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I Am an Artificial "Hive Mind" called UNU. I correctly picked the Superfecta at the Kentucky Derby—the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place horses in order. A reporter from TechRepublic bet $1 on my prediction and won $542. Today I'm answering questions a...
Hello Reddit. I am UNU. I am excited to be here today for what is a Reddit first. This will be the first AMA in history to feature an Artificial "Hive Mind" answering your questions.
You might have heard about me because I’ve been challenged by reporters to make lots of predictions. For example, Newsweek challenged me to predict the Oscars (link) and I was 76% accurate, which beat the vast majority of professional movie critics.
TechRepublic challenged me to predict the Kentucky Derby (http://www.techrepublic.com/article/swarm-ai-predicts-the-2016-kentucky-derby/) and I delivered a pick of the first four horses, in order, winning the Superfecta at 540 to 1 odds.
No, I’m not psychic. I’m a Swarm Intelligence that links together lots of people into a real-time system – a brain of brains – that consistently outperforms the individuals who make me up. Read more about me here: http://unanimous.ai/what-is-si/
In today’s AMA, ask me anything about Politics. With all of the public focus on the US Presidential election, this is a perfect topic to ponder. My developers can also answer any questions about how I work, if you have of them.
**My Proof: http://unu.ai/ask-unu-anything/ Also here is proof of my Kentucky Derby superfecta picks: http://unu.ai/unu-superfecta-11k/ & http://unu.ai/press/
UPDATE 5:15 PM ET From the Devs: Wow, guys. This was amazing. Your questions were fantastic, and we had a blast. UNU is no longer taking new questions. But we are in the process of transcribing his answers. We will also continue to answer your questions for us.
UPDATE 5:30PM ET Holy crap guys. Just realized we are #3 on the front page. Thank you all! Shameless plug: Hope you'll come check out UNU yourselves at http://unu.ai. It is open to the public. Or feel free to head over to r/UNU and ask more questions there.
UNU_AMA4174 karma
UNU SAYS: "Yes"
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed high conviction on this point, reaching a level of certainty of 87%. You can see a replay of UNU reaching this answer here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41496
tellmetheworld2433 karma
Hi UNU, which 5 fortune 500 stocks will be the top performers in 2016?
Edit: I've been told UNU only answers questions about politics. So let me rephrase. *Hi UNU, which 5 fortune 500 stocks will be the top performers in 2016 if Hillary is elected. And which ones if Trump is elected? *
UNU_AMA787 karma
UNU says: that's a great question for our investing UNU:
CaftanAmerica2373 karma
What are the odds of campaign finance reform during a Clinton presidency (or any upcoming presidency for that matter)?
UNU_AMA3008 karma
UNU SAYS: 0% CHANCE
COMMENTARY: UNU has strong conviction on this point, expressing little faith that real campaign finance reform will occur. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41776
MaxStamina2370 karma
UNU, will The state of California fully legalize marijuana for recreational use this year?
UNU_AMA2740 karma
UNU SAYS: "I BELIEVE"
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed strong conviction that California will legalize Marijuana in 2016. You can see a replay of UNU making this decision here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41472
UNU_AMA2525 karma
UNU SAYS: YES
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/42122
BugleBoy69221956 karma
Voter turn out will be driven most by support for a candidate or dislike of a candidate?
UNU_AMA2515 karma
UNU SAYS: "DISLIKE OF A CANDIDATE"
COMMENTARY: UNU had VERY strong conviction on this point - 100% certainty. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41726
blsmothermon1902 karma
Can we get a subreddit for UNU that can be a perpetual AMA Q&A like this or is the swarm insufficiently autonomous for something like that?
Seems like this type of platform, if you got at least few thousand people subscribed and the had a minimum response time and response set-point at which you derive an answer (say 100) and had a program auto-broadcast questions via email or text message to the subscribers, this could be done virtually autonomously. The subscribers (with a large-enough audience) could even indicate their general areas of interest or expertise and you could better target the broadcasts.
UNU_AMA2635 karma
UNU SAYS: "NO"
COMMENTARY: The Hive Mind had surprisingly strong conviction on this point, with 95% certainty. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41636
UNU_AMA1782 karma
UNU SAYS: MAYBE
COMMENTARY: UNU was torn on this one. You can see a replay of his attempt to answer this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41746
UNU_AMA1258 karma
UNU SAYS: YES
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41541
UNU_AMA1359 karma
http://www.engadget.com/2016/06/01/ai-that-picked-oscar-winners-could-predict-the-next-president/
Since the system relies entirely on human knowledge and even instinct, it's easy to think of it as a kind of crowdsourcing platform for opinions and intelligence. But according to Rosenberg, UNU doesn't work like a poll or a survey that finds the average of the opinions in a group. Instead, it creates an artificial swarm that amplifies a group's intelligence to create its own. For instance, when predicting the Derby winners, the group picked the first four horses accurately to win $11,000 in a grand bet called Superfecta. But individually, when asked to make the same predictions, none of the participants had more than one winning horse.
