What is "machine learning"?
-Machine learning describes the way that machines learn from repeated examples. If they see enough examples of a certain object (such as the letter "A"), it will pick up small patterns and learn to recognize things that it has never even seen before.
How did the IBM team use this? How was this advantageous?
-The IBM team dumped thousands of old, used Jeopardy questions, along with their answers, into Watson's database. They counted on the computer to use machine learning to find patterns between these questions and their correct answers, and help it answer future questions correctly. It could do this by combining the patterns that it had picked up from the questions with the huge wealth of encyclopedic knowledge that was programmed into its system. This was advantageous because the team did not have to try to input all of the common sense knowledge, and knowledge of puns and other strange wordings.
What is "Empirical Skepticism"? How does it relate to machine learning?
-Empirical skepticism is basically the reason why the human brain is still superior to the robot. Our brains can actually think, and don't run off of programmed data. Empirical skepticism is the idea that certain things have different meanings, and each particular meaning can only be deciphered by calling to mind a past experience or prior knowledge, and analyzing context.
This relates to machine learning because it is the way that IBM is trying to create their robot, by programming tons of prior knowledge, and artificial past experiences into it.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Engineering Ground Zero
Many trades are highlighted throughout this documentary. The ones that seemed to be focused on the most were steelworkers, architectural engineers, and concrete workers.
I was most interested in the architectural side of things. I think that I was most interested in that because its the part of the process that uses the most creativity. Most of the construction workers are simply following intstructions, but the architect had to come up with one (or several) designs for the building that were safe, efficient and appealing to the eye.
I was most interested in the architectural side of things. I think that I was most interested in that because its the part of the process that uses the most creativity. Most of the construction workers are simply following intstructions, but the architect had to come up with one (or several) designs for the building that were safe, efficient and appealing to the eye.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Energy Sources!
1. Describe one thing that surprised you about the energy source that you researched and presented.
-I was surprised at how small an amount (3%) of the world's oil is owned by the U.S.
2. Describe one thing that surprised you about an energy source that another team presented.
-I was surprised at how expensive it is to install solar panels at your house.
3. Describe and defend what you believe to be the most important technological need regarding energy.
-I think that we need to work hard on producing electric cars, because I think the technology is there, it just needs to be applied. This energy source seems very clean and lasting.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
1. “From the buildings in which we live and work, to the cars we drive, or the knives and forks with which we eat, everything we use was designed to create some sort of marriage between form and function.”
2. The folks at IDEO state that they are not experts in any given area. But, they do claim to be experts on the "process to design stuff", which they apply to the innovation of consumer products.
3. After the team of designers is brought together, told the problem, and informed they have five days to “pull it off,” what phase of the design process do they immediately engage in?
They split up into smaller groups and start to come up with ideas and brainstorm.
4. Give two examples of what the team members did during this phase.
a. They divided themselves up into groups and started to discuss and photograph shopping carts.
b. They interviewed and asked questions of consumers and common users of shopping carts. They also talked to shopping cart manufacturers.
5. List five rules-of-thumb that IDEO employees follow when they share ideas during the brainstorming phase:
a. Stay focused
b. Encourage wild and creative ideas
c. Have only one conversation at a time
d. Encourage the ideas of others
e. Leave judgement behind
6. Why should wild (and sometimes crazy) ideas be entertained during the brainstorming phase?
Becasue even though the idea might be wild, it could lead to the development of another idea that is more succesful. In some cases, the wild idea might even work best.
7. After the brainstorming phase was over, the team narrowed down the hundreds of ideas by using sticky notes for those ideas that were not only “cool” but also "build-able" in a short period of time. What phase of the design process is this called?
This phase is called brainstorming.
8. IDEO believes that the ideas and efforts of a team will always be more successful than the planning of a lone genius.
9. Once the ideas were narrowed down and divided into categories, the group was split into four smaller teams. What phase(s) of the design process was each of these groups responsible for?
They were responsible for modeling and building a prototype.
10. The leaders at IDEO believe that playful behavior and a fun environment are two important reasons why their employees are able to think quickly and creatively to produce innovative results.
11. Sometimes, people come up with great solutions that work by trying their ideas first, and asking for opinions later.
12. Design is often a process of going too far and having to take a few steps back. What phase of the design process would the critique of the four mock-ups come under?
