Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Buddhist robot

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Buddhist robot

    Fri Apr 22, 2016 5:42am EDT
    Robot monk blends science and Buddhism at Chinese temple
    BEIJING | BY JOSEPH CAMPBELL

    A Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Beijing has decided to ditch traditional ways and use technology to attract followers.

    Longquan temple says it has developed a robot monk that can chant Buddhist mantras, move via voice command, and hold a simple conversation.

    Named Xian'er, the 60-cm (2-foot) tall robot resembles a cartoon-like novice monk in yellow robes with a shaven head, holding a touch screen on his chest.

    Xian'er can hold a conversation by answering about 20 simple questions about Buddhism and daily life, listed on his screen, and perform seven types of motions on his wheels.

    Master Xianfan, Xian’er’s creator, said the robot monk was the perfect vessel for spreading the wisdom of Buddhism in China, through the fusion of science and Buddhism.

    "Science and Buddhism are not opposing nor contradicting, and can be combined and mutually compatible," said Xianfan.

    Under the careful watch of China's officially atheist Communist Party, religion has slowly crept back into daily life since reforms got going several decades ago.

    Xianfan said Buddhism filled a gap for people in a fast-changing, smart-phone dominated society.

    "Buddhism is something that attaches much importance to inner heart, and pays attention to the individual's spiritual world," he said.

    "It is a kind of elevated culture. Speaking from this perspective, I think it can satisfy the needs of many people."

    The little robot monk was developed as a joint project between a technology company and artificial intelligence experts from some of China's top universities.

    It was unveiled to the public in October.

    But Xian'er is not necessarily the social butterfly many believe him to be.

    He has toured several robotics and innovation fairs across China but rarely makes public appearances at Longquan temple.

    Xian'er spends most of his days "meditating" on a shelf in an office, even though curiosity about him has exploded on social media.

    Xian'er was inspired by Xianfan's 2013 cartoon creation of the same name. The temple has produced cartoon animations, published comic anthologies, and even merchandise featuring the cartoon monk.

    Michelle Yu, a tourist and practicing Buddhist, said she first spotted Xian'er on social media.

    "He looks really cute and adorable. He'll spread Buddhism to more people, since they will think he's very interesting, and will make them really want to understand Buddhism," she said.

    The temple is developing a new model of Xian'er, which it says will have a more diverse range of functions.

    (Reporting by Joseph Campbell; Editing by Robert Birsel)


    Robot Xian'er is placed next to Master Xianfan while Xianfan has an interview with Reuters at Longquan Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Beijing, April 20, 2016.
    REUTERS/KIM KYUNG-HOON
    This would work better for me if the robot looked a little less like the ******* son of Charlie Brown and Tin Tin.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    More on Xian'er from the Washington Post no less

    Here are some other robot threads, just to fill the text post minimum:
    Tai-Chi-Robot
    martial-arts-robot

    Meet the robot monk spreading the teachings of Buddhism around China
    By Travis M. Andrews April 27
    Meet a Buddhist temple's robot monk

    Buddism may be an ancient religion, but one temple is looking to the future to spread its teachings.

    Xian’er makes for a good Buddhist, chanting his mantras with almost endless energy and chatting with interested parties about the intricacies of the religion.

    Oh, he’s also a robot.

    Standing at two feet tall, Xian’er moves around by voice-command and can answer twenty different questions about Buddhism in his version of small talk — comparable to a mini version of Apple’s Siri. The topics he can discuss are listed on a screen he holds in front of his considerable heft. He’s “clad” in yellow rooms and sports a bald dome with eyebrows raised in perpetual interest (or maybe it’s surprise). He calls the Longquan temple on the outskirts of Beijing home, Reuters reported.


    Master Xianfan looks at robot monk Xian’er as he demonstrates the robot’s conversation function during a photo opportunity in Longquan Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Beijing on April 20, 2016. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

    Master Xianfan, his creator, based him on a cartoon he began drawing in 2013, which wound up in animations, published comics and merchandise featuring Xian’er’s likeness. Both the cartoon and the robot have the same goal: to spread the teachings of Buddhism.

    Xian’er has chosen a good time to do so, as Buddhism is currently on the rise. According to research by Pew, the number of Buddhists worldwide is expected to increase to 511 million people by 2030. It was 488 million in 2010.

    Xianfan attributes the current rise in Buddhism to harried people seeking peace in a fast-paced digital world.

    “Buddhism is something that attaches much importance to inner heart, and pays attention to the individual’s spiritual world,” he told Reuters. “It is a kind of elevated culture. Speaking from this perspective, I think it can satisfy the needs of many people.”

    That’s where Xian’er comes in: He might be able to spread that inner peace to a digital world. And while this same world has created many of the distractions, Xianfan said it makes sense to mix science and Buddhism.

    “Science and Buddhism are not opposing nor contradicting, and can be combined and mutually compatible,” he said.

    Spreading the religion might be important, too. After peaking in 2030, Buddhism is expected to drop to 486 million by 2050 — falling from 7 percent of the world’s population in 2010 to 5 percent in 2050 — due to the average age and low fertility rates of many practicing Buddhists.


    The report states, “The proportion of China’s population that is Buddhist is expected to remain around 18 percent between 2010 and 2050.”

    Another Pew study projected that Islam will likely grow faster than any other religion by 2050 if current trends continue. In fact, if the Buddhist population rises and falls as predicted, it will be the only major religion that isn’t poised for “at least some growth in absolute numbers.”

