IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:

https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/

Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...

Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)

Perhaps what VMS really needs is a Genuine People Personality
so that it can execute DCL commands in a cheerful and sunny way
and then return to the command prompt with the satisfaction of
a job well done... :-)

Simon.

--
Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.

On Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:17:51 AM UTC-4, Simon Clubley wrote:
> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
>
> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
>
> Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...
>
> Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)
>
> Perhaps what VMS really needs is a Genuine People Personality
> so that it can execute DCL commands in a cheerful and sunny way
> and then return to the command prompt with the satisfaction of
> a job well done... :-)
>
> Simon.
>
> --
> Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
> Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.

Sounds like we need to port Clippy to OpenVMS!

On Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:26:01 AM UTC-4, John Reagan wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:17:51 AM UTC-4, Simon Clubley wrote:
> > IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
> >
> > https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
> >
> > Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...
> >
> > Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)
> >
> > Perhaps what VMS really needs is a Genuine People Personality
> > so that it can execute DCL commands in a cheerful and sunny way
> > and then return to the command prompt with the satisfaction of
> > a job well done... :-)
> >
> > Simon.
> >
> > --
> > Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
> > Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.
> Sounds like we need to port Clippy to OpenVMS!

John,

I just ate breakfast. Surely you are jesting. Certainly not Clippy. Horrible in so many ways.

However, porting an LLM, either organically, or through partner(s) would be a way to integrate the technology.

The challenge is how to access GPU processors from an OpenVMS system, particularly a virtualized OpenVMS instance. The best way is physical hardware, I did some work in this genre back in the VAX and PDP-11 days with graphic and signal processor add ons. The virtual machine monitors probably have a way to get to the GPU, but a separate GPU class/port driver would probably be needed. It is an interesting idea, but it needs to be done carefully so that it is not a dead end.

Such access would also be useful for non-AI situations, e.g., simulation and image processing.

- Bob Gezelter, http://www.rlgsc.com

On 09/08/2023 13:25, John Reagan wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:17:51 AM UTC-4, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
>>
>> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
>>
>> Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...
>>
>> Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)
>>
>> Perhaps what VMS really needs is a Genuine People Personality
>> so that it can execute DCL commands in a cheerful and sunny way
>> and then return to the command prompt with the satisfaction of
>> a job well done... :-)
>>
>> Simon.
>>
>> --
>> Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
>> Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.
>
> Sounds like we need to port Clippy to OpenVMS!

Don't know about breakfast, but I nearly spayed coffee over my keyboard!

--
Chris

In article <ub005b$3uj2f$1@dont-email.me>,
clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP (Simon Clubley) wrote:

> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/

There seem to be two parts to that:

Software that enables the use, if not construction, of LLMs. The main
purpose for that presumably is to let mainframe people defend their
systems to management as being modern.

Applying that to z/OS system management. The latter can be ferociously
complicated, and automating it would be attractive to customers, rather
like the "expert system" that was used at DEC for a while for working out
all the parts needed for large VAX systems.

John

In article <b966b1d7-136f-44b5-a367-7f260a7491dan@googlegroups.com>,
gezelter@rlgsc.com (Bob Gezelter) wrote:

> The challenge is how to access GPU processors from an OpenVMS
> system, particularly a virtualized OpenVMS instance. The best way
> is physical hardware, I did some work in this genre back in the VAX
> and PDP-11 days with graphic and signal processor add ons. The
> virtual machine monitors probably have a way to get to the GPU, but
> a separate GPU class/port driver would probably be needed. It is an
> interesting idea, but it needs to be done carefully so that it is
> not a dead end.

Here's an easy way, but it's probably a dead end. Qualcomm's high-end
SoCs for Android 'phones have additional processors intended for current
styles of AI. You can buy mains-powered single-board computers with them
on for about $1600, and they talk fast over USB-C.

John

On 8/9/2023 12:16 PM, John Dallman wrote:
> In article <ub005b$3uj2f$1@dont-email.me>,
> clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP (Simon Clubley) wrote:
>> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
>> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
>
> There seem to be two parts to that:
>
> Software that enables the use, if not construction, of LLMs. The main
> purpose for that presumably is to let mainframe people defend their
> systems to management as being modern.