Refining and communicating results.
13. Upon critique of the four teams’ models, it was obvious that none of the teams had developed an optimum solution. However, the people at IDEO believe that it is important to fail often in order to succeed sooner.
14. What percentage of the entire week’s time did it take to fabricate the final prototype?
It took about 14% of the week's time.
15. Instead of showering his design team with a tremendous amount of praise, what did the boss require his employees to do with their new design?
He wanted them to improve it.
16. Of all the things that we are surrounded by every day, what has not been placed through the design process?
Everything has, except for the natural environment.
Conclusion
1. What did you find to be the most impressive part of the team’s effort?
I thought it was cool how they seemed to have so much fun, and were basically playing around, and still got lots og productive work done.
2. What advantages are there to having a design team with members that have non-engineering backgrounds?
This enables the opinions of non-engineers to contribute and improve upon the engineers design.
3. There was a point in the process where a self-appointed group of adults stepped up, stopped the ideas, and redirected the group to break up into teams. Why was this done?
This was done to increase efficiency.
4. At the end of the video, Dave Kelly states, “Look around. The only things that are not designed are the things we find in nature.” Can you think of anything that would contradict this statement?
No
2. The folks at IDEO state that they are not experts in any given area. But, they do claim to be experts on the "process to design stuff", which they apply to the innovation of consumer products.
3. After the team of designers is brought together, told the problem, and informed they have five days to “pull it off,” what phase of the design process do they immediately engage in?
They split up into smaller groups and start to come up with ideas and brainstorm.
4. Give two examples of what the team members did during this phase.
a. They divided themselves up into groups and started to discuss and photograph shopping carts.
b. They interviewed and asked questions of consumers and common users of shopping carts. They also talked to shopping cart manufacturers.
5. List five rules-of-thumb that IDEO employees follow when they share ideas during the brainstorming phase:
a. Stay focused
b. Encourage wild and creative ideas
c. Have only one conversation at a time
d. Encourage the ideas of others
e. Leave judgement behind
6. Why should wild (and sometimes crazy) ideas be entertained during the brainstorming phase?
Becasue even though the idea might be wild, it could lead to the development of another idea that is more succesful. In some cases, the wild idea might even work best.
7. After the brainstorming phase was over, the team narrowed down the hundreds of ideas by using sticky notes for those ideas that were not only “cool” but also "build-able" in a short period of time. What phase of the design process is this called?
This phase is called brainstorming.
8. IDEO believes that the ideas and efforts of a team will always be more successful than the planning of a lone genius.
9. Once the ideas were narrowed down and divided into categories, the group was split into four smaller teams. What phase(s) of the design process was each of these groups responsible for?
They were responsible for modeling and building a prototype.
10. The leaders at IDEO believe that playful behavior and a fun environment are two important reasons why their employees are able to think quickly and creatively to produce innovative results.
11. Sometimes, people come up with great solutions that work by trying their ideas first, and asking for opinions later.
12. Design is often a process of going too far and having to take a few steps back. What phase of the design process would the critique of the four mock-ups come under?
Refining and communicating results.
13. Upon critique of the four teams’ models, it was obvious that none of the teams had developed an optimum solution. However, the people at IDEO believe that it is important to fail often in order to succeed sooner.
14. What percentage of the entire week’s time did it take to fabricate the final prototype?
It took about 14% of the week's time.
15. Instead of showering his design team with a tremendous amount of praise, what did the boss require his employees to do with their new design?
He wanted them to improve it.
16. Of all the things that we are surrounded by every day, what has not been placed through the design process?
Everything has, except for the natural environment.
Conclusion
1. What did you find to be the most impressive part of the team’s effort?
I thought it was cool how they seemed to have so much fun, and were basically playing around, and still got lots og productive work done.
2. What advantages are there to having a design team with members that have non-engineering backgrounds?
This enables the opinions of non-engineers to contribute and improve upon the engineers design.
3. There was a point in the process where a self-appointed group of adults stepped up, stopped the ideas, and redirected the group to break up into teams. Why was this done?
This was done to increase efficiency.
4. At the end of the video, Dave Kelly states, “Look around. The only things that are not designed are the things we find in nature.” Can you think of anything that would contradict this statement?
No
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