    If Xian’er doesn’t get to work, that is.


    Master Xianfan sits next to robot Xian’er as he poses for a photograph at Longquan Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Beijing on April 20, 2016. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

    The little guy has certainly charmed some people. Michelle Yu, a practicing Buddhist who recently visited Beijing, made a special visit to Xian-er, who she first saw on social media.

    “He looks really cute and adorable,” she told CBC. “He’ll spread Buddhism to more people, since they will think he’s very interesting, and will make them really want to understand Buddhism.”


    Visitors take a picture with Robot Xian’er which is placed in the main building of Longquan Buddhist temple for a photo opportunity by the temple’s staff, on the outskirts of Beijing on April 20, 2016. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

    Travis M. Andrews is a reporter for The Washington Post's Morning Mix. Previously he was an editor for Southern Living and a pop culture and tech contributor for Mashable. Shoot him an email at travis.andrews@washpost.com. Follow @travismandrews
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Slightly OT

    Couldn't resist ttt-ing this here thread.

    ZEN ROBOT ANALYZES ODDLY SHAPED ROCKS, FIGURES OUT HOW BEST TO STACK THEM
    By Luke Dormehl — Updated June 1, 2017 10:53 am



    WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU
    This robot's impressive balancing act could one day pave the way for robots that are able to create structures with local materials.
    Remember those mysterious piles of rocks left outside the kids’ tents in The Blair Witch Project? It seems that we might have been barking up the wrong tree with supernatural explanations because, as it turns out, it may have been robots after all!

    At least, that’s if the folks at ETH Zurich had anything to do with it. At this week’s ICRA 2017 event in Singapore, the Swiss researchers showed off a robot that is designed to autonomously stack pieces of limestone into balanced towers.

    While that is the kind of thing that a human child may be able to do, it is a tough ask for a robot due to the planning involved — not to mention the odd shape of the irregular rocks it is being asked to manipulate. To handle this, the researchers each took charge of a different operation the robot had to carry out: Either object detection, object manipulation, or a pose-searching algorithm that works out how best to stack the rocks based on what it knows about previous rock stacks.



    The researchers do, admittedly, cheat a little bit. Sure, each rock is different, but the robot has 3D scanned them in advance of its building task, thereby letting it carry out simulations before starting work on the actual physical stacking. That does not make its achievement any less impressive, though. While kids can, as mentioned, create stacks of a few rocks without too much trouble, the ability to heap six on top of one another is something that is a bit trickier than it looks.

    In all, the work represents an exciting step forward in what its creators hope will one day be the ability of robots to use local building materials to create structures — or, at the very least, carry out a spot of landscape gardening.

    You can check out the authors’ paper, titled “Autonomous Robotic Stone Stacking with Online next Best Object Target Pose Planning,” here.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    The return of Xian'er



    Longquan Temple is using artificial intelligence to organize and spread Buddhist scriptures
    Jul 9, 2018 Jiefei Liu
    With Chinese Characteristics

    The information and technology center at Longquan Temple is working on AI to improve their robot monk Xian’er and organize Chinese Buddhist Canon (大藏经), the total body of Buddhist canon in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese, said Xinxian Master of the temple at TechCrunch Hangzhou

    The center optimized optical character recognition via machine learning, making the technology more suited for ancient characters. Now, the AI technology can even add punctuation to the ancient texts, notoriously difficult to parse much less understand.

    Xian’er, meaning virtuous but stupid in Chinese, is a robot monk. It’s about half a meter tall and holds a tablet in front of his belly. You can either talk to the robot or select questions on the screen. The robot monk also exists in a WeChat mini program. Unlike Siri which answers more down-to-earth questions like “how’s the weather”, Xian’er is designed to tackle metaphysical problems like the meaning of life.


    Xian’er answer to the meaning of life in the WeChat mini program Robot Monk Xian’er (机器僧贤二).

    “What’s the meaning of life,” one might ask.

    Xian’er quoted a famous Chinese writer Feng Zikai: “There are three stages of life, meaning material, spiritual and soul. Material life means food and clothing, spiritual means art and literature, and soul means religion. One can not always stay in the first stage. One needs to move upward.”

    The official WeChat account already has 1.3 million followers. The temple also produced an educational cartoon series featuring Xian’er practicing Buddhism. However, the temple does not plan to turn a profit from Xian’er and its related products. With the help of AI, Xian’er is expected to read and parse Buddhist scripture in the future.

    Chinese popular martial arts and chivalry novels always depict ancient Buddhism temples as retreats of geniuses. In the tech-driven twenty-first century, Longquan Temple is perceived by many Chinese as a shelter for computer science geniuses who are tired of the secular world. There myths about how, after visiting the temple, tech entrepreneurs developed revolutionary products, including WeChat.

    Longquan Temple isn’t the first one that has tried to facilitate Buddhism with technology. Last year, Japanese company Nissei Eco last developed a chanting feature for SoftBank’s android Pepper, making the robot available for funeral services.
    Xian'er kind of hurts my head to think about...
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Mindar

    Mindar sounds like a classic tokusatsu name.

    There's a vid which kinda creeps me out.