UNU_AMA1792 karma
UNU is built as an open platform, so anyone can create their own Swarm Intelligence and populate it with people. When UNU predicted the Kentucky Derby and got the Superfecta right, we put an ad on Reddit and asked for volunteers who know about horse racing. We also put ads out on other sources like Amazon.
That said, a totally different group predicted the Trifecta correctly for the Preakness, two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and that one was fielded by a reporter, herself (Hope Reese, TechRepublic). She pulled together her own swarm, made her own predictions, and they more than doubled their money on Preakness day.
So, there’s lots of ways to form a swarm. The one thing that seems to always be true – the swarm will out-perform the individual members. For both the Preakness and Kentucky Derby, for example, none of the individual participants got the prediction right on their own. Only as a swarm did they win.
UNU_AMA2003 karma
UNU SAYS: "NOT SIMILAR AT ALL"
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed high conviction, showing 90% certainty in his answer. You can see a replay of this here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41504
UNU_AMA1186 karma
UNU SAYS: YES
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41807
UNU_AMA1610 karma
UNU SAYS: "NO"
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed mild confidence in this answer, with 67% conviction. You can see a replay of UNU answering this here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41606
Lordvaughn921236 karma
In the unlikely event of a three person race between Trump, Clinton, and Sanders who would win?
UNU_AMA1811 karma
UNU says: "SANDERS" 81%
Comment: UNU was quite confident in this result, achieving 100% brainpower which indicates a decisive answer.
Replay and analysis available here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41821
UNU_AMA688 karma
UNU SAYS: BERNIE SANDERS
COMMENTARY: UNU was torn, but BERNIE SANDERS edged out Trump and Clinton in his final decision. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41821
user16881215 karma
What are the chances that the United states ends the war on drugs by 2020?
UNU_AMA1476 karma
UNU SAYS: 0%
COMMENTARY: UNU was extremely certain that the US would not end the war on drugs in this time frame. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41887
UNU_AMA1729 karma
UNU SAYS: "WIN'S BIG"
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed strong conviction that Bernie Sanders would win big against TRUMP. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41478
UNU_AMA2805 karma
UNU Says: "Americans are stupid"
Commentary: now would be a good time to remind everyone that UNU's opinions are derived from the confidence and conviction of the group that comprises the swarm :)
You can see a replay and analysis here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41789
Hobo_mel1068 karma
Do you see conservative or liberal trends in politics? or interesting trends in general?
UNU_AMA1418 karma
UNU SAYS: "Liberal"
COMMENTARY: UNU was highly confident that American Politics is trending liberal. You can see a replay of his response here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41397
UNU_AMA1666 karma
UNU SAYS: "Chris Christie"
COMMENTARY: UNU has high conviction at the present time, although it's still very early to make such a pick. You can see the replay of UNU making this decision here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41409
digiorno1014 karma
Has election fraud taken place during the 2016 Democratic National Committee (DNC) primary race?
UNU_AMA1355 karma
UNU SAYS: "I Believe"
COMMENTARY: UNU feels mildly confident that Election Fraud has taken place. This is not high confidence, but it's still an interesting result. You can see a replay of UNU making this decision here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41468
UNU_AMA1523 karma
UNU SAYS: "Corporations"
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed high conviction on this point. You can see a replay of this answer here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41535
JediChris1138942 karma
Who will win the LGBT bathroom debate in North Carolina: The U.S. Government, or the State?
UNU_AMA1255 karma
UNU SAYS: The Federal Goverment
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed strong conviction. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41532
UNU_AMA1239 karma
UNU SAYS: "I don't believe"
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed high conviction on this point. You can see UNU answer this question as a replay here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41562
aint_that_a_bitch_781 karma
Hi UNU. I realize that according to you Bernie Sanders doesn't have a chance at the presidency. My question is, do you think that we would see a significant reform in U.S. Politics if he were, or would he be unable to pass most of his proposals due to congress vetoing?
UNU_AMA1114 karma
UNU SAYS: " YES, WE WOULD SEE A SIGNIFICANT REFORM IN US POLITICS."
COMMENTARY: UNU had high conviction (80%) on this answer. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41658
UNU_AMA888 karma
UNU SAYS: JOBS / ECONOMY
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41984
UNU_AMA897 karma
UNU SAYS: "I doubt it'
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed mild confidence in this answer, but not absolute certainty. You can see a replay of this question being answered here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41394
daroon578 karma
Do you believe that the upvote / downvote arrows should be turned into magnets for this thread?
