[Tyler]

Scientists claim that an iron bar can make 'decisions'
25 August 2015, 12:00 am

                    The ability to make decisions is seen as one of the most important intellectual abilities for humans and animals. Now Japanese scientists claim that an inanimate objects such as an iron bar is capable of gathering information about its surroundings to make a 'decision' too.

Daily Mail - Sciencetech (UK)Link

Source: AI in the News

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[ranch vermin]

I guess so,  its a transistor, or switch, weve had them for ages.

[squarebear]

This is a non news story. Did anyone read it?

Scientists claim that iron bars can pick out slot machines likely to win.

Take 2 slot machines and play on one. If you lose, move the iron bar closer to the second machine. If you win, move it nearer to the first machine. The one it is nearer is the one most likely to win!

This is absolute nonsense. It's the person moving the bar that has the intelligence. Is this a late April Fools joke??

[Freddy]

Yep I read it - I thought it was an April Fools joke straight away too.

It seems a bit strange to me what they are claiming - the iron bar does not have intelligence - you could move anything in place of the bar, a chicken even. It's more like an abacus than anything intelligent.

[Don Patrick]

Ehh, the only bit of reason I can offer is that there is a cultural belief in Japan that all things have something of a soul or spirit. It is not a scientific thing however.

[squarebear]

It does seem a very odd story but is on a reputable newspaper site rather than a joke website.

I compare it to a prisoner carving a tally into a wall of how many days he has been in jail and then claiming that the wall is intelligent because it can be used to see how long he has been in prison. Pure nonsense.