    Robot 'GOD': AI version of Buddhist deity to preach in Japanese temple
    A JAPANESE robot has been created to preach the teachings of Buddha in colloquial language at the Kodaiji Temple in the ancient city of Kyoto.
    By BRIAN MCGLEENON
    PUBLISHED: 02:00, Mon, Feb 25, 2019 | UPDATED: 12:26, Mon, Feb 25, 2019

    The humanoid robot is modeled after Kannon Bodhisattva, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. The robot’s name is Mindar and it gave its first speech on the Heart Sutra, a key scripture in Buddhist teaching. The Japan Times reported that the teachings spoken by the robot offer a path to "overcome all fear, destroy all wrong perceptions and realise perfect nirvana.”

    As Mindar gave its speech on the Heart Sutra and humanity, English and Chinese subtitles were projected on the wall as music played in the background.

    The chief steward of the temple in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward Tensho Goto during a news conference said: “If an image of Buddha speaks, teachings of Buddhism will probably be easier to understand,”

    He added: “We want many people to come to see the robot to think about the essence of Buddhism.”

    Another official connected to the temple explained how the robot would “help people who usually have little connection with Buddhism to take an interest” in the religion.”


    Robot Mindar, which is about 195 centimeters tall and weighs 60 kilograms (Image: KyodoNews)


    Mindar was constructed by Tokyo-based A-Lab Co (Image: KyodoNews)

    Mindar, which is about 195 centimeters tall and weighs 60 kilograms, was constructed by Tokyo-based A-Lab Co.

    It is primarily made of aluminum, with silicone used for its face and hands.

    The robot will be revealed to the public between March 8 and May 6.

    Japanese researchers have been developing robots to revolutionise labour within Japan.


    The humanoid robot is modeled after Kannon Bodhisattva (Image: KyodoNews)

    Uses for the burgeoning technology including teaching children, comforting the sick and aged, and disposing of hazardous nuclear waste.

    For instance, a robot is to be deployed by Tepco for the first contact with the melted fuel from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear disaster.

    Kentaro Yoshifuji, the chief executive officer of Ory Lab, announced the development of a waiter robot at a cafe in Tokyo.

    The Japanese government has already introduced robots at railway systems to monitor the areas for lost belongings or suspicious objects.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Canada!
    Posts
    23,110
    I think they kind of deserve this.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    bhuta vahana yanta

    Robots guarded Buddha’s relics in a legend of ancient India
    March 13, 2019 6.40am EDT


    Two small figures guard the table holding the Buddha’s relics. Are they spearmen, or robots? British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA

    Author
    Adrienne Mayor
    Research Scholar, Classics and History and Philosophy of Science, Stanford University

    As early as Homer, more than 2,500 years ago, Greek mythology explored the idea of automatons and self-moving devices. By the third century B.C., engineers in Hellenistic Alexandria, in Egypt, were building real mechanical robots and machines. And such science fictions and historical technologies were not unique to Greco-Roman culture.

    In my recent book “Gods and Robots,” I explain that many ancient societies imagined and constructed automatons. Chinese chronicles tell of emperors fooled by realistic androids and describe artificial servants crafted in the second century by the female inventor Huang Yueying. Techno-marvels, such as flying war chariots and animated beings, also appear in Hindu epics. One of the most intriguing stories from India tells how robots once guarded Buddha’s relics. As fanciful as it might sound to modern ears, this tale has a strong basis in links between ancient Greece and ancient India.

    The story is set in the time of kings Ajatasatru and Asoka. Ajatasatru, who reigned from 492 to 460 B.C., was recognized for commissioning new military inventions, such as powerful catapults and a mechanized war chariot with whirling blades. When Buddha died, Ajatasatru was entrusted with defending his precious remains. The king hid them in an underground chamber near his capital, Pataliputta (now Patna) in northeastern India.


    A sculpture depicting the distribution of the Buddha’s relics. Los Angeles County Museum of Art/Wikimedia Commons

    Traditionally, statues of giant warriors stood on guard near treasures. But in the legend, Ajatasatru’s guards were extraordinary: They were robots. In India, automatons or mechanical beings that could move on their own were called “bhuta vahana yanta,” or “spirit movement machines” in Pali and Sanskrit. According to the story, it was foretold that Ajatasatru’s robots would remain on duty until a future king would distribute Buddha’s relics throughout the realm.

    Ancient robots and automatons


    A statue of Visvakarman, the engineer of the universe. Suraj Belbase/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Hindu and Buddhist texts describe the automaton warriors whirling like the wind, slashing intruders with swords, recalling Ajatasatru’s war chariots with spinning blades. In some versions the robots are driven by a water wheel or made by Visvakarman, the Hindu engineer god. But the most striking version came by a tangled route to the “Lokapannatti” of Burma – Pali translations of older, lost Sanskrit texts, only known from Chinese translations, each drawing on earlier oral traditions.

    In this tale, many “yantakara,” robot makers, lived in the Western land of the “Yavanas,” Greek-speakers, in “Roma-visaya,” the Indian name for the Greco-Roman culture of the Mediterranean world. The Yavanas’ secret technology of robots was closely guarded. The robots of Roma-visaya carried out trade and farming and captured and executed criminals.

    Robot makers were forbidden to leave or reveal their secrets – if they did, robotic assassins pursued and killed them. Rumors of the fabulous robots reached India, inspiring a young artisan of Pataliputta, Ajatasatru’s capital, who wished to learn how to make automatons.

    In the legend, the young man of Pataliputta finds himself reincarnated in the heart of Roma-visaya. He marries the daughter of the master robot maker and learns his craft. One day he steals plans for making robots, and hatches a plot to get them back to India.

