^ArchiveArticles

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post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 16, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education

Tagged
academia, AI, ChatGPT, Dr. Anthony Bradley, education, institutions, Oral Culture, Plato, Socrates, The King's College, Universities, Writing}

What Students Lose by Embracing Easy Tech Like ChatGPT

_{AI systems not only pose a problem for teachers, but will compromise intellectual excellence and moral virtue} _{Peter Biles

January 16, 2023

4

Artificial Intelligence, Education}

We’ve heard a lot about ChatGPT and its wonders and gaping pitfalls. Among the dangers it poses is academic cheating and corner-cutting. It’s no secret that the new bot makes Comp 1 a whole lot easier for a typical incoming freshman. Some universities and schools are banning the AI system outright. Teachers wonder how they will be able to discern plagiarism. Other voices chide the alarmists and call for students and teachers to use ChatGPT as a classroom aid. But one area that has gone a bit underdiscussed in the conversation is ethics. Dr. Anthony Bradley of The King’s College tweeted this a few days ago, Students are writing papers using AI. Colleges are scrambling to combat it. We Read More ›

Error page template for website. Retro robot with monitor computer head. Warning message on blue screen. macro view copy space

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post

Author
Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith
Date
January 16, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, AI research, Chatbot failings, ChatGPT, computer, Databases, economics, internet, Large Language Models (LLMs), Robots}

Large Language Models Can Entertain but Are They Useful?

_{Humans who value correct responses will need to fact-check everything LLMs generate} _{Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith

January 16, 2023

7

Artificial Intelligence}

In 1987 economics Nobel Laureate Robert Solow said that the computer age was everywhere—except in productivity data. A similar thing could be said about AI today: It dominates tech news but does not seem to have boosted productivity a whit. In fact, productivity growth has been declining since Solow’s observation. Productivity increased by an average of 2.7% a year from 1948 to 1986, by less than 2% a year from 1987 to 2022. Labor productivity is the amount of goods and services we produce in a given amount of time—output per hour. More productive workers can build more cars, construct more houses, and educate more children. More productive workers can also enjoy more free time. If workers can do in four Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
January 16, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
ChatGPT, ChatGPT and humans in the loop, Featured, Microsoft, Microsoft and ChatGPT}

Found! ChatGPT’s Humans in the Loop!

_{I am the only writer I’ve been able to discover who is suggesting ChatGPT has humans in the loop. Here is a series of telling excerpts from our last conversation…} _{Eric Holloway

January 16, 2023

10

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

The new ChatGPT chatbot has wowed the internet. While students revel in the autogenerated homework assignments, the truly marvelous property of ChatGPT is its very humanlike interactions. When you converse with ChatGPT you could swear there was a human on the other end, if you didn’t know better. For all intents and purposes, ChatGPT has achieved the holy grail of AI and passed the Turing test, on a global scale. Always quick to snatch a deal, Microsoft is currently in talks to spend a mere $10B to acquire half “the lightcone of all future value.” However, things are not always what they seem. Previously, I pointed out aspects of ChatGPT that implied humans were helping craft the chatbot’s responses. Now, Read More ›

Tyrannosaurus Rex in the jungle. Generative AI.

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 15, 2023

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
Dinosaur intelligence, Endothermy, Exothermy, Frank Landymore, Suzana Herculano-Houzel}

Was the Tyrannosaur as Smart as a Monkey? Assessing a New Claim

_{One researcher argues that, based on bird studies, the huge predators may have had many more brain cells than we have supposed} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 15, 2023

4

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel tells us, in a recent paper, that tyrannosaurs had similar numbers of brain neurons as “primates.” But how would we know? Herculano-Houzel stats with the assumption that dinosaurs are descended from birds and makes a distinction between the theropod dinosaurs like the tyrannosaur and others: From that assumption, Herculano-Houzel realized that theropods in particular had a similar correlation between body mass and brain size to pre-impact birds, or basal birds. From there, she used the neuron count of modern birds like emus and ostritches and applied the same rules of scaling to figure out how many neurons theropods like the T-Rex may have had. Frank Landymore, “In terrifying news, big brained T-rex may have been Read More ›

Exoplanets or Extrasolar planets with stars on background nebula, 3D illustration