The linked https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/announcements/ai-system-services-zos
has a little more detail:

<quote>
AI System Services for IBM z/OS 1.1 is designed to do the following:

Provide the following two major capabilities of the AI Framework
for IBM z/OS:
A Data Collection engine that delivers a common way to ingest,
filter, and collect IT data intended to be used for AI model training
and to perform inference. It parses and collects the raw IT data, and
streams it to the data store, an AI Framework for IBM z/OS component
that holds data to train the AI models and data to be used for inference
purposes. The AI Framework for IBM z/OS uses IBM Z Common Data Provider
(ZCDP) as the data collection engine.
An AI model server that provides a set of capabilities used to
operationalize AI models by use case providers. It focuses on training
the prebuilt models or AI model training applications with your data to
take your data patterns into consideration, deploy the trained model,
and apply inference and AI model management, including model quality
monitoring, retraining, and versioning capabilities. The AI model server
leverages IBM Watson® Machine Learning for z/OS Core edition (WMLz Core).
</quote>

looks pretty serious to me.

Arne

On 8/9/2023 8:17 AM, Simon Clubley wrote:
> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
>
> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
>
> Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...
>
> Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)

VSI has a lot of very core stuff to get done. WIthout
any distractions.

AI? No thanks.
Blockchain? No thanks.
Desktop env? No thanks.
Anything not relevant for mainstream business servers? No thanks.

Arne

On 8/9/23 7:25 AM, John Reagan wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:17:51 AM UTC-4, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
>>
>> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
>>
>> Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...
>>
>> Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)
>>
>> Perhaps what VMS really needs is a Genuine People Personality
>> so that it can execute DCL commands in a cheerful and sunny way
>> and then return to the command prompt with the satisfaction of
>> a job well done... :-)
>>
>> Simon.
>>
>> --
>> Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
>> Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.
>
> Sounds like we need to port Clippy to OpenVMS!

And, obviously, rebranded from Clippy the Paperclip to Vernon the Shark.

On 8/9/23 12:25, John Reagan wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:17:51 AM UTC-4, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
>>
>> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
>>
>> Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...
>>
>> Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)
>>
>> Perhaps what VMS really needs is a Genuine People Personality
>> so that it can execute DCL commands in a cheerful and sunny way
>> and then return to the command prompt with the satisfaction of
>> a job well done... :-)
>>
>> Simon.
>>
>> --
>> Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
>> Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.
>
> Sounds like we need to port Clippy to OpenVMS!

Almost embarrassng to admit you know what that means :-). Almost as bad
as having a hotmail account...

On Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 6:33:11 PM UTC-4, chrisq wrote:
> On 8/9/23 12:25, John Reagan wrote:
> > On Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:17:51 AM UTC-4, Simon Clubley wrote:
> >> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
> >>
> >> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
> >>
> >> Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...
> >>
> >> Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)
> >>
> >> Perhaps what VMS really needs is a Genuine People Personality
> >> so that it can execute DCL commands in a cheerful and sunny way
> >> and then return to the command prompt with the satisfaction of
> >> a job well done... :-)
> >>
> >> Simon.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
> >> Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.
> >
> > Sounds like we need to port Clippy to OpenVMS!
> Almost embarrassng to admit you know what that means :-). Almost as bad
> as having a hotmail account...

Yeah, when they shut down, I lost my MasterOfBLISS@hotmail.com /s

Is it too late to start my new Twitch stream of "BLISS Poetry Jam"?

On 8/11/2023 2:49 PM, John Reagan wrote:
> On Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 6:33:11 PM UTC-4, chrisq wrote:
>> Almost as bad
>> as having a hotmail account...
>
> Yeah, when they shut down, I lost my MasterOfBLISS@hotmail.com /s

Shutdown??

I believe hotmail.com addresses work fine even though the
service has been renamed a few times hotmail.com -> live.com -> outlook.com.

Arne

On 8/11/2023 2:49 PM, John Reagan wrote:
> On Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 6:33:11 PM UTC-4, chrisq wrote:
>> On 8/9/23 12:25, John Reagan wrote:
>>> On Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 8:17:51 AM UTC-4, Simon Clubley wrote:
>>>> IBM have decided to start adding AI functionality to z/OS itself:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/09/ibm_z_os_upgrade/
>>>>
>>>> Could be interesting (and maybe in unexpected ways)...
>>>>
>>>> Maybe VSI could do the same to VMS. :-)
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps what VMS really needs is a Genuine People Personality
>>>> so that it can execute DCL commands in a cheerful and sunny way
>>>> and then return to the command prompt with the satisfaction of
>>>> a job well done... :-)
>>>>
>>>> Simon.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
>>>> Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.
>>>
>>> Sounds like we need to port Clippy to OpenVMS!
>> Almost embarrassng to admit you know what that means :-). Almost as bad
>> as having a hotmail account...
>
> Yeah, when they shut down, I lost my MasterOfBLISS@hotmail.com /s

When they shut down what? I have and use daily a hotmail.com address.

>
> Is it too late to start my new Twitch stream of "BLISS Poetry Jam"?

bill