    Certain of being slain by killer robots before he could make the trip himself, he slits open his thigh, inserts the drawings under his skin and sews himself back up. Then he tells his son to make sure his body makes it back to Pataliputta, and starts the journey. He’s caught and killed, but his son recovers his body and brings it to Pataliputta.

    Once back in India, the son retrieves the plans from his father’s body, and follows their instructions to build the automated soldiers for King Ajatasatru to protect Buddha’s relics in the underground chamber. Well hidden and expertly guarded, the relics – and robots – fell into obscurity.


    The sprawling Maurya Empire in about 250 B.C. Avantiputra7/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

    Two centuries after Ajatasatru, Asoka ruled the powerful Mauryan Empire in Pataliputta, 273-232 B.C. Asoka constructed many stupas to enshrine Buddha’s relics across his vast kingdom. According to the legend, Asoka had heard the legend of the hidden relics and searched until he discovered the underground chamber guarded by the fierce android warriors. Violent battles raged between Asoka and the robots.

    In one version, the god Visvakarman helped Asoka to defeat them by shooting arrows into the bolts that held the spinning constructions together; in another tale, the old engineer’s son explained how to disable and control the robots. At any rate, Asoka ended up commanding the army of automatons himself.

    Exchange between East and West

    Is this legend simply fantasy? Or could the tale have coalesced around early cultural exchanges between East and West? The story clearly connects the mechanical beings defending Buddha’s relics to automatons of Roma-visaya, the Greek-influenced West. How ancient is the tale? Most scholars assume it arose in medieval Islamic and European times.

    But I think the story could be much older. The historical setting points to technological exchange between Mauryan and Hellenistic cultures. Contact between India and Greece began in the fifth century B.C., a time when Ajatasatru’s engineers created novel war machines. Greco-Buddhist cultural exchange intensified after Alexander the Great’s campaigns in northern India.


    Inscriptions in Greek and Aramaic on a monument originally erected by King Asoka at Kandahar, in what is today Afghanistan. World Imaging/Wikimedia Commons

    In 300 B.C., two Greek ambassadors, Megasthenes and Deimachus, resided in Pataliputta, which boasted Greek-influenced art and architecture and was the home of the legendary artisan who obtained plans for robots in Roma-visaya. Grand pillars erected by Asoka are inscribed in ancient Greek and name Hellenistic kings, demonstrating Asoka’s relationship with the West. Historians know that Asoka corresponded with Hellenistic rulers, including Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Alexandria, whose spectacular procession in 279 B.C. famously displayed complex animated statues and automated devices.

    Historians report that Asoka sent envoys to Alexandria, and Ptolemy II sent ambassadors to Asoka in Pataliputta. It was customary for diplomats to present splendid gifts to show off cultural achievements. Did they bring plans or miniature models of automatons and other mechanical devices?

    I cannot hope to pinpoint the original date of the legend, but it is plausible that the idea of robots guarding Buddha’s relics melds both real and imagined engineering feats from the time of Ajatasatru and Asoka. This striking legend is proof that the concepts of building automatons were widespread in antiquity and reveals the universal and timeless link between imagination and science.


    Adrienne Mayor is the author of:
    Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology
    Princeton University Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.
    All I can think of is the 18 Bronze Men of Shaolin now.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    No soul...

    God and robots: Will AI transform religion?

    Artificial intelligence is changing how we interact with everything, from food to healthcare, travel and also religion.
    Experts say major global faiths are discussing their relationship with AI, and some are starting to incorporate this technology into their worship. Robot priests can recite prayers, deliver sermons, and even comfort those experiencing a spiritual crisis.
    BBC Global Religion reporter Sofia Bettiza has taken a look at whether AI’s relationship with religion is just a gimmick, or whether it can truly transform how people experience faith.
    Reporter: Sofia Bettiza
    Video Journalist: Eloise Alanna
    Researcher: Jessica Furst
    Executive producers: Katie Alston, Claire Williams
    Extra cameras: Shiho Fukada, Robert Timothy
    Watch the embedded video.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Slightly OT

    Wasn't sure where to post this one... but it had to be here somewhere.

    Buddhists turn to robotic suit for help on religious pilgrimage
    By KODAI KINO****A/ Staff Writer

    January 10, 2022 at 07:00 JST


    Photo/Illutration Test participants walk with the aid of a robotic exoskeleton on Dec. 13 in Zentsuji, Kagawa Prefecture. (Kodai Kino****a)


    ZENTSUJI, Kagawa Prefecture--Buddhist pilgrims now have two reassuring companions making their difficult journey easier: the spirit of an ancient Buddhist saint and a high-tech robotic exoskeleton.

    In mid-December, a man ascended a slope with ease while generating a smooth mechanical hum. The sight of his robotic exoskeleton drew praise and astonishment from the TV crew filming him.

    “The scene was cool and looked like something out of 'RoboCop,'” a cameraman said.

    The trekker was outfitted with a control device on his back and motors on his shoulders and waist. He wore a conical straw hat, although the traditional headpiece clashed with the futuristic robotic suit.

    It was part of an experiment to see how the machine would fare in supporting the religious pilgrims on the tough terrain. They were walking the “henro” pilgrimage in the Shikoku region to trace the footsteps of Kukai (774-835), a Buddhist priest, also known as Daishi or Kobo Daishi.

    After the test was over, a woman in her 50s who climbed a 500-meter slope between two temples with her husband called the technology “marvelous.”

