Just a little scribble...

So I’m back in Nottingham! My Mum and brother have just left after spending a few days in my ‘student digs’ as she called it, enjoying the shops and sights of the city. Back alone again in my student house. Me, myself and I.  (OK, that’s a lie… another housemate is actually here too so I’m not crying into my pillow out of loneliness just yet…)

It’s been an emotional few days though, and I can’t really place why. The most obvious reasons spring to mind; leaving home again, not seeing family for over a month whilst facing a promising and exciting term of essays and exams…

But I suspect there’s more than that. I feel like a little scribble on here will clear things up a bit and as two things keep popping into my head lately I’m going to subject you to reading about them:

1) Writing
This is, as you all know, what I want to do with my life. This is also what I am (apparently) rather good at. However this is also rather hard to earn a living from and with time moving fast and more experience needed, I’m getting increasingly worried about how I’ll break into the writing scene and actually manage to make some money from it… I know people who, this time last year, spent their summer between second and final year at University undertaking numerous work experience placements and internships, making contacts and lining up that perfect job. I am currently awaiting a response from one place I have applied, trying to think of another article to write and frantically skimming through contact pages for every newspaper and magazine I can think of. My thoughts flit between journalism, review writing, and fictional writing; each equally as hard to break into!

Yet, all is not lost. A faint glimmer of hope appeared when I stumbled across a writing workshop in Nottingham in the next few weeks… I’m going to apply for said workshop and see where it takes me. It focuses on reviews like book, theatre and travel…which could be ideal and leads me onto the next occupying thought in my mind…

2) Kenya.

I don’t think I’ve written about this yet, which is actually quite surprising. If you ask any of my friends I’ll have mentioned Kenya to them at least 5 times. In the summer of 2010, I spent a month on expedition in Nanyuki in Kenya, helping out at an orphanage in Timau, meeting the Masai tribe, going on safari and climbing Mount Kenya. (Yes…I CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN!!!)

I came back with what felt like a brand new focus. Things that worried me before suddenly felt petty compared to the worries of the people I met. I stopped caring as much about material possessions and unwittingly caught the travelling bug, catching myself occasionally staring longingly at my huge rucksack and walking boots. Yet it was lovely to come back home, and when I first sank into our sofa with a nice cup of traditional English tea, it felt like perfection.

 To be honest, I felt like I came back refreshed with my eyes that little bit more open and clear, ready to take on anything (I mean, I climbed a mountain!!). I had a clear view on what really mattered to me; the people in Africa were inspirational in the way that, they might not have had much, but they still had an unbelievable spirit and an ability to laugh and smile so much that it became contagious! I’m proud to be able to say that I’m still in contact with the orphanage and frequently send letters and gifts over. They reply in emails, calling me ‘sister’ and hoping that I’ll return soon. One reply even said they’d love it if I came back and lived there! They might think twice if they had me there all the time… ! 

I also still talk to some of the guides that took care of us around Kenya, who asks how things are in England and also occasionally drops in a question as to when I’ll be back…

I know it’s a cliché, but Africa really gets under your skin.  At first, travelling from Nairobi into the country, we were a bit unsure, thinking we were facing a bleak and dusty landscape. But the wildlife, the scenery, the people….they all just get to you. We were practically in the middle of nowhere and looking back, that probably was what made it so appealing. At night, sitting around a campfire, we’d look up and see stars flecked in the night sky – so clear and only the sounds of the bush to disturb our thoughts.

 When people say they want to go travelling, of course all the big cities and sights spring to mind; New York, Rome, Paris… but there’s also a craving for a bit of adventure. A bit of wilderness. A bit of road that no one’s been down yet… But this road less travelled is somewhat costly.  When I went to Kenya it took a year and a half and one extra job to fundraise £3,500 for the trip… and that’s not including the equipment.

Yet I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m itching to go back and I’m envious of the girl who went there two years ago. Sometimes, amidst all the stresses of life and the to-ing and fro-ing between university and home, I feel like I’ve dimmed a little. You get used to moving between places and try to make the days count in each place, but sometimes it’s not quite enough and sometimes amongst all the humdrum of daily life, you forget what’s really important and who really counts to you. This, I think, is the bottom line of my emotional moments when my Mum left. I’m normally ok, ‘take it all in my stride’ as she says. But sometimes, it all just piles up and that little unexplored place inside your mind; that little bit of wilderness that beckons to you just needs a little visit. You need a little break.

And I need some chocolate… 

Artificial Futures

So, I’ve just embarked on my usual morning peruse of the BBC News headlines. I skimmed over the best April Fools pranks, news of the economy recovering (sure we’ve heard that already) and pictures of snow in Scotland (sure we’ve seen that already) to stumble across a story that could have been out of a sci-fi story. It was titled ‘Man VS Machine’.

Now I can reassure you that this was not a story similar to the plots of The Terminator or I, Robot but it certainly reminded me of them. I scrolled down to the link and two eyes stared back at me; one human, one robotic. I clicked.

What loaded was an article about the scientific progression in developing artificial intelligence. This is basically the theory and development of computer systems to perform tasks that would usually require human intelligence, like visual perception.

The first thing on this article was a video, so I clicked play and allowed myself to be impressed. The video showed a reporter meeting Professor Owen Holland from the University of Sussex, and the world’s first anthropomimetic robot. (Don’t worry, I didn’t know what that meant either…)

For all the non-scientists reading this, anthropomimetic means simply that this robot mimics the human body. Professor Owen Holland believes that without a body, artificial intelligence cannot exist because the human form helps shape the way the brain works.

The reporter, somewhat apprehensive looking, attempted to squeeze and shake hands with this robot…which squeezed and shook hands back. Yes. The robot responded to the human contact. Ok, it only mimicked it, but it’s a massive progression from things like Poo-chi or Furby that responded to human words because it had been programmed to. (I remember getting annoyed that my robotic dog could only bark so many songs…) 

Is this an impressive development?

Well, yes. But it’s not the only impressive robot we’ve seen….remember the Honda robot? I’m sure you know what I’m talking about; that little thing must be famous now. Well in 2008, I went to the British Motor Show with my Dad and brother and remember this little robot walking on stage at the end of a stunt show. It walked on and shook hands with the guy with the microphone. And unless I’m very much mistaken, it did a little dance before walking off.

Is that not amazing?!

So…if science progresses at the current rate and the world doesn’t end this year, will the future see robots being a commonality amongst our society? Will we have personal robots, one for each household? Admit it…having your own personal robot would shift that ironing pile a hell of a lot quicker! 

Maybe I’ll have my own robot and call it Sonny…

What’s that you say? Beware of what you wish for?

Quite right too. As much as I admired Will Smith in I, Robot I don’t know how well I’d cope if robots turned around on the human race. And if every household had a personal robot that could do everything humans can do, what would be the point in us? Except for producing more robots? We’d be robot-producing humans churning this technology out like cogs in a factory...we’d be like robots.

Yes, I’m getting very H.G.Wells here, predicting a devastating future of technology…but is there not an old saying, something like ‘curiosity killed the cat’?

Of course, we have more intelligence (supposedly) than our feline friends to be able to better handle our curiosity, but I’m just saying…what if our future became artificial?