Confessions on...

...cheating the system.

It has been a very long and important interest of mine to experiment with and to create an artificial intelligence. I remember way back when I was about 14 or so I created a very primitive simulation of A.I. All it did was transform the input into a question. So for example if you gave the stimulus request of "I love to run", it might provide the response of "Why do you love to run?" Or if given "Are you a human or a computer", it might respond with "Why do you think I'm a human or a computer". Of course, this technique does not work in all instances. But it does the trick a good portion of the time.

Alan Turing, a leading computer scientist in his day (some say he actually created the discipline), poised a question that went something like this: "if you are, as a human, unable to determine if you are chatting online with another person or with a machine, and if you really were chatting with a machine, would that machine be then said to have consciousness and to think?" So called is the test named after him - the "Turing Test" (all computer science grads know what this is; if you are one and didn't know, shame on you). A machine is said to pass the Turing test (to have intelligence) if it can fool a human into thinking it was another human just by chatting with him/her. So in a way, he began the foundations of Artificial Intelligence.

Combining my interest in online gaming, specifically FFXI, AI, and my somewhat lazy nature, I decided to create a "bot" that would do the dull and repetitious tasks in the game. I made a bot that would kill mobs (monsters) to gain experience points as a way of "leveling up." I actually started botting in the game 2 years ago but interest dropped and then there was cancer. I've recently gotten back into it and the game as a way to keep myself busy.

Just recently I've made another bot that would transport players to other parts of the virtual world - for in-game money in exchange. A big problem to this type of bot is that it requires a lot of interaction with other players. People consider it cheating and is against the terms-of-use agreement of the game. If you're caught you could be reported to a GM (Game Master - law enforcers in the game world; in FFXI, they are hired by the company) and could possibly have the ban hammer dropped on you. So, it should be quite obvious to have a need of a good AI. Enter the world of online chatbots - bots available online for your chatting amusements (did you know that there is a "God" bot? Truly makes for some interesting confessions I would think). One of the most famous chatbot is ALICE. It has won the Loebner Prize several times over in the past and developed by Dr. Wallace who also developed AIML (dialect of XML containing LOTS of stimulus-response pairs). A site which hosts AIML files and makes available a web-service for processing chat requests, Pandorabots.com, was the key to my FFXI AI bot. A lot of time was spent on modifying the default set of chat requests and responses to contour to the lingo of the game. But not only that, the default set simulates an intelligent robot - and I wanted a simulation of an intelligent person. So if you were to ask it "Are you a real person?", it would respond with "No, I'm a real robot." This actually did happen in-game during testing of my bot. Fortunately for me, the other player thought it was being sarcastic and she responded with "was just checking sorry." I thought that was VERY funny. LOL. I keep modifying the AIML files whenever an inappropriate response is given. It's getting "smarter."

As far as I know, I'm the first person to integrate an external AI entity pretending to be a real person in an online virtual game that interacts with other online players (and that works decently). Most (if not all) of the bots in existence do not interact with other players; in fact, they avoid other players to avoid from getting caught. I eventually plan to confess my botting to a popular FFXI site, just hoping to get famous...or infamous (LOL) before I die. I hope word would then spread to other gaming sites that things like this is possible and is happening. I totally understand that dispersing this knowledge would initially have severe in-game social and financial consequences as more and more people would be doing this (can you say inflation?). How cool would it be to be the one responsible for single-handedly simultaneously crashing the financial markets of multiple virtual worlds?!?! My account would probably be canceled. And I imagine this idea would spread to other games. So I have to apologize to some friends and a cousin of mine who already play another MMORPG - "sorry to ruin the game for ya." LOL.

But seriously, I think it is a good thing in the long run. I believe it will spur innovations in online gaming AI and the AI community in general. Imagine playing an online game with a bunch of intelligent bots and not even know it! I predict that this will become reality in the not-too-distant future. It's like THE classic sci-fi film "Bladerunner" but in a virtual game world. Instead of the 'bladerunners,' you got the GMs to worry about. How would you be able to tell the bots apart from the real thing?

Go ahead and ponder on this for a moment. In the mean time, I'll continue on making virtual money while I sleep. LOL.

Now this is the ultimate application of the Turing test!


If you want to chat with my bot, you can go here. Go wild! =)

... be forewarned, the site keeps a log of your chatting!! And I can see them (but not from who, though)! LOL.



