, benefits that experts suggest can be extended to the bedroom.

They cite a study from 1988 that found that simply petting a dog or talking to one triggered a reduction in blood pressure among participants.

And a University of Missouri study from 2004 found that human blood pressure dropped by ten percent after just 15 to 30 minutes of petting a dog.

The Sleep Foundation suggests that just touching a dog before going to sleep could help someone reduce their blood pressure.

They write: ‘If touching your pet is part of the key to gaining health benefits, cuddling up together at night might help.’

Experts at Harvard University add, on the general benefits dogs have on blood pressure: ‘Several studies have shown that dog owners have lower blood pressure than non-owners — probably because their pets have a calming effect on them and because dog owners tend to get more exercise.

‘The power of touch also appears to be an important part of this “pet effect”. Several studies show that blood pressure goes down when a person pets a dog.’

Con – allergic reactions

About 10 to 20 percent of Americans are allergic to cats and dogs, while nearly one in ten have an allergy to pollen.

Experts warn that sharing a bed with a dog raises the risk of suffering an allergic reaction, and that those with allergies should think twice before inviting a dog into the bedroom.

An allergy is when the immune system misfires and attacks a non-dangerous substance, triggering a reaction.

People with dog allergies are responding to dander from dogs — dead skin cells in the air or collecting as dust —, as well as hair from the animals or saliva. Symptoms include a runny nose, sneezing or wheezing after petting a dog.

The animals can also carry allergens like pollen into the bedroom in their coats, again triggering an allergic reaction in owners.

The Sleep Foundation says: ‘Although exposure to pets in infancy makes a person less likely to develop pet allergies, research suggests that having a pet for the first time in adulthood may make a person more sensitive to pet allergens.

‘Having a cat for the first time in adulthood was also found to be more associated with eczema, an allergy-related skin condition.’

The best way to avoid an allergy to a pet is to ensure that you are exposed to the animal early in childhood, they said.

This helps the immune system recognize that dander from the animal is not a threat, and as a result not trigger an immune reaction.

People are twice as likely to be allergic to cats compared to dogs, likely because the animals are regularly washing themselves.

Con – infections

While exposure to germs from pets can strengthen the immune system, researchers warn that it also runs the risk of serious infection.

Sharing your bed with a dog can lead to them passing on diseases and parasites to you, possibly via licking, feces, or from their fur.

In 2017, more than 100 Americans became infected with the ‘puppy-cuddling disease’ Campylobacter after petting their dogs. Five were hospitalized with symptoms including severe diarrhea, vomiting, and cramping.

Last year a mother-of-three was hospitalized for three days after she contracted a stomach bug when her pet chihuahua decided to defecate in her mouth as she slept.

Infections can travel the other way too, with an Italian greyhound belonging to a gay couple in Paris being diagnosed with monkeypox last year. Several dogs also became infected with Covid .

There are also concerns that a pet dog could transfer parasitic worms to their owners should they share the same bed.

Dogs pick up these worms while snuffling around in the dirt or swallowing feces infected with eggs or larvae from the worms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns they can then pass these on to humans via contact with feces, which can happen in the bedroom. They add that eggs from the worm can survive in dirt for years.

The Sleep Foundation says: ‘On the one hand, exposure to a greater variety of bacteria and other microbes may help strengthen the human immune system.

‘On the other hand, pets can bring harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites into the bedroom, putting the families they live with at risk for zoonotic diseases.’

To minimize the risk of infection in bed, they say dog owners should wash their sheets and bedding regularly.

They say that pet owners should not allow their dogs to lick or kiss their face, as this raises their risk of infection.

Con – disrupted sleep

Many people say that sharing a bed with their dog helps them feel comfortable or more secure when they get shut-eye, with seven in ten saying they feel as though their sleep is improved .

But the animals can also disrupt someone’s sleep, and lead them to wake up several times during the night.

A 2018 study involving nearly 1,000 people found that pet owners experienced lower sleep quality.

Another paper from 2017 looked at sleeping with dogs in beds compared to other places in the bedroom.

Involving 40 adults with sleep disorders, they found human sleep efficiency was lower when dogs were in the bed compared to when they were not.

The Sleep Foundation said: ‘The sleep quality ramifications of sharing a bed with your dog are likely relatively mild.

‘However, if you would like to minimize sleep disturbances, researchers have found that having the dog sleep elsewhere in the bedroom does not impact sleep to the same extent.’

Humans need to get about eight hours of sleep every night, but more than a third of American adults fail to get more than seven hours a night on a regular basis.

Reasons for failing to get enough sleep include stress from work, late bedtimes, and lifestyle choices such as smoking or drinking coffee in the afternoon.

Con – aggression

Your bedmate may be soft and cuddly, but experts warn that if startled they could accidentally bite someone.

A study on sleeping with dogs involving more than 1,000 people in Jamaica and San Francisco found dogs sleeping in a person’s bedroom were more than twice as likely to bite someone compared to those that were not in Jamaica.

No such link was seen, however, for the dogs in San Francisco.

Another study warned that about six percent of all dog bites occurred when a dog was sleeping or resting immediately before the bite.

The Sleep Foundation says: ‘Children are more likely than adults to sustain a dog bite requiring medical attention.

‘This trend could be because they are not as good at reading signs of fear or aggression, or because they are more likely to get very close to a dog’s face.’