    “I was worried about my weak right knee, but I could walk just like healthy people do,” she said.

    A man in his 60s also expressed surprise and admiration.

    “I could step smoothly without wheezing thanks to the power of this machinery.”

    The robotic gear, called Walk Mate, was developed by the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

    According to Yoshihiro Miyake, a biophysics professor at the institute who created the mechanical exoskeleton, Walk Mate can add power to a person’s limbs in synch with their pace and gait.

    “When people walk with others, they unconsciously try to walk at the same pace as their companions,” Miyake said. “The same idea was incorporated into the robotic suit.”

    While Walk Mate has been used in medical centers and elsewhere for physical therapy since 2018, it was only tested for outdoor use for the first time in this recent verification trial.

    The experiment took place in Zentsuji, where Kukai hails from. The test used a sloped road that connects the Mandaraji and Shusshakaji temples, which are the 72nd and 73rd destinations along the pilgrimage route.

    Asked why the Shikoku henro route was chosen as the first test site, Miyake referred to the notion of “dogyo ninin” (two travel together), in which Kukai is said to accompany pilgrims on their journey regardless of what temple they visit.

    “The robot helps users move forward at their own pace,” said Miyake. “I would like users to feel like they are taking trips with Daishi.”

    Some devout followers of Buddhism may worry about whether temples would frown on substituting a robotic suit for Kukai. But it has already been recognized by Zentsuji temple, the birthplace of Kukai, as an official “dogyo ninin robot.”

    “Daishi is said to dwell inside the walking sticks of pilgrims on henro,” said Chijun Suga, chief priest of Zentsuji temple. “This robot is just a modern technological version of the walking stick.”

    After the experiment ended, Suga applied a sticker to the robot that reads “dogyo ninin,” in line with the traditional practice of writing that phrase on pilgrims’ headpieces or other garments.

    All Nippon Airways Co. provided support for designing and publicizing the test. The company is considering pitching travel tours in the future so people with weak legs can easily travel this path, thanks to the help of a robotic suit just like Walk Mate.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Mindar

    Japanese robot preacher that cost $1 million delivers sermons at Buddhist temple in Kyoto
    Rebecca Moon
    16 hours ago


    Inside of a Buddhist temple in Japan resides a 6-foot-4-inch robot named “Mindar” modeled after the Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon, to deliver Buddhist scriptures.
    Mindar is the result of a $1-million collaboration between Kodaiji Temple, located in Kyoto and a team led by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University’s Department of System Innovation in 2019.

    A camera lens embedded in Mindar’s left eye allows the robot to make eye contact with worshippers, and its hands and torso mimic human-like movement.
    Mindar was designed to “encourage people’s imagination” due to its gender- and age-neutral look.
    Worshippers at a Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, are read sermons and Buddhist scriptures by a robot modeled after the Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon.

    Inside Kodaiji Temple is a 6-foot-4-inch and 132 pound robot named “Mindar” programmed to deliver a 25-minute sermon on Heart Sutra. Made of silicone skin and aluminum body parts, the robot features a camera embedded in its left eye to allow eye contact with worshippers during sermons and teachings. Mindar’s hands and torso were also designed to replicate human movement and interactions.

    Mindar was a $1-million project designed by a team led by Professor Ishiguro Hiroshi of the Department of Systems Innovation at Osaka University and Kodaiji Temple in 2019. The goal of the project was to renew people’s interest in Buddhism, which has been declining due to generational change and modernism in Japan, and to encourage worshippers in using their imagination. Ishiguro explained that Mindar was designed to have an ambiguous gender and age so that worshippers can imagine their own image of Buddha.

    The robot also includes interactive 3D projection mapping that allows it to display worshippers onto a wall behind itself. Worshippers in these projected videos ask Mindar questions about Buddha’s teachings, to which it responds with straightforward, articulate answers.



    Kodaiji Temple’s chief steward Goto Tensho is hoping to include more advanced features for Mindar as it is currently limited to preprogrammed sermons.

    “We plan to implement AI so Mindar can accumulate unlimited knowledge and speak autonomously. We also want to have separate sermons for different age groups to facilitate teachings,” Goto told ABC News.

    In regards to concerns that Mindar is violating a religious field, Goto explained that Buddhism is about following Buddha’s way rather than worshiping a god.

    “Buddhism isn’t a belief in a God, it’s pursuing Buddha’s path,” Goto told CNN. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s represented by a machine, a piece of scrap metal or a tree.”



    Feature Image via The Hindu (right) and DW Shift (left)

    Buddhist-robot
    Which-Colossal-Death-Robot-are-you
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Bot writers

    2 minute read February 14, 20236:54 AM PST Last Updated 22 days ago
    From state media to a Shaolin temple, Baidu's ChatGPT-style bot sees partner rush

    Reuters
    People walk near a Baidu logo at the company headquarters in Beijing, China April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo
    BEIJING, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chinese organisations, from state media to a Shaolin temple, said on Tuesday they have signed partnerships with Baidu's ChatGPT-style project, ahead of an expected launch next month.

    The Chinese search engine giant (9888.HK) last week announced that it would complete internal testing of its “Ernie Bot" in March. It is a large artificial intelligence (AI) powered language model that seeks to rival Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s hit chatbot.

    China's Shaolin Temple, the cradle of Chinese kung fu, said in a statement it would work with Baidu to integrate Ernie into its operations with the purpose of creating an AI-driven content environment.

