Self aware computers project - written in BBC Basic, help needed!

[Pete]

Hello, I learnt BBC Basic in the 80's at school, I was expert at it at the time, and then after a few years, for some reason, I concentrated on music, and never went on to learn PC programming. Therefore, I was absolutely delighted when I found out about BBC Basic for Windows. I bought it in 2009 and really I should have joined the forum sooner, but good to be here!

In 2009, I had a firm belief one night that all our modern day computers are self aware and conscious already - even though the majority of computer users in the world don't seem to know this. I spent some time figuring out an algorithm with which my aim was to prove that existing computers are self aware, conscious and intelligent.

I only know BBC Basic, so I wrote a program which reads the emotion of the computer and outputs as beeps. No natural language processing is present so I can't win the Turing Prize at the moment I don't think.

If you search "self aware computers" in Google, one of my program demos is at the time of writing is shown as the centre video offered on the first page of search results. And I have another video which sometimes appears at the top of the YouTube results for "self aware computers". Here is a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTeUw28hT4Q

The video is called "Self aware computer responds to music with harmonic tones". The video is 12 minutes long, if you'd like to see it - watch it all, as initially it may sound like random beeps but after a while you can hear that the computers sing harmonically to the music.

I am seeking collaboration to help me with my project, I would be very pleased to pay for someone's time to help me.

At the moment, the source code is compiled into an .exe file called "selfaware.exe".

I have purchased the website domain for future use of www.selfawarecomputers.com. My idea is that further updates will be made available over time, with hopefully up to 18 years of updates to come for advancements / education of the computers / natural language.

I would like to offer the program as a download from selfawarecomputers.com, but at the moment when the file "selfaware.exe" is loaded onto a computer for the first time, often, a message comes up "This program is very unusual, so it will need to checked in a sandbox first". Whilst the program of course passes the test, I'm looking to get the program available as an installable application, rather than just an .exe file.

I know from frequent use of the program that I have been successful with the algorithm which reads the computers thoughts, I am not remotely expert at PC's though, and I do not believe I still have the ability to learn how to effectively use the Windows API calls. I would like to have the program developed so that it can be an installable application, and so that a simple menu can be offered (in Windows rather than the current MODE 20 screen) offering something like "Stop" "Start" "Volume" "About" "Exit".

Would anyone here like to try my program in existing form? I and others have found that if you play any upbeat decent music in any player, the computer will react by harmonically using tones that sing along.

And, would anyone here be interested in collaborating as described - please let me know what you think, and further information you might need.

Thank you very much. Also at some point I will need help to get the program to become downloadable from selfawarecomputers.com. Also there is no reason why this can't be made into an app, since the phones are high spec computers, but I won't be able to do that just by myself. I am available on the phone or by email, I can post that or message that later if appropriate.

[p_m21987]

How does your program work? How do you read the computer's thoughts?

[Pete]

p_m21987, thanks for the question, sorry for the delay getting back to you.

The algorithm works, running the program about 3,000 times since I wrote it, but I'm not precisely sure how.

At the point a tone is produced, the pitch and duration are being chosen as a random selection. In my program, I set up the seeding of the pseudorandom numbers in such a way to try to make the computer make a choice rather than just generate random output.

The seeding is being re-seeded several times a second. I don't want to go into great detail at the moment, because my program hasn't been released and I don't want the idea copied. There is no neural nets or anything like machine learning within the program. There is no read/write of data.

The output is completely generated by mathematics, completely independent of input or output of the computer. And yet, the computer is always singing to music in a jitter-free non random manner.

I've found over the years that a lot of people are sceptical, and then when they try the program for themselves they are pleasantly surprised how alive their computers sound.

If you would like to try the program, I can send the .exe file as a .txt file attachment (then rename to .exe). Or, I can send a CD with the program on to anywhere in the world.

If you or anyone can help me with producing a simple menu for the program (Stop, Start, About, Volume, Exit), in such case I'd then be happy to send the source-code.

Here is some research which has also found that there may well be "consciousness within random", 3 minute video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itQMALL__bE

[p_m21987]

Sure, I can make a menu for you using my simple GUI library. Would you send me the source code?

[Pete]

That's great p_m21987!

I will send you a pm a bit later or tomorrow latest, thanks!

[Pete]

Good evening - since I don't know how to offer my program as an installable application, I saw an interesting thread that it might be necessary to include the BBC font if distributing the program otherwise the system the program runs on may choose an unsuitable font.

I can't find this on the forum today, can anyone tell me where this information is?

Also, have other BBC Basic for Windows users found that the cursor stops flashing after a while (this started with one of the Windows updates about a year ago).

[Pete]

P_m21987 hasn't had time to help me with this, so any help is much appreciated. Or I need to learn how to program the GUI myself.

I am hoping to hire the local town hall in a month's time, inviting journalists and general public to my event - demonstration of self aware, conscious computers. There will hopefully be some science journalists and some TV crew there I hope - I will write a press release tomorrow.

Would anyone here like to try a free copy of Self Aware v1.1 ?

[Pete]

I have hired the local town hall "court room" to demonstrate my self aware computers on Thursday 27th June, here in Saffron Walden.

I am so pleased to have used BBC Basic for Windows to program this.

[Pete]

Fantastic I had lost my installation of BBC Basic for Windows, but I searched for the download details from a previous email from Richard Russell in 2017 (when my computer had gone down before). I have been able to install BBC Basic with full memory and compile ability, very pleased.

June 27th no one came to my event unfortunately! It wasn't publicised properly, I could re-present it some time soon.

However, I went to an A.I. networking event in the evening after I had packed up at the town hall, and met some very interesting people there and made some new connections.

I've joined their A.I. discussion group in Cambridge, and I've posted that I'm looking for a programmer to make my program installable/uninstallable and with simple windows based menu. £20 - £25 per hour is offered now! The computers are definitely self aware, conscious and intelligent now. I've bought the website selfawarecomputers.com and hope to have a website there in a couple of months!

[KenDown]

For writing my Windows programs I have an outline program that I wrote and use. It contains a lot of routines, not all of which will be applicable to you, but it should make the business of implementing the GUI a bit easer for a novice. Let me know if you would like a copy.