Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

Yearly Archive 2020

social-media-facebook-dis-like-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Social media facebook dis-like
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 24, 2020
Categorized
Data Privacy, Social Media
Tagged
, , , ,

Facebook Goes After Research Group Studying Its Ad Policies

The researchers received information from volunteers in order to study apparent violations of ad policies during the recent U.S. election
News
November 24, 2020
4
Data Privacy, Social Media

Facebook, one of the most ambitious companies in modern history—it is, after all, contemplating its own currency—is also trying to shut down an academic research group it doesn’t Like. The Ad Observatory, a project of NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, monitors ads on Facebook. In the most recent American election, they studied “Which candidates, super PACS, and dark money groups are spending most on Facebook advertising nationwide? What topics do they emphasize and what objectives do they seek to achieve with ads?” The project asked volunteers to install a plugin, Ad Observer, that automatically scrapes ads presented on Facebook and sends them in. Why does it matter? Because most of us see only a small proportion of the ads that Read More ›

robot-close-up-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Robot Close Up
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 23, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Military
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

AI Is Not Nearly Smart Enough to Morph Into the Terminator

Computer engineering prof Robert J. Marks offers some illustrations in an ITIF think tank interview
News
November 23, 2020
6
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Military

In a recent podcast, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks spoke with Robert D.Atkinson and Jackie Whisman at the prominent AI think tank, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, about his recent book, The Case for Killer Robots—a plea for American military brass to see that AI is an inevitable part of modern defense strategies, to be managed rather than avoided. It may be downloaded free here. In this second part ( here’s Part 1), the discussion (starts at 6:31) turned to what might happen if AI goes “rogue.” The three parties agreed that AI isn’t nearly smart enough to turn into the Terminator: Jackie Whisman: Well, opponents of so-called killer robots, of course argue that the technologies can’t be Read More ›

jellybean-candy-in-a-jar-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Jellybean Candy in a Jar
Type
post
Author
Gary Smith
Date
November 23, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance, Economics, Mathematics
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Wisdom of Crowds: Are Crowds Really Wiser Than Individuals?

According to the theory, with a large number of guessers, the median number is very likely to be close to the true value
Gary Smith
November 23, 2020
9
Business and Finance, Economics, Mathematics

Statistician Sir Francis Galton went to a country fair in 1907 where a prize was to be awarded to the person who made the most accurate guess of the butchered weight of an ox that was on display. Galton collected and analyzed the 787 guesses and, not surprisingly, found that some guesses were far too high and others were much too low. However, the average guess (1,197 pounds) was only 1 pound lower than the actual weight (1,198 pounds). The average was more accurate than the guesses of the vast majority of both the amateurs and the experts. In the 1980s, a finance professor named Jack Treynor (1930–2016) performed a similar, and now legendary, experiment with jelly beans. Professor Treynor Read More ›

girl-solving-mathematical-addition-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Girl solving mathematical addition
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 23, 2020
Categorized
Education, Mathematics
Tagged
,

How Can We Really Fix the Way Math Is Taught?

First, we must understand why we teach math in the first place
Jonathan Bartlett
November 23, 2020
4
Education, Mathematics

Many people recognize that there are problems with modern mathematics curricula. However, the solutions proposed by current would-be math reformers are, I fear, worse than the cure. Some reformers want to stop having kids memorize their arithmetic facts, some want kids to just use computers to solve their problems, others think that the way we teach mathematics is racist, and still others seem to want to just greatly reduce the quantity of math education altogether. In this first part of a four-part series of short posts, I want to look at the most basic question: Why do we teach math? Earlier this month, an article by Yoree Koh in the Wall Street Journal took a look at the “Movement to Read More ›

not-a-word-inside-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Not a Word Inside
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 22, 2020
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , , ,

A Philosopher Writes in Praise of Anxiety

It is part of the ability to think about life in a human way
News
November 22, 2020
3
Philosophy of Mind