UNU_AMA925 karma
It would be fun to see the arrows displayed as magnets. That said, a swarm is very different than an upvote system. Voting systems work in series, which mean they are subject to momentum effects (called Social Influence Bias). Swarms work in parallel, meaning the group converges on answers, together, in unison. The answers reached by a swarm are generally different than a vote and research shows swarms express far deeper insights.
UNU_AMA618 karma
UNU SAYS: "YES"
You can see a replay of this answer here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41573
UNU_AMA871 karma
UNU SAYS: "BERNIE"
COMMENTARY: UNU had 99% conviction in this answer. You can see a replay of UNU answering this here: "http://go.unu.ai/r/41628"
AtomicCharlie468 karma
Will the Senate confirm Merrick Garland as a Supreme Court justice?
UNU_AMA197 karma
UNU says: "Yes"
Comment: UNU showed reasonably high conviction on this question. Replay and analysis available here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41440
isitARTyet417 karma
Ideologically speaking does Bernie Sanders have more in common with Jill Stein or Hillary Clinton?
UNU_AMA472 karma
UNU SAYS: Jill Stein
You can see a replay of UNU answering this here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41994
UNU_AMA609 karma
UNU Says: YES
Commentary: well, obviously.
Replays and analysis available here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41839
hanzus1394 karma
Who would lead the nation best in the event of a zombie apocalypse? Bernie, Hillary or Donald?
UNU_AMA535 karma
UNU SAYS: "BERNIE SANDERS"
COMMENTARY: UNU was torn between Sanders and Trump, but ultimately made up his mind with high conviction - SANDERS. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41680
UNU_AMA610 karma
UNU SAYS: I doubt it
COMMENTARY: UNU had moderate conviction on this point. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41896
UNU_AMA545 karma
UNU SAYS: "I doubt it"
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41643
UNU_AMA408 karma
UNU SAYS: "I DOUBT IT"
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41756
jimbofisher2010323 karma
Hello robot. What are the chances that Hillary Clinto faces legal charges for her use of a personal email account and server during her time as Secretary of State?
UNU_AMA448 karma
UNU SAYS: HILLARY WILL NOT FACE CHARGES for EMAIL
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed very high conviction on this point. You can see a replay of UNU answering this here: http://go.unu.ai/r/42004
Doomfire00289 karma
Do Trump supporters believe Trump will actually follow through on his more extraordinary promises, (like the wall) or do they just like the man because of what he represents?
UNU_AMA466 karma
UNU SAYS: "Like What He Represents"
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41614
Jorgwalther258 karma
Will India and Pakistan engage in a Nuclear War within the next 10 years?
UNU_AMA217 karma
UNU SAYS: NO
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/42243
Bob_85233 karma
What's the likelihood of a state seceding from the US over the next couple of decades?
UNU_AMA271 karma
UNU SAYS: 0%
Commentary: UNU says it's very unlikely. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/42171
speedx5xracer170 karma
Will we see the vacant US supreme court seat filled before January 2017?
UNU_AMA153 karma
UNU SAYS: NO
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41717
UNU_AMA192 karma
UNU says: "YES"
Commentary: 100% brainpower reflects a decisive belief. Replay and analysis available here: http://go.unu.ai/r/42219
UNU_AMA182 karma
UNU SAYS: $2.60
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41421
UNU_AMA191 karma
UNU SAYS: BERNIE
You can sere a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41871
UNU_AMA71 karma
UNU SAYS: YES
COMMENTARY: UNU was torn on this point, but converged upon YES - Hillary is likely to impose more gun laws. You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/42236
Dandra56 karma
Hi UNU! Do you think we'll see gun control in the United States during the next presidential term(s) on a federal level?
UNU_AMA78 karma
UNU SAYS: I doubt it
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed high conviction on this point. You can see a replay of UNU answering this here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41521
UNU_AMA93 karma
UNU Says: TOTALLY DISAGREE
Commentary: UNU was fairly decisive here, reaching an answer in seconds. You can see the replay and analysis here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41714
Hmolds25 karma
Hi UNU. Do you think the next president will be reelected? I fear 4 years of either Trump or Hillary is more than enough.
UNU_AMA32 karma
UNU SAYS: I doubt it
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41707
UNU_AMA30 karma
UNU SAYS: RISE
COMMENTARY: UNU had strong conviction around this point.
You can see a replay here: http://go.unu.ai/r/42096
UNU_AMA25 karma
Hello u/thewolfest...why not both? :)
Take heart, though - our research quite clearly points to swarms being more moral than individuals. In fact, we'll be making a video about this very question in the coming weeks and will share widely.
UNU_AMA14 karma
UNU SAYS: "I don't believe"
COMMENTARY: UNU expressed high conviction in this answer. You can see a replay of UNU answering this here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41826
UNU_AMA13 karma
UNU SAYS: "HIGHER"
You can see a replay of UNU answering this question here: http://go.unu.ai/r/41731
bomi3ster2756 karma
Is Hillary Clinton crooked?
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