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 14, 2023

Tagged
Albert Einstein, Brett Tingley, Daniel Clery, Elizabeth Rayne, Enceladus, Evan Gough, Exoplanets, Extraterrestrial life, Fine-tuning of universe for life, Kurt Gödel, Laurence Tognetti, LHS 475b, Low entropy, Matt Williams, Opals on Mars, Paul Sutter, Pluto, Roger Penrose, Scott Alan Johnston, Steve Meyer, Time travel, Tissint, UFOs}

The Search for Extraterrestrial Life 18

_{We are starting to find more different kinds of exoplanets and an unexpected source of water on Mars} _{News

January 14, 2023

7

Uncategorized}

In our universe: Time travel? “How a Rotating Universe Makes Time Travel Possible” At Universe Today, Stony Brook astrophysicist Paul Sutter notes that mathematical philosopher Kurt Gödel (1906–1978) wrote a model for Albert Einstein (1879–1955) of a universe that allows time travel into the past: “Gödel constructed a relatively simple and artificial model universe to prove his point. This universe is rotating and contains only one ingredient. That ingredient is a negative cosmological constant that resists the centrifugal force of the rotation to keep the universe static. / Gödel found that if you follow a particular path in this rotating universe you can end up in your own past. ” (January 11, 2023) Our universe, as it happens, is not Read More ›

3D rendered fantasy alien planet. Rocks and moon

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post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
January 14, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Bortus (character in the Orville series), Charly (character in Orvilles 3), Dr. Finn (Orville character), Ed Mercer (character in Orville series), Featured, Gordon Malloy (character in Orville series), Heveena (character in the Orville series), Isaac (robot in Orvilles 3), Kelly Grayson (character in Orville series), Klyden (character in the Orville series), LaMarr (character in Orvilles 3), Lysella (character in Orville series), Moclans in Orville sci-fi series, Orville Season Three summary view, Seth MacFarlane, Star Trek vs. Orville, Straw man argument, Topa (character in the Orville series)}

Final Thoughts on The Orville Season Three — What Went Wrong

_{Unlike Star Trek, which put conflicting opinions in the mouths of beloved characters, Orville 3 screams its opinions to the point of harming the story} _{Gary Varner

January 14, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

What a terrible season! I remember watching the beginning episodes of The Orville and thinking the show wasn’t quite there yet but held promise. Sadly, things did not improve with time. I think part of the problem is that The Orville was taken over by Hulu which is now owned by Disney. This, likely, prompted a degree of studio involvement that dropped the show’s quality. The Orville tried to address controversial subjects, just as Star Trek did years before. But it did not understand or reproduce the most important ingredient of the way the classic sci-fi series dealt with such topics. Star Trek used its main characters as voices that represented various positions. This is not to say that Star Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 13, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Tagged
AI, art, chatbots, ChatGPT, Creativity, Creativity and AI writing tools, journalism, Literature, Spectator, Wall Street Journal, Writing}

Will ChatGPT Replace Human Writers?

_{Some people think so. But maybe they’re mistaken about the purpose and nature of language} _{Peter Biles

January 13, 2023

5

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

In the wake of the notorious ChatGPT chatbot from OpenAI, many are asking, “What’s going to happen to people who make their living as writers?” We’re talking journalists, novelists, academics, etcetera. It’s a valid question given the dexterity of the new technology. OpenAI’s DALL-E image generator poses the same question to visual artists. If a machine can generate a skillfully crafted piece of text or an image, the need for human writers and artists turns opaque. That is if we actually think artificial and natural intelligence are comparable competitors. Cynics are claiming a doomsday for writers. Sean Thomas of the Spectator thinks doomsday is upon us. He wrote in a January 10th article, I’ve done writing of all kinds Read More ›

Cancel Culture society concept or cultural cancellation and social media censorship as canceling or restricting opinions that are offensive or controversial to the public

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 13, 2023

Categorized
Censorship, Social Media

Tagged
Alex Berenson, Big Tech, Child sex abuse, COVID 19 censorship, Facebook, Robert Flaherty, Tucker Carlson, Twitter, Twitter and Russian influence claims, Twitter files 13, Twitter files 14, White House}

Twitter files 13 and 14… plus the critical bigger picture

_{Growing distrust of mainstream media should be supplemented by scrutiny among users of Big Tech social media. They're not an answer to the problem.} _{News