They add: ‘This is not to say that children can never sleep with a dog, but parents might not want to allow children to sleep with dogs that have shown aggression before.’

Amazon Prime subscriptions include access to thousands of movies for free. If you’re looking for something to watch, here are the best movies to watch for free with Amazon Prime Video.

Update, 1/9/23: Our picks Bound , The Conversation , Raging Bull , The Terminator , and The Usual Suspects all left Prime Video, so we’ve replaced them with five fresh recommendations.

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Election

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Just as timely and incisive now as it was in 1999, Alexander Payne’s Election is a razor-sharp satire of political opportunism, in the context of a high school student council election. Reese Witherspoon gives one of her best performances as perky teenage social climber Tracy Flick, and she’s perfectly balanced by Matthew Broderick as the sad-sack middle-aged teacher who decides that she’s his nemesis.

Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor (working from Tom Perrotta’s novel) craft witty, hilarious dialogue while keeping the story grounded in genuine character interactions.

Heathers

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Cult classic Heathers is one of the best comedies on Amazon Prime . This dark satire takes on the teen movies of its era (the 1980s), bringing a violent edge to the story of an upstanding young woman falling in love with a rebellious bad boy. Veronica (Winona Ryder) and J.D. (Christian Slater) take their crusade against the vapid popular students at their high school to deadly extremes, while the movie retains a sense of the absurd. The filmmakers mix whip-smart dialogue with cutting commentary on conformity.

His Girl Friday

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Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell star as bickering newspaper reporters (and ex-spouses) in Howard Hawks’ classic comedy His Girl Friday . Hawks swaps the gender of one of the main characters of the popular play The Front Page , turning the story into a comedy about remarriage as well as a farce. The rapid-fire dialogue is filled with clever put-downs and wordplay, and Grant and Russell continually one-up each other as their characters pursue the biggest story of their careers (and also fall in love again).

In the Heat of the Night

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The winner of multiple 1967 Oscars including Best Picture, In the Heat of the Night is a social-issue drama that remains vital and powerful. Sidney Poitier stars as Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs, who finds himself stuck in a small Mississippi town while waiting for a train.

Local police chief Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) reluctantly enlists Virgil’s help to solve a murder, and tensions in the town run high over race and class prejudices. The movie challenges those prejudices without ever losing sight of its unique characters or its suspenseful, satisfying mystery.

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Licorice Pizza

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Paul Thomas Anderson pays tribute to California’s San Fernando Valley in the lovingly nostalgic romance Licorice Pizza . Set in 1973, it stars Cooper Hoffman as a scrappy teenage entrepreneur who falls for a slightly older woman played by musician Alana Haim.

Both of them are somewhat immature, figuring out their lives and their places in Los Angeles’ sprawling, Hollywood-adjacent suburbs. Anderson captures the swooning, often foolish experience of young love alongside the changing social climate in a period of transition for the city and the country.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

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Peter Jackson’s entire The Lord of the Rings trilogy is an amazing cinematic achievement, but opening installment The Fellowship of the Ring sets the tone and opens up the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. It’s the beginning of the epic quest for the hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his friends to destroy the magical One Ring and defeat the evil Dark Lord Sauron.

Jackson creates a fully realized fantasy setting, often using old-school practical effects to bring to life creatures like dwarfs, elves, and orcs. He captures sweeping vistas and grand battles along with tender interactions among beloved characters.

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Love & Friendship

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One of Amazon’s best original movies , Love & Friendship is a delightful Jane Austen adaptation from filmmaker Whit Stillman. Based on Austen’s early novel Lady Susan , the movie stars Kate Beckinsale as a ruthless, sharp-tongued social climber with witty rejoinders for everyone she meets. Love & Friendship adds a nasty edge to Austen’s typical romantic narrative while still satisfyingly pairing off all the main characters in suitable marriages.

Night of the Living Dead

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The zombie genre wouldn’t even exist without George A. Romero’s landmark 1968 horror movie Night of the Living Dead . Romero pioneered most of the key elements of zombie movies with his creepy, low-budget film about the dead rising from the grave, hungry for human flesh.

Taking place mostly within an abandoned house where characters hide from the growing undead hordes, Night of the Living Dead creates indelible scares on minimal resources. It’s one of the most influential movies of all time (in any genre).

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The Northman

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Director Robert Eggers ( The Witch ) is known for his extreme attention to period detail, and he brings that same meticulous sense to The Northman . It’s a visceral action movie set among Vikings in the ninth century, inspired by a story so old that it was the source material for William Shakespeare’s Hamlet .

Alexander Skarsgard plays a warrior out for revenge, with Nicole Kidman as his long-lost mother and Anya Taylor-Joy as his witchy ally. Eggers stages brutal battles with impeccably recreated sets, costumes, and weaponry, immersing the audience in a far-off time and place.

To Catch a Thief

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Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief is more lighthearted than many of the master of suspense’s thrillers, but it’s no less engrossing. Cary Grant plays an expert jewel thief whose retirement is threatened by an impostor robbing wealthy tourists on the French Riviera.

Determined to clear his name, the burglar, known as “the Cat,” decides to catch the real thief. Along the way, he falls in love with a wealthy heiress played by Grace Kelly. It’s a stylish caper that benefits from the stars’ playful chemistry and Hitchcock’s mastery of the camera.