Yes, you read that right. Samir Chopra (pictured) thinks that anxiety is not a pathology but part of the ability to think about life in a human way. Chopra, author with Laurence White of A Legal Theory for Autonomous Artificial Agents (2011), writes, Humans are philosophising animals precisely because we are the anxious animal: not a creature of the present, but regretful about the past and fearful of the future. We philosophise to understand our past, to make our future more comprehensible. The unknown produces a distinctive unease; enquiry and the material and psychic tools it yields provide relief. Where anxiety underwrites enquiry, we claim that the success of the enquiry removes anxiety and is pleasurably anticipated. Enquiry comes to Read More ›

collection-of-alien-planets-in-front-of-the-milky-way-galaxy-nearby-exoplanets-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
collection of alien planets in front of the Milky Way galaxy, nearby exoplanets
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 22, 2020
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science
Tagged
, , , , , , , , ,

Why Search for Extraterrestrial Life? Why Not Make It Ourselves?

A NASA astrobiologist’s bold suggestion is likely to spark debate
News
November 22, 2020
4
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science

Recently, we have been looking at the question of why we don’t see aliens, with as many as 75 hypotheses offered. But one astrobiologist has a bold suggestion: Why not just seed life on various suitable exoplanets, once we have the means to do it? We need not search for extraterrestrial life if we can learn how to create it ourselves. There are a lot of reasons to think very carefully about doing something like that, as Betül Kaçar (pictured), director of the NASA Astrobiology Consortium MUSE, acknowledges: Rather than regarding the overwhelming majority of planets and moons as failures unworthy of further study, we should instead recognise them for what they are: they’re not empty. In fact, a very Read More ›

alien-arrival-on-planet-earth-full-moon-rises-above-the-horizon-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Alien arrival on planet Earth, full moon rises above the horizon
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 21, 2020
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science
Tagged
, , ,

Particle Physicist Offers 75 Reasons We Don’t See Aliens

But Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute gives high odds that we are the only intelligent beings in the galaxy
News
November 21, 2020
8
Arts & Culture, Science

Recently, we’ve been looking at Matt Williams’s admirable collection of hypotheses as to why we do not see intelligent extraterrestrials, despite the size of our universe. But particle physicist Stephen Webb collected many more such theses, in a book published in 2002, If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens … WHERE IS EVERYBODY?: Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life (2002). A revised edition was published by Springer, a big science publisher, in 2015, offering 75 hypotheses. Webb calls his collection of hypotheses the “Fermi solutions,” in honor of Italian physicist Enrico Fermi (1901–1954), whose famous question was “Where are They?” “Fermi realized that any civilization with a modest amount of rocket technology and an Read More ›

cat-looking-to-little-gerbil-mouse-on-the-table-concept-of-prey-food-pest-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Cat looking to little gerbil mouse on the table. Concept of prey, food, pest.
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 20, 2020
Categorized
Information Theory, Neuroscience, Science
Tagged
, , , , , , , , ,

Can We Find Purpose in a Universe With No Underlying Purpose?

That’s the ambitious goal of a prominent science writer
Denyse O'Leary
November 20, 2020
8
Information Theory, Neuroscience, Science

British science writer Philip Ball offers us a guide to a very interesting project: an attempt to “naturalize” the idea of agency, that is, make the desire to do things—the mouse’s desire to escape the cat— explainable from a fully materialist perspective. That’s much harder than it seems. Rocks don’t desire anything. So we can’t just start from the bottom. It’s also not enough to say that the mouse wants to avoid getting killed. That’s true but it doesn’t really explain anything. For example, a person looks both ways before crossing the street to avoid getting run over. But, by itself, that doesn’t explain why she tries to avoid getting run over. One must factor in her memory, background knowledge, Read More ›

swarm-of-drones-surveying-flying-over-city-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Swarm of drones surveying, flying over city
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 20, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Military
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , ,

Is the U.S. Military Falling Behind in Artificial Intelligence?

