Month: January 2019

Bronzed person wearing virtual reality glasses

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News
Date
January 31, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Factors, Technocracy

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, ET, Extraterrestrials, Featured, Mike Keas, religion, Singularity, The Singularity, Unbelievable (book)}

AI as an Emergent Religion

_{Science philosopher Mike Keas’s new book discusses how AI and ET are merging, to create a religion of futurist magic} _{News
January 31, 2019

4

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Factors, Technocracy}

Many Singulatarians hold that their soon-to-be-realized technology will be indistinguishable by the rest of us from magic. Are they serious? Well, in 2005, Kurzweil said that the magical Harry Potter stories “are not unreasonable visions of our world as it will exist only a few decades from now.” when, due to AI, “the entire universe will become saturated with our intelligence.” Keas warns that this type of thing encourages people “to expect the experiential equivalent of occult phenomena.”

STEM EDUCATION 2. Not Everyone Is Lucky Enough to be a Nerd

_{How do you identify extroverted nerds? When you are talking to them, they look at YOUR shoes} _{Robert J. Marks
January 29, 2019

7

Social Factors, Work}

If I am made to confess that college courses in Shakespearean sonnets will make me a better person, then English literature majors had better confess that calculus makes them better people. Read More ›

Scrabble pieces with numbers and letters

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Brendan Dixon
Date
January 29, 2019

Categorized
Machine Learning, Social Factors

Tagged
Algorithms, causation, Correlation, criminal justice, It's a Wonderful Life (film), Machine Learning}

The Numbers Don’t Speak for Themselves

_{The patterns uncovered by machine learning may reflect a larger reality or just a bias in gathering data} _{Brendan Dixon
January 29, 2019

5

Machine Learning, Social Factors}

Because Machine Learning is opaque—even experts cannot clearly explain how a system arrived at a conclusion—we treat it as magic. Therefore, we should mistrust the systems until proven innocent (and correct).

The Junk Science of the Abortion Lobby

_{Fetuses not only experience pain but experience it more intensely than do adults} _{Michael Egnor
January 28, 2019

5

Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience}

Much of pro-abortion advocacy is science denial—the deliberate misrepresentation of science to advance an ideological agenda. Mary Ziegler, a law professor at Florida State University, wrote a misleading essay on that theme in the New York Times, “Science won’t end this debate” (January 22, 2019). Read More ›

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Brendan Dixon
Date
January 28, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Technocracy

Tagged
Deep Learning, Featured, intelligence, Machine Vision}

Artificial Intelligence Is Actually Superficial Intelligence

_{The confusing ways the word “intelligence” is used belie the differences between human intelligence and machine sophistication} _{Brendan Dixon
January 28, 2019

6

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Technocracy}

Words often have more meaning than we hear at first. Consider colors. We associate green with verdant, healthy life and red with prohibition and danger. But these inferences are not embedded in the basic meaning of “red” or “green.” They are cultural accretions we attach to words that enable the richness of language. That, by the way, is one reason why legal documents and technical papers are so difficult to read. The terms used are stripped clean of such baggage, requiring additional words to fill the gaps. The word “intelligent” is like that. Saying that a computer, or a program, is intelligent can lead us down a rabbit hole of extra meaning. An honest researcher merely means the computer has Read More ›

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News
Date
January 25, 2019

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
biomechanics, kinesiology, motion tracking, Orobates pabsti, paleontology, reverse engineering, robotics}

It Takes a Smart Robot to Mimic a Reptile

_{When researchers built a robot to sprawl like a prehistoric reptile, they were in for a surprise} _{News
January 25, 2019

4

Natural Intelligence}

Orobates’ skeleton was “exquisitely preserved,” which created an excellent opportunity for researchers in paleontology to try to figure out how the lizard-like animal moved. And reverse engineering its movements can tell us a lot about how it lived. Read More ›

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Winston Ewert
Date
January 25, 2019

Categorized
Social Factors, Work

Tagged
Automation, employment, Featured, Job Displacement, Luddites, Unemployment}

Remember the Luddites!

_{The Luddites became famous for breaking machinery during the Industrial Revolution. Were they entirely wrong?} _{Winston Ewert
January 25, 2019

7

Social Factors, Work}

People often think that the Luddites were merely anti-technology because they opposed automation during the Industrial Revolution (1760–1840). The story is more complex. As we face increasing automation today, we might want to see what we can learn from their history. Read More ›

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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 24, 2019

Categorized
Machine Learning

Tagged
Featured, Machine Learning, Reinforcement learning, Supervised Learning, Unsupervised Learning}

Part 1: Navigating the Machine Learning Landscape

_{To choose the right type of machine learning model for your project, you need to answer a few specific questions} _{Jonathan Bartlett
January 24, 2019

6

Machine Learning}

Most machine learning systems fall into three main categories—supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning. The choice of system depends first on which category of machine learning best addresses your situation. Read More ›

Mission Control Center (MCC), Houston, Texas, during the Gemini 5 flight.