Edit: Ok, someone beat me to it: http://sl-devcorner.blogspot.com/2007/04/second-life-alice-bot-chat.html. Oh well.

Fun And Amusement

For a break from the regular news...

I was just watching the History channel just this morning and they had a piece on the evolution of the digestive system. How interesting, I thought. But what really knocked my socks off (if I had them on to begin with), was a machine that emulated the digestion process of a human - from start to, uh, ... end. They call it 'cloaca' and is considered (really) as a piece of art. So of course I just had to research more about this machine on google, just for the "how do they do it" answer, of course. LOL.

I came upon a website - I kid you not - www.poopreport.com. Boy did I get a laugh out of that. What was even better was their article of cloaca. The author is funny as he is articulate. A must read. =). Also read the comments - they're hilarious as heck.

Next, I came upon a you-tube video. Now this REALLY takes the cake. LOL. It sure made my day.

I hope you had a good laugh. I sure did.

New Treatment Protocol

I had two options for treatment: go on a phase 2 clinical study of a drug, or more chemo. My Onc recommended the phase 2 clinical trial (it was his study). He said that if that did not work that I can continue on with chemo but that I just couldn't take the clinical drug later on if I decide on not doing it now.

The drug doesn't have a name but has a code of GSk1363089 (XL880) - administered orally to subjects with metastatic gastric cancer. It is designed to inhibit the growth of blood vessels in tumors. It is hoped that by limiting the tumor's blood supply, we can limit the growth of the cancer cells. It is not approved by the FDA.

So that's it. I have to take this drug once a day for 2 months. They say it will have limited side affects (mainly tiredness and diarrhea). If this does not work then I go back on chemo (although a different one).

One Year Later...

I just realized that today is my first anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. I remember it as if it was only a few days ago - very vividly. Things like this you really don't forget.

Now I'm headed to my oncologist to discuss my treatment options.... stay tuned.

Thanks For The Emails

I've gotten emails from a lot of you and just wanted to say thanks.

I don't think I'll be able to reply to any of them soon just because I don't want to think about my situation a whole lot.

I've got a doctor's appointment later today to discuss my options for treatment. I guess I'll take it from there and post results after.

In the mean time, have a look at my trip pictures over the weekend at Niagra Falls...

The "BIG Talk"

So today is my chemo/doctor's appointment.

Me and my oncologist (with my family) went over my PET/CT scan results from last Thursday. I'm sorry to say that the results were not good. According to the scans, the tumors have grown to be highly visible on the PET with two definite spots on my liver. The really surprising thing is that a couple of small spots also showed up around the "plural lining of my lung" (I could be mis-quoting my doc). In short, the cancer has grown and spread. I'm "officially incurable" at this point, he added. Surgery and radiation are no longer options for me (because the cancer has spread). More chemo and clinical trials are whats next for me. He'll be changing my chemo from Taxotere since that didn't seem to have any affect on the tumor, although he doesn't know what it'll be yet. He'll present my case at his "tumor group" with other doctors next week to get some recommendations and I'll have a meeting with him next Thursday to go over my options.

How do I feel? I feel relatively calm considering the news. I've prepared myself very well, I think, but never thought of it going anywhere else but my liver. So yeah, that sucks. I've thought about it (receiving bad news) a lot for some weeks, actually, so its not totally unexpected. But I guess now it's reality for me and I'll just have to deal with it.

I didn't have chemo today (doctor recommended) and instead went back to work - I gotta keep my mind on something else.

Boy, now I'm really glad I bought that new bike.

Another PET/CT Scan

Had a PET/CT scan yesterday. I'm refusing to know the results until my next chemo round (which will be next Tuesday). I wouldn't want to potentially ruin my weekend....

It was routine as usual, although the wait was much longer than I anticipated.

Bike Pix

Here's a few pix of my new bike...

Some mods I've put in:

1. H.I.D. Headlight 8000K temp
2. Puig Smoked Windscreen (I still got the plastic covering on it)
3. Shogun Frame Sliders
4. Stompgrips (Tank Grips)
5. SpeedoHealer from HealTech
6. Carbon Fiber Stickers on: Gauges, Gas tank cover, Tank
7. Rear Fender Eliminator (D.I.Y)
8. Pazzo 'Shorty' Racing Levers (navy blue w/ red adjusters)
9. GPS mount
10. Blind spot mirrors

Next upgrade would be a new exhaust...