www.pbs.org/frontlineworld

Frontline World is a US documentary series that covers the kind of international political and social issues that are generally ignored by much of the mainstream American media. The programme features thought-provoking investigative journalism, often filmed secretly. Among the viewable excerpts are a video on the Chinese Muslim population, which got its writer arrested, and films on subjects as diverse as a South African businessman allegedly helping to sell nuclear triggers to Pakistan, and living as a punk in Israel. In addition, you can read transcripts of interviews, press reactions to events and up-to-the-minute reports from global hot spots.

SHORT CIRCUIT

www.simonlaven.com

The English mathematician Alan Turing is credited as the father of computer science, and it was he who famously proposed using two-way conversation with a computer to test artificial intelligence. At Simon Laven’s site, you can find dozens of online “chatterbots” — programs that attempt to fool you into thinking that you are talking to another person — from the famous virtual psychoanalyst Eliza to the addictive and teachable Jabberwacky. Features discuss ethical issues such as “If you can’t distinguish, then why treat the robot differently?”, and flag up annual competitions such as the Loebner prize. Last year, one computer program pleasingly opined: “I think California is doomed.”

COMRADE WOOSTER

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