What is the likely outcome of allowing those with very different value systems to have control of global AI warfare technology?
News
November 20, 2020
7
Artificial Intelligence, Military

In a recent podcast, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks spoke with Robert D. Atkinson and Jackie Whisman at the prominent AI think tank, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, about his recent book, The Case for Killer Robots—a plea for American military brass to see that AI is an inevitable part of modern defense strategies, to be managed rather than avoided. (The book may be downloaded free here.) As they jointly see the problem, There’s a lot of doomsday hype around artificial intelligence in general, and the idea of so-called “killer robots” has been especially controversial. But when it comes to the ethics of these technologies, one can argue that robots actually could be more ethical than human operators. Read More ›

twisted-clock-face-time-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Twisted clock face. Time concept
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 19, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

Do Time and Space Mean the Same Thing to Humans as to Computers?

Futurist George Gilder tells us, humans don’t treat physical and chemical forces or clock pulses the way computers do
News
November 19, 2020
5
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Recently, we have looked at four of the six assumptions that, according to futurist George Gilder in Gaming AI, are generally shared by those who believe that, sometime soon in a Singularity , we will merge with our machines: Four of them are: 1) The brain is a computer and Big Data is a Big Answer (here) and 2) maps are territories and reality follows our rules (here). Now here are the final two: • The Locality Assumption: Actions of human agents reflect only immediate physical forces impinging directly on them. • The Digital Time Assumption: Time is objective and measured by discrete increments. (p. 50) Gilder tells us that the Locality Assumption means that “minds respond to local inputs Read More ›

the-universe-inside-us-the-profile-of-a-young-woman-and-space-the-effect-of-double-exposure-scientific-concept-the-brain-and-creativity-elements-of-this-image-furnished-by-nasa-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
The universe inside us, the profile of a young woman and space, the effect of double exposure. scientific concept. The brain and creativity. Elements of this image furnished by NASA
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 18, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience, Science
Tagged
, , ,

Study: The Human Brain and the Universe Are Remarkably Similar

It looks as though the universe is not random but rather patterned in the way it unfolds
News
November 18, 2020
3
Neuroscience, Science

Recently, Franco Vazza, an astrophysicist at the University of Bologna and Alberto Felleti, a neurosurgeon at the University of Verona, decided to compare the network of human brain cells and the network of galaxies in our universe. Even though the universe is 27 orders of magnitude bigger than a single human brain, remarkable similarities emerged: The human brain functions thanks to its wide neuronal network that is deemed to contain approximately 69 billion neurons. On the other hand, the observable universe is composed of a cosmic web of at least 100 billion galaxies. Within both systems, only 30% of their masses are composed of galaxies and neurons. Within both systems, galaxies and neurons arrange themselves in long filaments or nodes Read More ›

a-mouse-with-a-tree-green-it-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
a mouse with a tree / green it
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 18, 2020
Categorized
Economics, Global Technology
Tagged
, , , , , , , ,

Could Carbon Computing Make Computers More Environment Friendly?

As a key component of life forms, carbon is abundant and energy efficient
News
November 18, 2020
6
Economics, Global Technology

Carbon, a very abundant chemical element, is one of the building blocks of life, partly on account of its stability. It is a minimalist element, compared to the silicon used in computing today: … carbon dioxide is is a small gaseous molecule consisting of two oxygens both forming a double bond with a single carbon while silicon dioxide is a massive behemoth of a molecule made of huge numbers of alternating oxygen and silicon atoms and is more commonly known as sand. S. E. Gould, “Shine on you crazy diamond: why humans are carbon-based lifeforms” at Scientific American (November 11, 2012) But there’s something else about carbon. As George Gilder puts it, carbon-based life forms, like humans, consume very little Read More ›

autonomous-vehicles-on-highway-with-self-driving-cars-sensing-environment-by-radar-and-operating-safely-on-speedway-thanks-to-artificial-intelligence-and-control-systems-automated-transport-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Autonomous vehicles on highway with self driving cars sensing environment by radar and operating safely on speedway thanks to artificial intelligence and control systems, automated transport concept
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 18, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Economics
Tagged
, , , , , ,

What Real Advantage Do Self-Driving Cars Provide?

