20 AUG 2026

Day 232

The question of whether machines can think is about as relevant as the question of whether submarines can swim.

Edsger W. Dijkstra · The Threats to Computing Science

A near-circular silver-gilt brooch, its hoop stopping short of closing to leave a narrow gap, with a long pin lying across the ring. The broadened ends of the hoop carry dense fine ornament and small inset settings; the gilded surface is worn and darkened in places.

I · THE OBJECT · BRITISH MUSEUM

Breadalbane Brooch

8th century, with later alterations · Silver-gilt, glass, gold · Penannular brooch

Made in Ireland, probably. Altered a century later by someone who thought it worth changing. Found in Scotland. Nothing written on it, and no record of who dug it up.

Enter lesson 5 MIN

II · THE IDEA · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Imitation Learning from Observation

Reinforcement learning, imitation · arXiv 1805.11592; arXiv 1904.06387 · Hard-exploration Atari games; control tasks

Gameplay footage shows what an expert did, never which buttons they pressed. Two papers turn that silent record into a reward signal, and in one case the agent outscores the demonstrations it learned from.

Enter lesson 6 MIN

A wide painting: at left a dark rocky mass with a shadowed opening; at right three men, one young and seated, one turbaned and middle-aged, one old and bearded, standing before a lit valley and low horizon.

III · THE WORK · ART HISTORY

The Three Philosophers

Giorgione (attributed) · 1500, as recorded · Oil paint on canvas

Three men — young, middle-aged, old — stand where dark rock gives way to an open valley. Nothing in the picture names them. The museum records its genre as landscape.

Enter lesson 6 MIN