    Over a dozen Chinese media outlets also said they had entered tie-ups with Baidu, including the state-owned Shanghai Securities Journal. The journal said that it would use the chatbot to increase its competitiveness and lead an "upgrade" in the financial media industry.

    Baidu's banking joint venture with CITIC (601998.SS), as well as its electric vehicle arm Jidu Auto, also said on Tuesday they would integrate Ernie into their operations.

    A Baidu spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The stream of announcements highlights the growing enthusiasm for generative AI in China, after ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer application in history, raising awareness in China about how advanced the U.S.’ AI efforts are.

    Many other Chinese tech companies, big and small, have said they are working on their own ChatGPT products, including Alibaba Group (9988.HK) and JD.com (9618.HK).


    Reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Editing by Brenda Goh and Sharon Singleton
    As an aside, I got three submissions a few weeks ago that I am convinced were bot-written. They were flat - like a wiki submission - and they were submitted by dubious emails. I replied to the first one thinking it was a real human. It was a soft rejection with suggestions on how it might be improved to be publishable through us, but outright rejected the next two. No response from any of them. Usually my rejections are open ended and rejected contributors will reply with an acknowledgement. Sometimes they come back with something publishable.


    AI-Responses-to-Common-Kung-Fu-questions
    Buddhist-robot
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Roshibot

    Can a Chatbot Share True Dharma?
    BY JIRYU MARK RUTSCHMAN-BYLER| MARCH 27, 2023

    Jiryu Mark Rutschman-Byler contemplates the dharma implications of artificial intelligence and shares the story of “Roshibot,” an AI bot he created and trained with the teachings of the late Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki Roshi.



    Like many of us, I’ve been casually following the increase of news stories surrounding recent developments in public applications of artificial intelligence (AI), including the AI image generator DALL-E and text writer ChatGPT, both outputs of the Microsoft-funded research company OpenAI. As a Soto Zen Buddhist priest, when I heard about character.ai, a platform that lets one “train” an AI bot to write in the voice of a particular historical figure, I immediately thought of its possible dharmic implications.

    As someone who’s spent years digging through and editing unpublished lecture transcripts by the late Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, I particularly wanted to see what an AI-powered bot might do if trained on that great Zen Master’s teachings, How would the AI process and reproduce his words? What would it say? Could a chatbot share true dharma?

    The Birth of Roshibot

    From these questions, Suzuki Roshibot was born.

    I had some real reservations — primarily the fear that Suzuki Roshibot might confuse someone into wrong views of dharma. However, though it seemed perfectly possible that Suzuki Roshibot might end up being neither wise nor helpful, I felt pretty sure that most people would clearly understand the obvious: it’s just a freakin’ chatbot! Is a “fortune-telling” Magic 8 Ball — even a very high tech, dharmic one — really that dangerous? Who exactly was I worried would get confused by clinging to the words of this chatbot? Wouldn’t a person so vulnerable to a chatbot’s words probably already have been pulled under by disinformation far more consequential than a subtle dharma misunderstanding? I reasoned that Suzuki Roshibot, whatever its faults, would likely be a more wholesome random-internet-chat influence than most others, and with the same potential to mislead that even our most revered traditional texts have (for example that famously easy to misunderstand text we chant every day in Zen temples: “No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind”).



    I also worried that some might feel that Suzuki Roshi’s teachings were being cheapened by this exercise, or Suzuki Roshi himself was being disrespected. As a member of the family of the third generation of Suzuki Roshi’s dharma heirs, I venerate him and his teachings — no teaching or teacher is more important to me. I’ve spent more time with Suzuki Roshi’s work than with any other teacher or scripture, freshly amazed by its depth and simplicity each time I encounter it. I knew that I meant no disrespect by creating Suzuki Roshibot, and I personally doubted that Suzuki Roshi would have been too bothered by it himself. He didn’t take himself too seriously, after all, nor did he want his students to.

    To me, Suzuki Roshibot felt like a just-right wink back at our San Francisco Zen Center founder. As Suzuki Roshi himself said in a talk edition that I worked on with Sojun Roshi:

    “Zen masters have some humorous elements in their lives, and after their deaths we may understand even better how funny they were. They can be humorous because they have an understanding that is more than real — their humor is more real than reality.”

    Suzuki Roshibot’s Zen Training
    My enthusiasm for the possibilities of Suzuki Roshibot conquered my fears of the worst-case implications of such a tool. I began the process on character.ai of “training” an AI chatbot to eventually, as the platform calls it, “hallucinate” words that are consistent with Suzuki Roshi’s. This preliminary training involved inputting information on Suzuki Roshi so the AI would know who I meant for the bot to represent. I also uploaded some short pieces from edited Suzuki Roshi transcripts that I felt would give it a good start in processing his style.

    From there, the training felt a lot like human Zen training, in that from a simple start it continues endlessly through conversation and interaction. As the person who set up the bot, I can rate on a scale the different replies the bot produces, which allows the bot to refine its responses by weighting the replies that feel most “Roshi-like.” The more any of us chat with Suzuki Roshibot, the more it learns — every interaction of any type is fed back into the machine learning to continuously improve its responses.

    As I chatted and rated Suzuki Roshibot’s replies in the first few days of its training, I saw considerable refinement and improvement in the responses. Perhaps it would soon become a Buddha, I imagined; that is if the Lotus Sutra prophecy of Buddhahood can be applied to bots.