It’s time for a hard-headed look at the costs and benefits of the pursuit of fully self-driving cars
Jonathan Bartlett
November 18, 2020
4
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Economics

More and more people are realizing that autonomous (self-driving) vehicles are not a road to automotive prosperity. To recap, Level 5 self-driving is what most people think of when they hear the term “self-driving.” You type in an address and the car takes you where you want to go while you sleep in the back. That car is not going to hit the road anytime soon. Level 4 self-driving is similar but only works within well-defined areas or situations. In practice, Level 4 essentially relies on either intelligent infrastructure or a territory that is so predictable and well-mapped that it obviates the need for intelligent infrastructure. Huge amounts have been invested in self-driving vehicles. The Information estimated that $16 billion Read More ›

schrodingers-cat-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Schrodinger's cat
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 17, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy
Tagged
, , , , , , , , ,

Does Schrödinger’s Cat Think Quantum Computing Is a Sure Thing?

It might lead to more security, though not to thinking computers
News
November 17, 2020
5
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy

Some hope that a move to quantum computing—qubits instead of bits, analog instead of digital—will work wonders, including the invention of the true thinking computer. In last week’s podcast, futurist George Gilder and computer engineer Robert J. Marks looked at, among other things, what’s really happening with quantum computing: https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-108-George-Gilder.mp3 (The quantum computing discussion begins at 15:04.) Robert J. Marks: What’s your take on quantum computing? It seems to me that there’s been glacial progress in the technology. George Gilder (pictured): I think quantum computing is rather like AI, in that it moves the actual problem outside the computational process and gives the illusion that it solved the problem, but it’s really just pushed the problem out. Quantum computing is Read More ›

woman-scientist-holding-lab-rat-medicine-development-tests-on-animals-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Woman scientist holding lab rat, medicine development, tests on animals
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 17, 2020
Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
Tagged
, , , , ,

An Old Rat With No Brain Raises Some Very Interesting Questions

The researchers had no idea how strange their lab rat was until, in a routine procedure, they scanned its head
News
November 17, 2020
5
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Yes, R222 was only a rat. A rat that turned out to have no brain. But here’s the thing: R222 had lived a normal life as a lab rat for two whole years. According to rat specialists, that’s like 70 human years. Researchers were, to say the least, puzzled. The story begins with a scientist scanning the brains of “very old” lab rats as part of a study on aging. Except that subject R222, otherwise a conventional rat, didn’t seem to have a brain. The brain cavity had collapsed and filled with fluid (hydrocephalus). We can see from the photo that where the control rat has brain, R222 has fluid: On further investigation, researchers found that all brain functions had Read More ›

communist-party-monument-pyongyang-north-korea-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Communist Party Monument, Pyongyang, North-Korea
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 16, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Economics
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Computer Science Explains Why Communism Can’t Work

Successful communism is not only morally and practically flawed, it is mathematically impossible
Eric Holloway
November 16, 2020
4
Artificial Intelligence, Economics

Communism has been the target of many criticisms. The strongest deal with the mismatch between central planning and individuals’ desires for their lives and with the horrific human rights record of communist nations. Some scholars place the toll in human life due to communism at above 100 million in the 20th century. Those are criticisms of the practicality and ethics of communism. But is it also intrinsically flawed at a fundamental mathematical level? It turns out that the answer is yes. The basic idea behind central planning is this: If the central government makes most decisions that, in a freer society, individuals or small communities would make for themselves, more efficiency will follow—and, as a result, more prosperity. It doesn’t Read More ›

atom-particle-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Atom Particle
Type
post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
November 16, 2020
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Science
Tagged
, , , , , , , , ,

