Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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3d abstract render of blue glass cubes in grid forming data trend

Sam Altman Out at OpenAI, Microsoft Picks Him Up

Will Microsoft become the prime leader in the AI movement, and what will be the future of OpenAI?
According to the Wall Street Journal, Altman was "shocked" that he was ousted at OpenAI. But, he also fostered a close connection with Microsoft. Read More ›
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AI generated view of the multiverse

The Multiverse: Better in Fiction Than in Real Life?

The multiverse may be “unscientific nonsense” or a “religious” belief, as some physicists assert but the rules of storytelling are not the laws of nature
If the multiverse plot device eliminates the finality of events or choices (“it happened only in X universe”), we won’t care so much about the characters. Read More ›
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AI chatbot robot assistant sitting at desk using computer as artificial intelligence. Business concept

Once a Supporter, Science Writer Airs Doubts About Free Will

ChatGPT has set John Horgan thinking about whether he is just "ChatGPT-Me" himself
Horgan’s underlying doubts about the reality of his free will and his mind, really, seem rooted in his passionate belief in Darwinian evolution. Read More ›
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Broadcast your vision. Make thoughts public. Communication and announcements. Activity in social networks. Poll. Brainstorming, new ideas. Feedback. Criticism. Reviews and comments.

Pew: Post-COVID, Trust in Science Dropped Significantly

Most other institutions have taken a hit in trust as well. But what would it take for science in particular to pull out?
Surely people in science need to recommit themselves to first principles like mathematics as a form of truth and evidence as the basis of biology. Read More ›
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Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and modern computer technologies concepts. Business, Technology, Internet and network concept.

Why ChatGPT Is Killing Off Traditional AI

We're living in another AI "winter"
Since it doesn’t know anything in the first place, there’s no way to talk it into sanity once it goes insane. Read More ›
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Futuristic autonomous vehicle cockpit. Interior of unmanned car cockpit with digital screens. Created with Generative AI

Congress Boosts “Kill Switch” Technology to Control Drivers

Federal agency power poised to extend to your every move.
Any device that supplies evidence in a legal case would need to be evaluated for validity and reliability. Read More ›
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Pixel pattern of a digital glitch / Abstract background, pattern of a digital glitch.

Marks: AI Creating More AI Equals Nonsense

AI "inbreeding" will always lead to model collapse.
While AI is impressive, notes Marks, it needs the creative intervention of human beings to stay fresh and relevant. Read More ›
Independent Thinking

The Free Will Debate Really Heated Up This Year

Many commentators are weighing in; surprisingly, perhaps, well-known materialists are disputing the claim that there is no free will
Given that both Pinker and Horgan are Darwinian materialists, their coldness toward the idea that there is no free will is worth keeping an eye on. Read More ›
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Flag of China. Economy of people republic of China. Graphs next to PRC flag. Economic quotes of Chinese companies. Chinese government bonds. Economic background. China financial market. 3d image

China, Cybertheft, and the Ethics of Espionage

All nations spy, but espionage crosses a moral line when it costs normal civilians their jobs.
All nations spy, but espionage crosses a moral line when it costs normal civilians their jobs, stifles innovation, and infringes rights and liberties. Read More ›
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Human brain stimulation or activity with neuron close-up 3D rendering illustration. Neurology, cognition, neuronal network, psychology, neuroscience scientific concepts.

Will Neuroscience Ever Accommodate Immaterial Consciousness?

Joseph Green offers an informative account in Minding the Brain of the current state of neuroscience. What we now know is remarkable — but so is what we don’t
Just what will neuroscientists do if — even in their own minds — they do not succeed in showing that the mind is merely what the brain does? Read More ›
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Senior woman sitting on the wheelchair alone

Euthanasia’s Slippery Slope

Once a society embraces death as the answer to suffering, what counts as suffering never stops expanding.
Note well that the concept of the “completed life” need not involve any physical illness, disabling condition, or psychiatric malady at all. Read More ›
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Panoramic view on planet Earth globe from space. Glowing city lights, light clouds. Generative AI

Productivity Increase Will Take Time in the Age of AI

An acceleration in productivity growth from AI isn’t right around the corner, despite promises by economists.
If we look at the papers presented at the conference, we can’t find evidence that AI is or will improve productivity. Read More ›
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Modern day slavery, illegal trade of human organs on the black market and forced organ harvesting of death row inmates concept theme with a liver, heart and kidney with price tags and a barcode

Organ Transplants: How the Internet Enables the Dark Side

Euthanasia activists offer to "ease" the donor organ shortage, and so do cartels that exploit the world’s most vulnerable poor
Africans are lured abroad in hopes of a job, maybe in high tech even, and it sometimes turns out that the job is — organ donor. Read More ›
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History of science, concept. Isaac Newton with Apple in hand

Don’t Expect AI to Revolutionize Science 

Data science is a downstream phenomenon. Thinking isn't. 
We need to start asking tough questions about what happened to the role of human thinking and insight in the discovery of how the world, and we, work. Read More ›
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Foggy coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forest in Northern California, in the early morning light.

Planet of the Apes and Human Exceptionalism

This movie franchise makes us wonder what makes human beings unique.

One semi-random movie franchise I’ve been a massive fan of is the newest iteration of The Planet of the Apes. The original trilogy, directed by Matt Reeves (The Batman) concluded in 2017, but a “fourth” film is set to release on Memorial Day of 2024, and a trailer for it dropped this week. I’m starting to become somewhat “anti-trailer” given that more often than not they tend to either distort the hype of the film or give away the story entirely. But in the cases of movies I’m most excited about, I confess that generally I give the trailer a quick view. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set years after Caesar, the founder of the ape colony Read More ›

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Blue Moon. Super Full moon august. Moon bright. Stars. The background full of stars in the galaxy.

Only an Immaterial Mind Can Ask “How Does Life Work?”

Science writer Philip Ball, facing cancer surgery, struggles to find meaning and purpose in a wholly material world. He is looking in the wrong place
Materialists want to banish meaning and purpose from science because they know perfectly well that only an immaterial mind could recognize meaning in anything. Read More ›
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3d rendered medically accurate illustration of a grey alien

Alien Review, Part 1

Is the original movie as impressive as everyone says?

Alien is considered a sci-fi classic. It started a franchise that has lasted for many years, but while the first couple of movies are highly respected, the later films are thought to be underwhelming to say the least. But is the original as impressive as everyone says? The movie starts out with a large multi-storied ship moving through space. This spacecraft looks like an entire city, and as neat as it is to see, this raises a few questions right away. Why is the vessel so large, and how can only a seven people run this craft? We do get some answers. The ship is called the Nostromo. It is a mining ship, and a computer named Mother runs most Read More ›

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Robot, Machine, Cyborg, Droid, Android, artificial intelligence, AI, computer, chatGPT, technology, internet, technology, advanced, digital, circuit, futuristic, network, light, communication, inform

Exopsychology: The Psychology of No One We Ever Knew

The academic attempt to establish a psychology of alien intelligences — for whose existence we have no evidence — tells us something about ourselves
Many people have a hard time accepting the fact that we may never know if we are the only intelligence in the cosmos. Unusual psychologies may result. Read More ›