Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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Businessman touching on smart mobile phone for input wording and searching from web browser. Technology with copy space concept.

Google + AI Feature = Chaos

Google SGE is producing nonsensical word salads. Is this really supposed to replace traditional search engines?

“Even with access to all the information in the digital world, AI can still be very, very stupid,” writes Maggie Harrison at Futurism. She’s referencing Google’s AI search feature, Google SGE, that “doesn’t understand geography” or the alphabet. When Harrison and her peers noticed someone complain about a glitch in the AI search feature, which purported that there were no countries in Africa that started with the letter “K” (ahem, Kenya, anyone?) they decided to test it out for themselves. Sure enough, the verdict is in. Google’s AI doesn’t know how to parse out blatantly false information. Harrison writes, When asked to provide a list of “countries in North America that start with the letter M,” for instance, Google SGE Read More ›

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Man face detection. Generate Ai

AI Can’t Bring Back the Dead

The more AI advances, the more tempting it will become to recreate those who have passed.

New speech AI technology is able to take just a couple seconds’ worth of audio and extrapolate on it to make complete sentences. Theoretically, scam artists could take a short video from TikTok and use it to impersonate an unsuspecting child. In fact, this has actually happened, and more than once. It’s easy to see how one could use speech AI to “resurrect” those who have passed away. And in fact, this too has already happened. In an essay titled “The Speech of the Dead: Against AI Necromancy,” David Walden writes how in 2020, the nonprofit Change the Ref made a video featuring Joaquin Oliver, who encouraged viewers in the clip to vote for gun control in the presidential election. The Read More ›

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statue of descartes

Was Descartes Right About the Mind?

In which a neurosurgeon and anthropologist discuss the nature of the mind
Podcast featuring a provocative conversation between Stony Brook neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and Dr. Joshua Farris, who specializes in theological anthropology. Read More ›
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Real robot's hand with ancient Bible. Concepts of artificial intelligence development and machine learning

“Bible GPT” For All Your Big Religious Questions

Is it a tool or a big crossing of the line?
For big questions about God, meaning, and religion, AI might not be the best listener or pastor. Read More ›
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The Death of Socrates

Meet Mediocrates: When AI Does All the Heavy Mental Lifting

A satirical look at how depending on ChatGPT for everything will erode our cognitive skillsets

Might I suggest a name for anyone building yet another Large Language Model (LLM)? Mediocrates would be a far more honest name than the ones big tech companies choose. Why Mediocrates? Who was Mediocrates? Legends say Mediocrates was Socrates’ younger brother. He was supposed to step in for Socrates when the great philosopher drank the cup of hemlock, but pursuing the truth was much too difficult. Instead, he decided to pursue practical knowledge and do so in the easiest way possible. Dear ChatGPT, Please Do All My Thinking for Me, Thanks! Mediocrates decided reading books so he could learn to build solid arguments and elegant writing skills was far too much trouble. It is easier to let a chatbot do Read More ›

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Aerial view of farming tractor plowing and spraying on field

Are Synthetic Pesticides Actually Good for Crops?

Josh Gilder thinks that government policies relating to pesticides are leading to declining crop yields

Starting with the premise that any substance can be poisonous depending on the dose, Josh Gilder, founding partner of Reach Global Strategies argues that government policies related to synthetic pesticides, GMOs, and organic farming is reducing years of massive gains in agricultural production and is leading to declining crop yields and malnutrition. (REGISTER NOW FOR COSM 2023) COSM is an exclusive national summit on the technologies remaking the world as we know it. The mission of the conference is to stimulate debate and deliberation amongst industry leaders, illuminating the synergy between Seattle and the world and providing a scene of civilized conversation and exchange. (REGISTER NOW FOR COSM 2023) We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences. This Read More ›

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Trees, garden and plants people in portrait community service, sustainability collaboration and eco friendly project. Gardening, sustainable growth and happy worker in teamwork, forest or nature park

Against the Tyranny of Data

Computer scientist and tech entrepreneur Erik J. Larson is launching his own Substack channel dedicated to promoting human flourishing in the computer age
We are not machines and were made for more than dataistic input and output. It’s to that central idea that Larson is dedicating his new project. Read More ›
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Aerial cityscape view of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge at Night

Silicon Valley is All About Use, Not Truth

Of Athens, Jerusalem, and the "third city"
We could see Birgis's brilliant article as a call to hold technological innovation in healthy conversation with common sense and moral values. Read More ›
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An image of a robot meditating. Generative AI

Study: Robotic Preachers Reduce Interest in Religious Faith

They are certainly not the answer to declining attendance and involvement that some have hoped they would be
It’s not just that the robot/AI doesn’t have spiritual experiences. It can’t, and there was no thought of the matter when it was developed. Read More ›
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Portrait close up of one young beautiful attractive blonde young girl holding camera and taking selfie picture at the beach enjoying outdoors free time with sunset in the background.