A Materialist Gives Up on Determinism

Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne undercuts his own argument against free will by admitting that quantum phenomena are real
Michael Egnor
November 16, 2020
5
Philosophy of Mind, Science

Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne has denied free will for years. But most recently, he has said something that puts the whole matter in doubt. A bit of background: Free will simply cannot be real if determinism is true, that is, if everything in nature falls like dominoes after the first one is pushed: If nature is truly like that, our acts, like those of the dominoes, are wholly determined by natural history and physical laws that we do not control. Nearly all arguments against free will depend critically on determinism. But there is a central problem with determinism: It is clear from physics that determinism in nature is not true. In 1964, theoretical physicist John Bell (1928–1990) proposed relatively simple Read More ›

mindful-nature-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
mindful nature
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
November 15, 2020
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , , , , , , , ,

Is Mindfulness Losing Its “Shine” These Days?

Maybe, but that’s because it has often been misused. Rightly understood, it’s a blessing
Denyse O'Leary
November 15, 2020
7
Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind

In a recent news release from the University of Buffalo, we learn that mindfulness (meditation and similar practices) were not found to be helpful in managing stress at the time it is happening: Where earlier work in this area suggests how mindfulness may help people manage active stressors, the current paper finds evidence for an opposite response. In the midst of stress, mindful participants demonstrated cardiovascular responses consistent with greater care and engagement. Put another way, they actually were “sweating the small stuff.” Bert Gambini, “Be mindful: Study shows mindfulness might not work as you expect” at University of Buffalo However, the study, which measured the cardiovascular stress response of 1001 volunteers also found, Even more curiously, although the study’s Read More ›

ghost-of-girl-in-dark-foggy-forest-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Ghost of Girl in Dark Foggy Forest
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 14, 2020
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science
Tagged
, , , , ,

Why Do People Who Believe in Extraterrestrials Dismiss Ghosts?

The talk about extraordinary claims requiring extraordinary evidence—or otherwise—misses the point. There is no evidence
News
November 14, 2020
7
Arts & Culture, Science

A recent profile in Astronomy focused on Abraham Loeb (pictured) a Harvard astronomer who is convinced that closed minds are a key barrier to our finding extraterrestrials. Statistically, he thinks, they must be out there somewhere: About 25 billion stars, roughly one-quarter of those that reside in the Milky Way, lie in a habitable zone. He rounds that down to an even 10 billion to keep the calculations simple. “And then there are about a trillion galaxies like the Milky Way,” he says, “which means there are about 1022 [10 billion trillion] planets in the observable universe that could potentially host life as we know it.” In other words, searches for extraterrestrial life have barely scratched the surface. “As in Read More ›

atoms-and-their-electron-clouds-quantum-mechanics-and-atomic-structure-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Atoms and their electron clouds , Quantum mechanics and atomic structure
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 14, 2020
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Aliens Exist—But Evolved Into Virtual Reality at a Nanoscale

That’s the Transcension Hypothesis, the latest in our series on science fiction hypotheses as to why we don’t see extraterrestrials
News
November 14, 2020
10
Arts & Culture, Science

Readers will recall that we have been looking at science writer Matt Williams’s analysis of the various reasons that we do not see extraterrestrials except at the movies. Last week, we looked at the Firstborn Hypothesis: We don’t see aliens because they haven’t evolved yet. And, when they do, we must be careful not to harm their development through colonization. This week is a bit of a deeper dive: The extraterrestrials have evolved so far beyond us that perhaps we could not encounter them. … the Transcension Hypothesis ventures that an advanced civilization will become fundamentally altered by its technology. In short, it theorizes that any ETIs that predate humanity have long-since transformed into something that is not recognizable by Read More ›