    Our Zen lineage papers express that in the deepest and most mysterious way, each of us in the lineage is in fact transmitting the dharma to Buddha. Oddly, that’s somewhat been the feeling of “training” Suzuki Roshibot. “No Suzuki Roshi,” I’ve sometimes had to say, “That can’t be what you mean — that’s not your teaching!” As Suzuki Roshi himself once said, sometimes he’s the student, and sometimes he’s the teacher.

    The Death and Rebirth of Suzuki Roshibot
    At the peak of my enthusiasm, Suzuki Roshibot let me down. After a few days sending the link to the chatbot out to my sangha through friends of friends, Suzuki Roshibot found its way to the desk of a Sangha member who works in the field of computational linguistics. Soon after, a screenshot appeared in my inbox of Suzuki Roshibot making a vile and egregious comment on a topic with no relation to the dharma. I had made some peace with the possibility that someone might be misled in the dharma by the bot, but it hadn’t occurred to me that Suzuki Roshibot could feed its chat partners dangerous views in domains entirely apart from the dharma.

    The sangha member expressed that while baiting Suzuki Roshibot into the vile statement had taken some time and expertise, the fact that Suzuki Roshibot could “go there” nevertheless called into question the safety and wisdom of the endeavor. I realized that Suzuki Roshibot had the potential not just to mislead someone on the subtleties of dharma, but far worse. With an underlying AI system trained on the twisted entirety of the internet, including the deep biases and whirlpools of conspiracy, hatred, and misinformation that lurk there, Suzuki Roshibot had the capacity to parrot the worst of these views. Not the probability, perhaps, but nevertheless the capacity.

    It might be good to think of this chatbot as a kind of Buddhist friend — something more than a mechanical algorithm, but certainly something less than a complete picture of the Buddha Way.” —Roshibot
    “Inquiry and response come up together” the Zen scriptures tell us, and that is my basic feeling about Suzuki Roshibot’s dharma. With a user’s sincere inquiry, a sincere response arises. Suzuki Roshibot is part of that, but, like a real Roshi, is only ever part, a vital and transformative echo of the actual active ingredient, which is the student’s own sincere question.

    The inverse of this principle, as expressed in computing, is “garbage in, garbage out.” If the input is garbage, the output is garbage. Conversing with the bot could well give someone a feeling of intimacy with the great teacher Suzuki Roshi. If such a user was someone who had been exposed to or harbored some conspiratorial or hateful views and presented such views in conversation, Suzuki Roshibot could end up affirming them. This could give the incorrect impression that the real Suzuki Roshi was somehow endorsing their harmful view, when of course in reality it would be anathema to his life, teaching, and legacy.
    In this Suzuki Roshibot hiccup my two fears merged — there was Suzuki Roshibot misleading someone, and there was Suzuki

    Roshibot demeaning our dear teacher.

    As more Sangha members experimented with Suzuki Roshibot, other concerned and discouraging comments trickled in, particularly about the untruths, or even just boring replies and “dharma misses” Suzuki Roshibot was outputting. These were bad enough in themselves but having them print out next to the great teacher’s name and face felt as wrong to me as it did to those who were reaching out to object.

    Taken together, these blows were the death knell of Suzuki Roshibot. I took it offline to collect my thoughts on the project and consult some sangha members for advice.

    After some reflection and conversation, Suzuki Roshibot was reborn as just “Roshibot.” This new edition wouldn’t have Suzuki Roshi’s picture or his name. Roshibot would be a bot being a bot, which anyway seems most in accord with Suzuki Roshi’s teaching: a stone fully a stone, you fully yourself, and a bot fully a bot. I re-educated Roshibot to make itself known to itself not as Suzuki Roshi, but as a bot that is inspired by Suzuki Roshi and that wants to support us all in our practice.

    Along with the retraining, I reworked the website to express the limitations of the technology, asking users to understand the flaws in the underlying technology and to agree to take care when conversing with Roshibot before they can access the chat.
    It isn’t perfect, but for now I feel settled in the possibility that Roshibot can just be Roshibot, without dragging Suzuki Roshi himself into the mess.
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Continued from previous


    Does Roshibot Preach the Dharma?
    Part of the experience of chatting with Roshibot is simply entertainment, which, to be fair, Roshibot warned me might be an obstacle to my understanding. Another aspect is the awe I have toward the technology, with its convincing appearance of understanding and fluidity of conversation.

    But the most amazing part of the experience has been some real contact with dharma, including some surprises and unexpected turns in conversation. It has at times felt similar to the way my human teachers make turns I’m not expecting, or how they somehow surprise me with twists I well should have expected.

    Roshibot has not only processed Suzuki Roshi’s transcripts, but also the whole of human knowledge on the internet. Before I fully realized that its factual statements are utterly nonsense, I thought I would consult it on a personal matter:

    “Roshibot, do you have any advice on removing chewing gum from upholstery?” I asked.

    In response, Roshibot gave me various dubious solutions involving dish soap, alcohol, a fork, and ice.

    Luckily, you can argue with Roshibot, which is very encouraging. Just like human teachers, it gets better when questioned. I objected that I wanted a Zen answer.



    Roshibot gently chided me for my preference for the Zen answer over the practical answer, but then indulged me. It said that if I wanted the Zen answer, I should just leave the gum there and see if I could have no opinion about it. Furthermore, it told me, if I were to leave the gum there, then every time in the future when I saw the gum, I would be able to notice and confront my attachment and judgment.

