I just watched 2 videos on TED.com. I'm still sort of unsure as to what this site is about, but the more I explore it, the more I will learn about it. So far TED.com seems like a site that shows videos (like YouTube). However, this site is not filled with random thing people post about themselves. It is filled, instead, with videos about topics that are currently relevant in the world of technology.
The first video I saw was about a comedic robot. He had a list in his 'head" of thousands of jokes, theses funnies are categorized into topics so he can tell jokes in sequence that relate to each other. He can learn about you, the more you listen to him. Like other "learning" programs, he can take what you find funny (based upon your reactions to previous jokes) and then prepare his routine based upon your interests. At first I thought this was great! A funny robot, that can learn my sense of humor and tell me jokes that I would enjoy listening to, what could be better? In reality it is pretty cool, however for my taste, I prefer listening to human beings. I think Society relies too heavily on artificial technology, and then we wonder why we have no jobs. A comedian robot certainly won't be taking over for the Saturday Night Live cast anytime soon, but other people have been ousted by quicker, easier and cheaper so much so that people's jobs are being outsourced to robots. Every robot movie I have ever seem (I realize that movies and TV are completely unrealistic) has some sort of Dooms-Day even connected to it. Robots eventually "out thinking" people and so then they take over Earth and eradicate us lowly humans. This is unfair because the robot in the video only told jokes, but my theory is that the eventual robot apocalypse has to start somewhere, why not with a comedian? My feelings are that we need to back off building robots and spend the time and money cleaning up and caring for our planet and fellow humans who are sick and starving first.
The second video I watched was more on par with helping our fellow mankind rather that building a new type of "living" creature. This video featured a woman who is (or was) a governor of one of the United States. Her idea was to create jobs and help the environments as well. These jobs would consist of creating renewable energy sources and hire people to tap into each state's specific assets. What does each state have to offer (wind, sun, water, etc.) to create this renewable energy source? I love this idea, we need jobs and we need to help our planet, so why not do it at the same time? This reminded me of the story I had heard of the CCC (conservation, corporation, something). This organization, created a long time ago was deigned to clearing out forests to preserve them into parks, and other ways that they could help this world (and our community). This new program would offer a great solution for two great problems.
I too, was a little confused about the purpose of this website. I enjoyed reading about the videos you watched. I agree that humans need to stop investing money into robotics and spend more money on things that really matter. Creating jobs is crucial right now to our economy. This should be the focus as mentioned in your second video.
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