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Robert J. Marks
Date
January 23, 2019

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Work

Tagged
employment, Engineering, Featured, Nerds, STEM fields, Technology, Work}

STEM EDUCATION 1. Pursuing Nerd Quality Over Nerd Quantity

_{Reducing math and science to practice is what engineers do. Scientists didn’t put a man on the moon. Engineers did.} _{Robert J. Marks
January 23, 2019

6

Artificial Intelligence, Work}

Overall, computer applications will impact our society and culture as much as electricity did. And we’re living smack in the middle of the transformation. Read More ›

Attendees listening to talk at conference

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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 21, 2019

Categorized
Events

Tagged
AI Conferences, AI Nextcon, AWS re:Invent, IBM Think, TechCrunch Robotics+AI, The O'Reilly AI Conference}

Boost Your AI Knowledge and Skills at 2019’s Most Promising Conferences

_{Are you a software developer or business leader? Here’s where you want to be this year} _{Jonathan Bartlett
January 21, 2019

3

Events}

Do you ever feel frustrated when you hear about significant AI developments and you can’t be sure how — or whether — they relate to your organization? Are you missing out? Will a competitor “get it” ahead of your firm? The best strategy is to take a bit of time to get to know the technology, the companies, the people, and the ideas personally. Read More ›

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Eric Holloway
Date
January 21, 2019

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
ethics, Human value, Instrumental value, Intrinsic value, money}

The Creative Spark

_{An information theory justification for the intrinsic value of human beings} _{Eric Holloway
January 21, 2019

5

Ethics, Philosophy of Mind}

Because creativity is unique to humans and irreducible, all human beings have the ability in principle. The fact that a particular human being’s creativity is not in use or is perhaps unusable at present does not mean that that person does not have the ability. Consequently, all humans have at least latent intrinsic instrumental value. Read More ›

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 21, 2019

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Anna Buckley, Daniel Dennett, David Bentley Hart, David Papineau, Featured, John Horgan, Michael Egnor, Thomas Nagel}

Has Science Shown That Consciousness Is Only an Illusion?

_{Using clever analogies, Philosopher Daniel Dennett argues that consciousness is all smoke and mirrors} _{Denyse O'Leary
January 21, 2019

8

Philosophy of Mind}

British philosopher Papineau recommends taking Dennett’s theories “with a pinch of salt.” American essayist David Bentley Hart is less charitable: “Daniel Dennett’s latest book marks five decades of majestic failure to explain consciousness” Read More ›

Market with hundreds of stalls from above

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Winston Ewert
Date
January 18, 2019

Categorized
Technocracy, Work

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, Central Planning, Featured, free market, Machine Learning, Universal Basic Income}

Will the Free Market Help or Hurt Us in an AI-Empowered World?

_{We may need new institutions, such as insurance against job obsolescence} _{Winston Ewert
January 18, 2019

6

Technocracy, Work}

If humans are free to experiment with new institutions, I believe we will find an excellent solution. However, there is a great danger that those who benefit from the status quo will use their influence to prevent the adoption of new institutions. Read More ›

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News
Date
January 17, 2019

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Creativity, Machine Learning, Work

Tagged
Artwork, Ben Dickson, Creativity, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Portraiture}

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?} _{News
January 17, 2019

5

Arts & Culture, Creativity, Machine Learning, Work}

Rather than announce that human artists are now doomed, software engineer Ben Dixon interviewed a number of them and came away with a rather different picture, that “AI-generated art will improve, but artistic creativity will remain a human discipline.”

How Can Consciousness Be a Material Thing?

_{Maybe it can’t. But materialist philosophers face starkly limited choices in how to view consciousness} _{Denyse O'Leary
January 16, 2019

7

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

In analytical philosopher Galen Strawson’s opinion, our childhood memories of pancakes on Saturday, for example, are—and must be—"wholly physical." Read More ›

Worker in blue uniform cleaning graffiti

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News
Date
January 15, 2019

Categorized
Social Factors, Technocracy

Tagged
censorship, Facebook, Featured, Rachel Alexander, Southern Poverty Law Center}

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} _{News
January 15, 2019

4

Social Factors, Technocracy}

Censorship is part of the larger question of whether social media are the telephone company (a communications platform), the newspaper (a publisher), or unregulated private klatsches. Or something else altogether? Read More ›

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News
Date
January 14, 2019

Categorized
Data Privacy, Technocracy

Tagged
Ad personalization, Advertising, Anonymity, Big Data, Deanonymizing data, Featured, Privacy, Security}

Your Phone Knows Everything Now

_{And in a world where no data is anonymous, yours may be sold to the highest bidder} _{News
January 14, 2019

7

Data Privacy, Technocracy}

Your location can be a useful guide to your buying habits, whether or not you want to buy anything or think anyone has any business snooping on you to find out. Read More ›

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News
Date
January 14, 2019

Categorized
Ethics, Social Factors

Tagged
fake news, Featured, Information, journalism, Retraction, retractions, Social Factors, social media, studies, truth}

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.} _{News
January 14, 2019

5

Ethics, Social Factors}

A team from the Shanghai Institute of Technology sought to study whether accuracy made any difference to whether a post goes viral on social media. They cited a concern about “the digital misinformation that threatens our democracy.” Read More ›

Amoebae move and feed by using pseudopods, which are bulges of cytoplasm formed by the coordinated action of actin microfilaments pushing out the plasma membrane that surrounds the cell.

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News
Date
January 11, 2019

Categorized
Machine Learning, Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Amoebas, Animal Minds, Machine Learning, Slime mold, Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP)}

Is an Amoeba Smarter Than Your Computer?

_{Hype aside, the microbe’s math skills ace the Traveling Salesman problem and may help with cybersecurity} _{News
January 11, 2019

6

Machine Learning, Natural Intelligence}

When we hear hype about machines that will soon out-think people, we might put it in perspective by recalling that we still struggle to build a machine that can out-think amoebas looking for crumbs. Read More ›

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Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 10, 2019

Categorized
Machine Learning, Social Factors

Tagged
2018 AI Hype, Featured, hype, Machine Learning, Street maps}

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.} _{Jonathan Bartlett
January 10, 2019

6

Machine Learning, Social Factors}

I have a problem with the possible outcomes when people who don’t know the difference between technology fact and fiction make important decisions based on information from journalists who write as if every computer is a potential personality like HAL from Space Odyssey 2001. Read More ›