Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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man-face-detection-generate-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Man face detection. Generate Ai
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post
Author
News
Date
August 31, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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AI Can’t Bring Back the Dead

The more AI advances, the more tempting it will become to recreate those who have passed.
News
August 31, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

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
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post
Author
News
Date
August 30, 2023
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Was Descartes Right About the Mind?

In which a neurosurgeon and anthropologist discuss the nature of the mind
News
August 30, 2023
1
Philosophy of Mind

In case you missed it, earlier this month we released a podcast featuring a provocative conversation between Stony Brook neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and Dr. Joshua Farris, who specializes in the theological anthropology and philosophy of mind. Together they discuss a range of issues, including the thought of the philosopher René Descartes, Thomistic dualism, materialistic explanations for consciousness, and the inevitability of metaphysics when discussing the “mind-body problem.” Follow this link to listen to it for free.

real-robots-hand-with-ancient-bible-concepts-of-artificial-intelligence-development-and-machine-learning-stockpack-adobe-stock
Real robot's hand with ancient Bible. Concepts of artificial intelligence development and machine learning
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
August 30, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion
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“Bible GPT” For All Your Big Religious Questions

Is it a tool or a big crossing of the line?
Peter Biles
August 30, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence, Religion

It’s not only Silicon Valley and other tech giants like Microsoft and Google who have scrambled, over the last ten months or so, to integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) into their respective spheres. Churches are apparently getting in on the ground floor, too. A new software called “Bible GPT,” a clear riff off of “ChatGPT,” has officially been released into the world. According to the website, Bible GPT is an AI enabled religious software to write Christian texts, essays, or personalized poetry. It also answers bible related questions. Bible GPT is the biggest step in AI technology, taking the Christian world by storm. It offers insights into what many Christians wish to know and clarity by answering their religious questions. Read More ›

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The Death of Socrates
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post
Author
Russ White
Date
August 29, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

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
Russ White
August 29, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence

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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Gale Pooley with George Gilder at COSM 2019
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post
Author
News
Date
August 29, 2023
Categorized
Economics
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Pooley on Superabundance and the Time Price Revolution

We live with more and work less than ever before
News
August 29, 2023
2
Economics

Economist Gale Pooley is (half) responsible for the groundbreaking book Superabundance, which he co-authored with Cato Institute’s Marian Tupy. In today’s featured video from a past COSM conference, Dr. Pooley sits down with Discovery Institute’s Jay Richards to talk about how human knowledge and the “time price revolution” have led to an era of unprecedented abundance. Counter the dooms-dayers, Pooley shows how radically better off we are than our ancestors. The more innovation, the more material abundance. His ideas, expressed here in 2021, are as relevant as ever. (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 Read More ›

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Aerial view of farming tractor plowing and spraying on field
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post
Author
News
Date
August 28, 2023
Categorized
Environment
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Are Synthetic Pesticides Actually Good for Crops?

Josh Gilder thinks that government policies relating to pesticides are leading to declining crop yields
News
August 28, 2023
2
Environment

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 ›

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-stockpack-adobe-stock
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
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
August 28, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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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
Peter Biles
August 28, 2023
4
Artificial Intelligence

Can everything be reduced to data? Are human beings just complicated data storage units waiting to be outclassed by artificial intelligence? A new Substack account from computer scientist and tech entrepreneur Erik J. Larson is setting out to promote something deeper and more complex than the reductionistic explanations so rampant in our culture today. He calls the Substack “Colligo,” taken from the Latin meaning “coming together.” “I want to show the problems with our data-driven world and show or assemble a richer humanistic picture,” writes Larson in his debut post. “Dataism is at odds with human flourishing. Data is just input into something else. If we are just data, then we are inputs into something else. It’s difficult to find Read More ›

aerial-cityscape-view-of-san-francisco-and-the-bay-bridge-at-night-stockpack-adobe-stock
Aerial cityscape view of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge at Night
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
August 27, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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Silicon Valley is All About Use, Not Truth

Of Athens, Jerusalem, and the "third city"
Peter Biles
August 27, 2023
3
Technology

