Latest Articles
Will the Free Market Help or Hurt Us in an AI-Empowered World?
We may need new institutions, such as insurance against job obsolescence
Does AI Art Spell the End of the Artist’s Way of Life?
An AI-produced painting sold at auction for $432,500. But is it a trend or just a novelty?
Facebook’s Secret Censorship Rules Expose a Key Problem
Most moderators are not skilled and have only a few seconds to decide on a post
Your Phone Knows Everything Now
And in a world where no data is anonymous, yours may be sold to the highest bidder
Research Showing That Fake News Easily Fools Us Collapses
A recent paper claiming that low-quality news (“fake news”) spreads as quickly on social media as accurate news has been retracted by its authors.
Is an Amoeba Smarter Than Your Computer?
Hype aside, the microbe’s math skills ace the Traveling Salesman problem and may help with cybersecurity
It’s 2019: Begin the AI Hype Cycle Again!
Media seemingly can’t help portraying today’s high-tech world as a remake of I, Robot (2004), starring you and me.
Consciousness Studies Is a “Bizarre” Field of Science
The question of whether machines can be conscious is bound up with attempts to study immaterial things while denying their existence
Researchers: Deep Learning Vision Is Very Different from Human Vision
Mistaking a teapot shape for a golf ball, due to surface features, is one striking example from a recent open-access paper
Can an Algorithm Be Racist?
No, the machine has no opinion. It processes vast tracts of data. And, as a result, the troubling hidden roots of some data are exposed
How Can Information Theory Help the Economy Grow?
New information is the true source of new wealth; everyone wins when we learn how to produce it more efficiently
1: IBM’s Watson Is NOT Our New Computer Overlord
AI help, not hype: It won at Jeopardy (with specially chosen “softball” questions) but is not the hoped-for aid to cancer specialists
2: AI Can Write Novels and Screenplays Better than the Pros!
AI help, not hype: Software can automatically generate word sequences based on material fed in from existing scripts. But with what result?
In One Sense, Consciousness IS an Illusion…
We have no knowledge of the processes of our consciousness, only of the objects of its attention, whether they are physical, emotional, or abstract
3: With Mind-Reading AI, You Will Never Have Secrets Again!
AI help, not hype, with Robert J. Marks: Did you read about the flap they had to cut out of a volunteer’s skull?
Can Big Data Beat the Humans Who Compile It?
A computer pioneer bets no: Human intelligence augmented by artificial intelligence will always beat artificial intelligence alone. Is he right?
4: Making AI Look More Human Makes It More Human-like!
AI help, not hype, with Robert J. Marks: Technicians can do a lot these days with automated lip-syncs and smiles but what’s behind them?
How Can We Measure Meaningful Information?
Neither randomness nor order alone creates meaning. So how can we identify communications?
5: AI Can Fight Hate Speech!
AI can carry out its programmers’ biases and that’s all
6: AI Can Even Exploit Loopholes in the Code!
AI adopts a solution in an allowed set, maybe not the one you expected
