Amazon Set to Produce AI Generated Novels

[HarryT]

So what is the signage on a typical roundabout in the US?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

So what is the signage on a typical roundabout in the US?

There would have to be typical roundabouts in the US before there could be typical signage for them. The handful of ones I've encountered have zero signage before you enter them. You just have to read the signs as you encounter them while going around. Which helps you get it right your second trip around.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by HarryT

So what is the signage on a typical roundabout in the US?

In Texas they seem to be "semi-roundabouts." They go round, but you yield to the traffic on the left. And that's the only sign you have, a yield sign. We have both single lane and double lane "roundabouts" and you stay in the lane you enter into — so it's a completely different deal. More like an elaborate four way stop. It does actually work better than a traditoinal four way stop — unless people get confused. Sometimes they turn against traffic, which is always a little fun.

[mike_bike_kite]

Originally Posted by HarryT

They're pointless on quiet roads.

I'll have to disagree with you there We had the small roundabouts put in in my local area. It's a quiet residential area with a speed limit of 20mph but the problem is the roads are wide and some folk think it's fun to drive through at 70mph instead. We were originally going to have 4 way stop signs which would have been cheaper to install and allow more parking but these junctions are very rare in the UK and it was thought to be a little risky. The raised mini roundabouts force the cars to slow down. Obviously if folk just drove along at sensible speeds then there wouldn't be a need for any of it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mike_bike_kite

I'll have to disagree with you there We had the small roundabouts put in in my local area. It's a quiet residential area with a speed limit of 20mph but the problem is the roads are wide and some folk think it's fun to drive through at 70mph instead. We were originally going to have 4 way stop signs which would have been cheaper to install and allow more parking but these junctions are very rare in the UK and it was thought to be a little risky. The raised mini roundabouts force the cars to slow down. Obviously if folk just drove along at sensible speeds then there wouldn't be a need for any of it.

Wouldn't speed bumps achieve the same thing more effectively? I don't many people don't like them, precisely because they force, rather than merely "encourage" you to drive more slowly!

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Wouldn't speed bumps achieve the same thing more effectively? I don't many people don't like them, precisely because they force, rather than merely "encourage" you to drive more slowly!

Ah, launch ramps.

I love launch ramps.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Wouldn't speed bumps achieve the same thing more effectively? I don't many people don't like them, precisely because they force, rather than merely "encourage" you to drive more slowly!

Speed bumps are bloody awful for ambulances. Or, more accurately, for ambulance patients.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by meeera

Speed bumps are bloody awful for ambulances. Or, more accurately, for ambulance patients.

True. It's a question of how you balance the increase in road safety to the entire community of enforced slow-downs by speed bumps against issues caused by them to a very small number of emergency response vehicles. These things are always a compromise. Where does the greater good lie?

[meeera]

Originally Posted by HarryT

True. It's a question of how you balance the increase in road safety to the entire community of enforced slow-downs by speed bumps against issues caused by them to a very small number of emergency response vehicles. These things are always a compromise. Where does the greater good lie?

Given that there are non-bump alternatives for traffic calming, I'd say that they are a great place to start. Roundabouts & chicanes (not great but possibly a better compromise - the delay is a little less, and patients aren't jolted vertically), periodic narrowings, surface material changes, speed limit enforcement, flashing school-zone signs, the judicious closing-off of residential streets used as rat-runs, etc. Where vertical deflection is deemed necessary, they should be installed such that ambulances and heavy vehicles can go around (for example through a gap in the middle of a wide road, or can place their wheels either side of a central speed cushion), or use speed tables which can be crossed more quickly. Never speed bumps.

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There does seem little benefit to roundabouts in that sort of area, I agree. Their benefit is in maintaining smooth traffic flow on busy roads. They're pointless on quiet roads.

Most studies show the opposite; roundabouts are especially good relative to signals on low- and medium- traffic roads and those with tons of left turns. They tend to have lower traffic flow than signaled intersections on high-traffic roads.

And because they are flow-controlled by a yield-on-entry approach, they are especially poor on interchanges where there are unbalanced entries (e.g. smaller arterial roads crossing high-flow roads).

See https://academics.utep.edu/Portals/1..._Rab_ver7a.pdf

Also https://www.acsengineers.com.au/2016...raffic-lights/

It's led to the curious situation where the US is adding tons of roundabouts (in smaller cities and towns, and less busy parts of big cities) while the UK is seeing a boom in new signalled intersections (at busy intersections).

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...abouts-way-out

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by Pizza_Cant_Read

True AI is defined by sentience, no current applications or even perceivable applications are capable of that.

Most AI has nothing to do with sentience and is far more pedestrian; various forms of AI are used by most of us every day.

Things like OCR (computers being able to decipher printed words—or handwritten ones), speech recognition (“OK, Google!” or even the phone systems that say “If you wish to sign up for new services, say 'Yes'”), decision trees (how do Amazon, Netflix, or Kobo make recommendations based on your profile), motion planning (how does the Roomba decide where to go next?), are all considered forms of AI.

What you're talking about is usually called “artificial consciousness”, and is even a higher bar than what's generally called “Strong AI,” itself a much different concept from simple AI and one that encompasses both artificial consciousness and artificial general intelligence.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Your title is incredibly misleading. We have no evidence that Amazon is getting ready to "Produce AI Generated Novels", and that article doesn't even present a good argument that Amazon is capable of doing so.

Amazon already does produce AI generated novels. Hence all those romance novels that are on Kindle Unlimited.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Amazon already does produce AI generated novels. Hence all those romance novels that are on Kindle Unlimited.

I hope you aren't saying the one about the billionaire biker boss who falls for his shapeshifting BBW secretary wasn't a novel straight from the author's soul!

[gmw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Amazon already does produce AI generated novels. Hence all those romance novels that are on Kindle Unlimited.

I thought it was obvious that those aren't generated by AI. They have special AS machines for those.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I hope you aren't saying the one about the billionaire biker boss who falls for his shapeshifting BBW secretary wasn't a novel straight from the author's soul!

You show an unwonted familiarity with the genre, methinks!