A new article from Wired by Luke Birgis discusses the mentality and culture of Silicon Valley, and puts the technological vision of life up alongside the classic dichotomy between “Athens” and “Jerusalem.” Athens was symbolic of reason, while Jerusalem indicated the spiritual life of the soul. Figuring out a way of connecting (or disconnecting) these two mythic kingdoms has long been the task of philosophers and theologians. Need religion be separated from reason? Are science and faith naturally incompatible? These are worthy questions in their own right. Birgis, however, identifies another burgeoning kingdom that is arguably reducing both Athens and Jerusalem to hypothetical rubble: Silicon Valley. The Valley’s core philosophy is neither reason or beauty, but value, or usefulness. Birgis Read More ›

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An image of a robot meditating. Generative AI
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 27, 2023
Categorized
Religion, Robotics, Spirituality
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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
Denyse O'Leary
August 27, 2023
4
Religion, Robotics, Spirituality

Here at Mind Matters News, we’ve covered recent attempts to automate religious practices — for example, the android Mindar (Kannon, a deity in the Buddhist tradition), the robot Pepper performing funeral rites, and proposals for robot Catholic priests. There’s even an AI Jesus out there, spluttering from the King James Bible… Mindar, in particular, has been invested with great hopes: To learn countless things and solve everyone’s problems: Many of us have just assumed that robo-religion — often introduced to combat declining adherence — would not play well with the genuinely devout. But no one had tested that rigorously. Now someone has. Joshua Conrad Jackson, a behavioral science professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, studied the 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.
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
August 26, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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National Review: Let AI Take Over Social Media Influencing

AI influencers are revealing how vapid social media really is
Peter Biles
August 26, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

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
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post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
August 26, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction
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Westworld Episode 10 Review (Part Two)

Welcome to the dark end of the journey
Gary Varner
August 26, 2023
7
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

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 ›

canine-astronaut-with-his-paw-on-button-to-activate-rocket-thrusters-in-the-cockpit-of-spacecraft-created-with-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
canine astronaut, with his paw on button to activate rocket thrusters, in the cockpit of spacecraft, created with generative ai
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 26, 2023
Categorized
Human exceptionalism, Language, Natural Intelligence
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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
Denyse O'Leary
August 26, 2023
5
Human exceptionalism, Language, Natural Intelligence

Science writer Stephanie Pappas looked recently at the latest fad in communicating with dogs: Paw-friendly floor button sets that the dog can press (potty, play, come, etc.), available for US$20– $200. The anecdotes about the things dogs have thus told their loving humans practically write themselves: On TikTok, some of these “button dogs” seem to be doing surprisingly intelligent things, such as combining two words to create a unique meaning—“squeaker” and “car,” to refer to an ambulance, for example. One of the more famous members of this doggie bunch on TikTok, a sheepadoodle named Bunny, can apparently put together four-word phrases. In one instance, for example, she pushed buttons to refer to her friend: “Tenrec, come, look, play.” – Stephanie Read More ›

megaphone-wrapped-in-barbed-wire-the-concept-of-banning-freedom-of-speech-censorship-barbed-wire-megaphone-stockpack-adobe-stock
megaphone wrapped in barbed wire. the concept of banning freedom of speech. censorship barbed wire megaphone
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post
Author
News
Date
August 25, 2023
Categorized
Censorship
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World Famous Psychologist Loses Appeal to Avoid “Social Media Training”

Does this decision legitimately restrict free speech?
News
August 25, 2023
2
Censorship

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.
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post
Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
August 25, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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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.
Wesley J. Smith
August 25, 2023
6
Arts & Culture

Oppenheimer is the best film Hollywood has produced since The Godfather. The movie brilliantly recounts how the theoretical physicist and genius J. Robert Oppenheimer led the urgent U.S. effort to develop the atomic bomb during World War II that culminated in the obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and inducted the world into the Atomic Age. The movie is gripping in the (mostly) true story it tells, with acting tours de force by its stars and supporting players, brilliant writing, and terrific cinematography. But, like all great art, it evokes reactions in the viewer beyond what the filmmaker might have intended. For me, even though the story takes place between the 1920s and 1950s, the film highlights two cautionary lessons acutely relevant to Read More ›

video-player-app-on-phones-screen-and-wireless-earphones-on-dark-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
Video player app on phone's screen and wireless earphones on dark background
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post
Author
News
Date
August 24, 2023
Categorized
Censorship
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“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.
News
August 24, 2023
2
Censorship

Glenn Loury is a professor at Brown University and a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. In addition, he hosts the Glenn Show on YouTube where he interviews several different thinkers, writers, etc. However, one of Loury’s videos, an interview he performed with Mark Goldblatt, author of I Feel, Therefore I Am: The Triumph of Woke Subjectivism, was taken down from YouTube on the charges of violating the platform’s community guidelines. Loury and Goldblatt discussed the sensitive issue of transgenderism, and the latter’s opinion on the matter was deemed controversial enough to count as hate speech. In this video, Loury and his production assistant, Nikita Petrov, talk about online censorship, free speech, Substack as an alternative to Twitter/X, and how Read More ›

COSM-2021-Julie-Love-174A3524
Julie Love at COSM 2021 interviewed by Jay Richards
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post
Author
News
Date
August 24, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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Microsoft’s Julie Love on Quantum Computing

How might quantum computing change the technology in the future?
News
August 24, 2023
2
Technology

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 ›

flags-stockpack-adobe-stock
flags
Type
post
Author
News
Date
August 23, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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Meta Introduces New Translator Tool

Meta's goal of making a universal translator is starting to materialize
News
August 23, 2023
2
Technology

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 ›

electric-car-charging-stockpack-adobe-stock
Electric car charging
Type
post
Author
Walter Myers III
Date
August 23, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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Hybrid Cars Are the Future

Plug-in hybrids offer motorists a balanced option with virtually no downsides, writes Walter Meyers III
Walter Myers III
August 23, 2023
6
Technology

Mark P. Mills, Senior Fellow at Manhattan Institute, just released his latest report on electric vehicles, titled “Electric Vehicles for Everyone? The Impossible Dream.” In his detailed 48-page report, Mills provides compelling evidence to support his thesis that proposed government mandates on tailpipe emissions will effectively eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles and force automobile manufacturers to produce primarily all-electric vehicles (EVs). Mills’ report confirms my view that plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), with a caveat, should ultimately win the day from a practical perspective in terms of providing the best option for most motorists, as compared to EVs and mild hybrids. Mills’ key argument — one that seems to be entirely lost on states that have instituted EV mandates — is that building out Read More ›

brain flowers water
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
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 22, 2023
Categorized
Neuroscience, Psychology
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The Left and Right Brain Both Want Pop Science Media to Chill

Neuroscience is not an especially rewarding field for the pursuit of dogma
Denyse O'Leary
August 22, 2023
5
Neuroscience, Psychology

A staple of coffee room chatter has been left brain vs. right brain thinking. You know, “He’s one of those left-brain types; he’d fire us all to save money!” Or, “She’s really a right-brain kind of person so if something looks beautiful, she probably isn’t thinking about what would happen if…” Left brain, right brain. It’s one of those complex cultural concepts that starts in conventional science fact, explodes into pop psychology chatter, and then settles into a small, murky world that can only be navigated by serious thinking. First, vertebrates generally have brains divided into two lobes, an arrangement that may go back half a billion years. The right hemisphere usually controls the left side of the body and Read More ›

science-and-research-of-the-universe-spiral-galaxy-and-physical-formulas-concept-of-knowledge-and-education-stockpack-adobe-stock
Science and research of the universe, spiral galaxy and physical formulas, concept of knowledge and education
Type
post
Author
News
Date
August 22, 2023
Categorized
Mathematics
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From Physics to Faith?

A podcast episode looking at how physics points to more than meets the eye
News
August 22, 2023
2
Mathematics

Do you recognize the number 1/137.035999206? It might seem arbitrary, but if the fine-structure constant were any higher or lower than it is, you might not exist! On this episode of ID the Future, host Brian Miller kicks off an engaging conversation with Rabbi Elie Feder and Rabbi Aaron Zimmer, hosts of the Physics to God podcast. Feder has a PhD in mathematics and has published articles on graph theory. Zimmer has training in physics, and has studied mathematics, philosophy, and psychology. Both men also have extensive rabbinical training. Through their podcast, Feder and Zimmer invite both secular and religious listeners on a journey through modern physics as they offer rational arguments for an intelligent cause of the universe. In Part 1 of Read More ›