National Review: Let AI Take Over Social Media Influencing

AI influencers are revealing how vapid social media really is

We’ve recently commented on the AI influencer phenomenon, which seems to be taking social media by storm. With advanced AI imaging, more AI influencers are popping up, and they already look comparable to the likes of Kim Kardashian. The social media influencing world depends on primarily women selling their bodies for revenue. Instagram has tended heavily in this direction, and with the advent of OnlyFans, the temptation to flaunt oneself so provocatively is tangible for many. National Review writer Haley Strack thinks that the AI influencer horde will out-compete real-life influencers and eventually rule out the need for humans at all. She writes, Some criticize AI for giving young men another possibly perverse, sexual outlet online — but men who Read More ›

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Feuer und Eis Adam und Gott

Westworld Episode 10 Review (Part Two)

Welcome to the dark end of the journey

Last time, Teddy had just finished saving Dolores from the Man in Black, who turned out to be William all along. He takes her to the coast because that was where he promised to take her when they were performing their pre-programmed loop. However, the coast is apparently not very far because as Dolores dies in his arms, Teddy starts reciting a campy monologue, and then shuts down while the board applauds the speech. Even when they’re trying to escape their loop, the robots still, somehow, find themselves trapped in yet another one of Dr. Ford’s narratives. Dr. Ford appears, addresses the crowd, then orders for Teddy to be cleaned up, and for Dolores to be taken to a nearby Read More ›

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canine astronaut, with his paw on button to activate rocket thrusters, in the cockpit of spacecraft, created with generative ai

Do Cool Floor Buttons Really Cause Dogs To Talk?

The latest fad in “Talk to the animals” appears to be a classic in confirmation bias
We’ve been through this before. If we are looking for someone to really talk to, that someone must still really be a human. Read More ›
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megaphone wrapped in barbed wire. the concept of banning freedom of speech. censorship barbed wire megaphone

World Famous Psychologist Loses Appeal to Avoid “Social Media Training”

Does this decision legitimately restrict free speech?

Clinical psychologist, world-renowned speaker, and author Jordan B. Peterson, who rose to international fame in 2017 after speaking out against an impending Canadian speech law involving mandatory gender pronoun use, may be compelled to take in “social media training.” (RELATED: Three More Key Takeaways From the Twitter Files and Their Fallout | Mind Matters) Several complaints regarding Peterson’s online rhetoric were sent to the College of Psychologists of Ontario in 2022, and the organization decided to have him undergo a professionalism training in order to address his online tone. Peterson appealed the decision, but lost, according to CBC: Three Ontario Divisional Court judges unanimously dismissed Peterson’s application, ruling that the college’s decision falls within its mandate to regulate the profession in Read More ›

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Nuclear war concept. Explosion of nuclear bomb. Creative artwork decoration in dark.

What Oppenheimer Teaches Us About Today’s Cultural Moment

Let us hope we have the wisdom to take heed of the messages the movie communicates.
No one gained from Oppenheimer’s fall. Not only was the scientist’s career destroyed and life ruined, but also the country was deprived of benefiting from his intelligence. Read More ›
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Video player app on phone's screen and wireless earphones on dark background

“Deeply Unsettling:” Popular YouTube Host Concerned Over Online Censorship

After one of his videos was removed from YouTube, economist and talk show host Glenn Loury had questions.
Loury noted that he doesn't share Goldblatt's opinions, but that it's important to be able to debate different views freely. Read More ›
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Julie Love at COSM 2021 interviewed by Jay Richards

Microsoft’s Julie Love on Quantum Computing

How might quantum computing change the technology in the future?

In today’s featured video from a past COSM conference, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Jay Richards interviews Julie Love, Director of Quantum Computing Business Development at Microsoft, about how quantum computing differs from classical computing and what the future holds for this technology. (REGISTER NOW FOR COSM 2023) COSM is an exclusive national summit on the technologies remaking the world as we know it. The mission of the conference is to stimulate debate and deliberation amongst industry leaders, illuminating the synergy between Seattle and the world and providing a scene of civilized conversation and exchange. (REGISTER NOW FOR COSM 2023) We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences. This video is just one of many you can find at Read More ›

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flags

Meta Introduces New Translator Tool

Meta's goal of making a universal translator is starting to materialize

Meta has developed a new speech-to-text model that can translate almost 100 languages, according to The Verge. The announcement reflects Meta’s recent attempts to expand their AI sector. (RELATED: Meta’s Weird New Speech AI | Mind Matters) Emilia David writes, SeamlessM4T, which stands for Massively Multilingual and Multimodal Machine Translation, that the company said can translate speech-to-text and text-to-text for nearly 100 languages. For speech-to-speech and text-to-speech actions, it recognizes 100 input languages and converts them into 35 output languages. -Emilia David, Meta releases multilingual speech translation model – The Verge Meta’s ultimate goal is to make a “universal translator.” The multi-billion dollar technology company compared the new model to the “Babel Fish” in the novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Read More ›

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Electric car charging

Hybrid Cars Are the Future

Plug-in hybrids offer motorists a balanced option with virtually no downsides, writes Walter Meyers III
Auto makers need to step up and address the one issue that makes these vehicles less practical — their inability to accept fast chargers. Read More ›
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brain made from water and flowers on pastel background concept art, photo, Shot on 65mm lens, Shutter Speed 1 4000, F 1.8 White Balance, 32k, Super-Resolution, Pro Photo RGB, Half rear Lighting, Backl

The Left and Right Brain Both Want Pop Science Media to Chill

Neuroscience is not an especially rewarding field for the pursuit of dogma
The risk with neuroscience that tries to encompass Mozart is not that we will know nothing but that we will know just enough to get it all wrong. Read More ›