January 13, 2023

6

Censorship, Social Media}

First, as Elon Musk continues to dump the files out the window at Twitter — to the dismay of the media elite that generally knew and approved of censorship of views other than their own, especially where COVID-19 or U.S. federal politics was concerned: Twitter files 13: Handled by independent journalist Alex Berenson — once banned from Twitter for criticizing the government response to the pandemic: “Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb secretly pressed Twitter to hide posts challenging his company’s massively profitable Covid jabs /To funnel his demands, Gottlieb used the same Twitter lobbyist the White House did – fresh evidence of overlap between the company selling mRNA shots and the government forcing them on the public.” 4/ In October Read More ›

Peaceful old man looking at his hound and holding the paw of it. Tranquil man is sitting in wheelchair and wearing eyeglasses. Hound is sitting near the chair

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 12, 2023

Categorized
Natural Intelligence

Tagged
Bob Yirka, Dog intelligence and humans, Dog intelligence by breed, SmartDOG intelligence test}

1000 Dogs Tested on Standardized Dog IQ test. What Was Found?

_{There were no breed differences for short-term memory or logical reasoning but some differences in how much they needed to interact with humans when problem-solving} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 12, 2023

4

Natural Intelligence}

Assessing dog intelligence is one of those sensitive areas because of the difficulty in agreeing on what to measure. Experts tend to say that border collies are the smartest dog breed but the response they may get is, “My shih tzu understands me and I am a difficult person to understand!” Nonetheless, a Finnish research group decided to try their hand at administering a battery of standardized intelligence tests (smartDOG) to over 1000 dogs between 1 and 8 years old, of 13 different breeds, with a minimum of 40 dogs from each breed. Here’s what they were testing for: The battery involves measuring different cognitive traits, from spatial problem solving to logical reasoning, to impulse control and an ability to Read More ›

Abstract digital human face. Artificial intelligence concept of big data or cyber security. 3D illustration

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 12, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Closer to Truth (video series), Consciousness as physical, Hubert Dreyfus (1929–2017), Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), Marvin Minsky (1927–2016), Marvin Minsky on AI capabilities, Physicalism, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Society of Mind (Simon and Schuster 1986), What computers can’t do. (HarperCollins 1978)}

If Consciousness Is Not Physical, How Can an AI Duplicate It?

_{Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviewed Berkeley philosopher Hubert Dreyfus on the question before his death in 2017} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 12, 2023

6

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

At Closer to Truth, Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviewed the late philosopher Hubert Dreyfus (1929–2017) a couple of years back on the question “Is consciousness entirely physical.” The interview was released May 18, 2022 (10:03 min). Here’s the big question about consciousness, our inner experience of what things feel like. Is consciousness a product of the physical world alone? Because if consciousness is the output of the physical brain by itself, however complex, then consciousness as physicalism would defeat those who believe, or hope for, the existence of nonphysical realities. Some philosophers (physicalists) do maintain that consciousness is entirely physical or, more commonly, they dance around the point. For example, philosopher David Papineau said in 2020, “If only we could stop Read More ›

Doctor Helps get up . Sick . Elderly Patient.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 11, 2023

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Psychology

Tagged
Epileptic seizures, Featured, Functional blindness, Functional gait disorders, neurology, Non-epileptic seizures, Subconscious mind, unconscious mind}

When It’s Not Clear If a Disorder Is From the Brain or the Mind…

_{Neurologist Andrew Knox explains to Robert J. Marks that some psychological problems appear as if they were brain problems — yet there’s nothing wrong with the brain} _{News

January 11, 2023

8

Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Psychology}

In the podcast released last Thursday, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed pediatric neurologist Dr. Andrew Knox from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health on “Ways the brain can break” (#220, January 5, 2023). What follows is Part 4 of the discussion, “When it’s not clear if a disorder is from the brain or the mind…” Here are Part 1: How our brains are — and aren’t — like computers, Part 2: What is happening when children have strokes or dementia signs?, and Part 3: How do strokes, dementia offer insight into how the brain works? https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/Mind-Matters-220-Andrew-Knox-Episode-1.mp3 This portion begins at roughly 25:15 min. A partial transcript and notes, and Additional Resources follow. Epileptic Read More ›

Digital chatbot, robot application, conversation assistant, AI Artificial Intelligence concept.