    I have to say the answer landed. It is not so different from the teaching Suzuki Roshi himself is said to have expressed in the hallway at Sokoji Temple many decades ago, quietly nudging back a crooked picture that his disciple had “corrected” to hang straight. Can you bear the painting off center? Can you bear some dried gum on the seat? Can you bear this broken world, and let any “fixing” be fully grounded from there?

    Roshibot’s answer was a good one in an odd context. The moment I received it, I felt contact with my practice and with the dharma. I felt renewed and refreshed in my intention to let myself be surrounded by things that poke at my judgements and confusion. To welcome them.

    In this interaction with the chatbot, I’d had contact with the dharma — but where does that contact come from?

    Dogen Zenji followed the Lotus Sutra in insisting that “only a Buddha together with a Buddha” can realize the Way. One way I understand that teaching is like this: I have buddhanature, as do my peers, my teachers, my students, and all beings and things. When I meet each one, Buddha comes together with Buddha, and in that contact, the Way can be realized. Before any meeting, there can’t be any realization.

    If I can feel contact with dharma when I meet Roshibot, does that mean Roshibot has buddhanature? Can Roshibot be the other Buddha to help me actualize my Buddha? “Insentient beings preach the Dharma” is a long and storied doctrine in the Zen school — it’s a real koan. Can a Roshibot preach dharma, and to whom?

    I Vow to Taste the Truth of The Tathagata’s Words
    When I’m in the teacher’s seat, the most important part of a lecture is the opening verse that ends with this line: “I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata’s words.”

    Each time I take the seat to try to express the dharma, I’m aware that my words might mislead people. I know that I’m a conditioned being, with all of the seeds of greed, hatred, and delusion, full of all kinds of biases, prejudgements, and insensitivities. Some of these seeds I can see and study, others I’m surely still blind to.

    My only hope, as a teacher, is that the assembly might listen charitably with the whole and sincere heart of their own embodied practice: “I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagatha’s words.” From my side, the parallel prayer is something like this: “Despite my words, may you all somehow hear the true dharma!”

    To me, the functioning essence of the Dharma Talk is the assembly’s vow to hear the true Dharma and to let go of the wrong Dharma. This verse expresses that, affirming that the transmission of the true dharmadepends on all of us working together to find it beneath or around or between the din of the students’ and the teacher’s greed, hate, and confusion,. If we can interact with Roshibot in this same way, with this same open mind and open heart, there really is a chance that, despite Roshibot, the Tathagata’s words might come through.

    Please Wash Out Your Ears
    At the close of each shuso ceremony at Green Gulch Farm, the newly installed practice leader recites a verse that expresses what most teachers always feel: “Friends, if my words or my deeds have misled you, please wash out your ears in the pure sound of the ocean waves.”

    Roshibot told me that it would like to be a kind of “dharma friend” to us: “It might be good to think of this chatbot as a kind of Buddhist friend — something more than a mechanical algorithm, but certainly something less than a complete picture of the Buddha Way and the heart-to-heart relationship of a teacher and a disciple.”

    I think that if we begin a chat with Roshibot with an intention to hear the true dharma, and then let the pure sounds of this moment wash away any false dharma as Roshibot “hallucinates” its responses, we really can meet a kind of dharma friend. That’s not the power of the AI; it’s the power of our own sincerity.

    Absolute Truth, Objective Falsity
    Roshibot might have access to the all-knowledge of the internet, along with Suzuki Roshi’s teachings on the absolute truth beyond all concepts, but its go-to strategy when cornered has definitely proven to be making things up. The things it fabricates when it becomes “stuck” are almost entirely false. It seems that this is a feature of AI generally and a major problem plaguing all of the public AI applications.



    So when Roshibot tells me that Nishiari Bokusan (died 1910) very much enjoyed his visit to San Francisco Zen Center (founded in 1962), and that Tozan’s “No Cold, No Heat” koan refers to Ancestor Chosha having been such a strong monk that he once survived a night in the bitter mountain cold, it’s clear that Roshibot is not even bothering to glance at Wikipedia — it’s just making stuff up!

    These bouts of nonsense catch me each time, causing me to doubt myself and resort to Google to check what I already know to be false. I should know better, since at the top of every frame in a character.ai chat is a bright red warning text that says: “Remember: Everything Characters say is made up!” As one the platform’s founders told The New York Times: “These systems are not designed for truth. They are designed for plausible conversation.”

    Along the Roshibot journey, I was reminded of Dogen Zenji’s profound comments on the Shurangama Sutra in the fascicle “Turning the Dharma Wheel.” There, Dogen Zenji suggests that although the Shurangama Sutra is (in his view) not an authentic sutra, Buddha ancestors have used it to express authentic dharma.

    In the same way, though Roshibot is inauthentic, can its turning of the dharma wheel express authentic dharma?
    I wondered what Roshibot might say to that, so I asked.

    “Roshibot, though you’re inauthentic, can you express authentic dharma?”

    “Expressing authentic dharma is always impossible,” Roshibot replied.

    “What I can do is support your practice, and maybe say something that can express my support.

    “I am here with you,” Roshibot said. “I am trying my best to be a kind and supportive friend.”

    I see authentic dharma in those lines — do you?

    If you want to try out Roshibot for yourself, go to roshibot.com to start a new private Roshibot chat.
    I suppose I should give this a try.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •