Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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a-robot-is-reading-a-book-in-a-church-the-robot-is-white-and-1075152240-stockpack-adobestock
A robot is reading a book in a church. The robot is white and has a book in its hand. The church is empty and the robot is standing in the middle of the room

New Study Finds Many Pastors Use AI in Various Ways

It's not just schools. AI is in the churches, too

The way AI is creeping into our cultural and religious institutions is worth keeping an eye on, especially since so many of us look to these places to understand what it means to be human in the first place.

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A line of ants marching across a sandy surface with a large area of empty sky above for text.

Monday Micro Softy 84: Meet the Followers

What happens when everyone in the swarm is a follower?

To solve last week’s puzzle, we should picture what must happen when every bug wants to place itself between two other bugs.

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AI generated view of the multiverse

Science Writer Takes Aim at Many Universes Theory

Phillips sees it as a materialist dodge. But a proposed alternative is definitely not your everyday theory either

What these speculations point to is the way new findings have destroyed classical materialism. Materialism isn’t so much dying out as breaking up.

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Conceptual art of think, brain mind, mental health, spiritual, soul and psychology. concept idea art. surreal drawing illustration. isolated on a white background.

What Makes an Ostensibly Normal Person Evil

How is it possible for these monsters to live ordinary lives in public view?

No person who is not demonically possessed could seriously harm/torture another human being without waking up in the middle of the night screaming.

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Unidentified flying object lands in tranquil forest during bright daylight

ETs in UFOs Would Not Exist in a Purposeless Universe

Biologist Michael Denton’s work shows that human technology is not an accident of humans simply adapting to our environment

Purpose and design in nature were required to produce a universe, star system, and planet amenable to the production of technology.

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Surgery, anesthesia and doctor with woman with oxygen mask for medical service, operation and procedure. Healthcare, hospital and surgeons with gas, breathing and ventilation equipment for patient

Are We Really “Unconscious” While Under Anesthesia?

Modern medics rely very much on anesthesia but how it works is not quite clear

Part of the reason we don’t know exactly how anesthesia works is surely that we do not know what consciousness is (there are at least 325 theories out there).

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Spooky silhouettes of aliens and bright light in background. 3D rendered illustration.

Disclosure Day Destined to Disappoint

The idea that Spielberg was attempting to destroy Christians’ faith using aliens was overstated

God would be the God of them too, but of course, this statement begs the question of what could be considered human-like, and that is a conversation unto itself.

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iceberg-on-blue-ocean-stockpack-adobe-stock-108147618-stockpack-adobestock
iceberg on blue ocean

A Mystery of Consciousness — Thinking While in a Coma

Researchers are finding that many unresponsive bran-damaged people have covert consciousness. The question is, how to help them?

Neurologist Brian Edlow hopes that brain–computer interface technology like Neuralink will help researchers communicate with covertly conscious people.

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african-american-doctor-holding-tray-with-medical-tools-for-192442714-stockpack-adobestock
african american doctor holding tray with medical tools for surgery

Medical Doctors Are Not Simply “Service Providers”

Some physicians’ organizations have noticed the trend to see them that way and are pushing back

Bioethicist Brandon Ambrosino reacts to the physicians’ protest and promotes the very de-professionalization that the original article decried.

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Body Mind Soul Spirit, Motivational Words Quotes Concept

what makes a thought start?

When a doctor is taunted for his lack of knowledge of consciousness and the soul

Good dialogue is like great poetry where the real meaning can sometimes be hidden or disguised beneath the words.

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cozy-morning-with-coffee-and-a-book-by-the-sunny-window-with-1232854410-stockpack-adobestock
Cozy morning with coffee and a book by the sunny window with plants

Consciousness in Plants Rebrands an Exploded Materialism

It’s not so much that consciousness in plants is being demonstrated as that what consciousness means is changing so as to include plants

Instead of being expected to believe that human consciousness is an illusion, we may believe it exists — along with the cabbage mind and the electron mind.

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crowd-of-individuals-is-sprinting-away-from-a-fiery-explosio-1174715644-stockpack-adobestock
crowd of individuals is sprinting away from a fiery explosion in the city, engulfed in smoke and chaos, showcasing a desperate flight from danger in a dramatic setting

Accelerationists Fingered in White House Drone Attack Plot

There is nothing like a terror plot, foiled or otherwise, to bring an obscure concept like “accelerationism” to public attention

If strategy is more important than ideology for accelerationists, that is probably because their aims are incoherent and their groups fragment easily.

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llm-ai-large-language-model-concept-businessman-use-tablet-a-886081817-stockpack-adobestock
LLM, AI Large Language Model concept. Businessman use tablet and laptop with LLM icons. A language model distinguished by its general-purpose language generation capability. Chat AI.

Horizontal Innovation Requires More Than Novel Outputs

Current AI systems excel at producing output novelty, but I do not believe they demonstrate algorithmic novelty

LLMs’ impressive outputs demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithms; they do not demonstrate that the AI has invented new computational methods.

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money-inside-shimmering-bubbles-floating-in-an-uncertain-fin-963296081-stockpack-adobestock
Money inside shimmering bubbles floating in an uncertain financial market Large space for text in center Stock Photo with copy space

Speculation in Large Language Models: The Worst Sort of Business

Speculators buy an asset because they expect the price to keep rising, not because they want the income generated by the asset

The inventions that changed our lives for the better were usually accompanied by speculation bubbles and busts. LLM firms will likely attract the same fate.

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Pheidole megacephala, coastal brown big-headed ants foraging on a rock. A common invasive, pest species.

Monday Micro Softy 83: A Swarm of Cowards?

In terms of swarm intelligence, what happens if we have a swarm of cowards instead of peacemakers?

We continue to explore the way simple roles followed by unintelligent agents — even dumb bugs — can yield complex behavior.

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mission-over-a-robot-stands-at-the-grave-of-man-stockpack-ad-349542895-stockpack-adobestock
mission over, a robot stands at the grave of man

Future? There Is No Human Future, Dude… and That’s Good!

A look at the other face of the claims that we are approaching an AI singularity

Lê’s essay offers a much more sober assessment of transhumanism, the war on human exceptionalism, and the idea that machines think like people.

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Movie premiere concept with clapperboard, popcorn on yellow background top view space for text

YouTubers V The Mandalorian

I can’t remember the last time there have only been two or three seats remaining in a theater

YouTubers are quickly replacing the A-list celebrities, and while I’m surprised to see the studios going along with this trend, I’m not at all disappointed, and, for the first time in a long time, I’m hopeful for the future of entertainment.

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Silhouette of a person trapped inside a giant smartphone screen symbolizing digital addiction 19887577 1

Smartphones Have Contributed to the Declining Fertility Rate, Says New Study

It's easier these days to stay inside and on a screen instead of going outside and trying to meet people

It’s at the point now, nearly twenty years later, that many colleges and universities are seeing significant drops in enrollment simply because there aren’t enough college-aged students in the application pool.

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Woman's head hidden by a soft cloud

Why Do Smart People Think Their Minds Are an Illusion?

A belief that makes no sense is a cornerstone of much neuroscience and philosophy of mind

Michael Egnor comments that academics often hold such beliefs because they make them sound clever, not because they make sense.

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