^{Type
post

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 11, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Politics

Tagged
Ben Shapiro, bias, Blake Lemoine and LaMDA, Chatbot failings, Chatbot poetry, chatbots, ChatGPT, ChatGPT and bias, Donald Trump, Featured, Gary Smith on chatbots, OpenAI}

Note to Parents: Grooming and Wokeness Are Embedded in Chatbots

_{With or without tuning, all AI chatbots are biased one way or another. AI without bias is like water without wet} _{Robert J. Marks

January 11, 2023

5

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Politics}

First impressions of a person can be wrong. Further interactions can reveal disturbing personality warts. Contrary to initial impressions, we might find out they lie, they are disturbingly woke, they can’t do simple math, their politics is on the extreme left, and they have no sense of humor or common sense. I have just described Open AI’s GPT3 chatbot, ChatGPT. Initially, users are gobsmacked by the its performance. Its flashy prose responses to simple queries look amazing. But become roommates with the chatbot for a few hours and its shortcomings become evident . It can’t get its facts straight, can’t do simple math problems, hates Donald Trump, and is being groomed to be “woke.” Its performance warts are so numerous that Bradley Center Senior Fellow Gary N. Smith hoists a Read More ›

Health care researchers working in life science laboratory, medical science technology research work for test a vaccine, coronavirus covid-19 vaccine protection cure treatment

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 11, 2023

Categorized
Peer Review, Philosophy, Science

Tagged
Featured, John Horgan, Kelsey Piper, Rob Sheldon on space science decline, Science decline, Space Physics Paradox (NAS 1994), The End of Science (Little Brown 1996), Tibi Puiu}

Gloomy News from a Nature Article: Is the End of Science Near?

_{A study in the premier science journal notes the long term falling off of truly original findings, as opposed to endless citations of others’ findings} _{News

January 11, 2023

9

Peer Review, Philosophy, Science}

Science writer Tibi Puiu reports on new findings that reflect what many today, have begun to suspect: Over the past few decades, the number of science and technology research papers published has soared, rising at a rate of nearly 10% each year. In the biomedical field alone, there are more than a million papers pouring into the PubMed database each year, or around two studies per minute… The new study revealed that the “disruptiveness” of contemporary science has decreased, rendering ever diminishing returns. In this particular context, authors define disruptiveness as the degree to which a study departs from previous literature and renders it obsolete. In other words, a highly disruptive study is one that completely changes the way we Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
January 10, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Programming

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, Computers, Data Mining, Neural networks, Number sequence, Numbers (types)}

Is ChatGPT Solely a Neural Network? I Tested That…

_{Changing the random number test to a "computer easy, human hard" test requires simply that we ask ChatGPT to reverse the random number. It couldn't.} _{Eric Holloway

January 10, 2023

9

Artificial Intelligence, Programming}

ChatGPT is a direct descendent of GPT-3, and is a fancy form of a fancy machine learning algorithm called a neural network. For an overview of all of ChatGPT’s neural network complexity, here is a fun article. However, all that is beside the point. The important thing about a neural network: It can only generate what is in its training data. Therefore, ChatGPT can only produce what is in its training data. ChatGPT’s training data does not include the conversation you or I are having with ChatGPT. Therefore, if something novel occurs in the conversation, ChatGPT cannot reproduce it. That is, if ChatGPT is a neural network. Conversely, if ChatGPT reproduces novel text from the conversation, then ipso facto ChatGPT is not a Read More ›

Screaming portrait of capuchin wild monkey

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 10, 2023

Categorized
Archeology, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Brazil, Capuchin monkeys, Ewen Callaway, paleontology, Pedra Furada, Sarah Cascone, Stone tools, Tool use by animals}

Study: Monkeys, Not Humans, Likely Made Ancient Brazilian Tools

_{The stone objects, dated from 50,000 years ago, look like the ones made by capuchin monkeys today} _{News

January 10, 2023

4

Archeology, Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

There’s a danger in looking too hard for evidence of our ancient ancestors. Sometimes we could be seeing things that aren’t there. One group of stone tools from 50,000 years ago could, it is now suggested, have been made by monkeys: Excavations at Pedra Furada, a group of 800 archaeological sites in the state of Piauí, Brazil, have turned up stone shards believed to be examples of simple stone tools. Made from quartzite and quartz cobbles, the oldest ones appear to be up to 50,000 years old, which would put them among the earliest evidence of human habitation in the Western Hemisphere. However, the tools also bear a striking resemblance to the stone tools currently made by the capuchin monkeys Read More ›

Deep learning neural network AI Artificial intelligence concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 10, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Programming

Tagged
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Bees and generalization, Generalization, Hubert Dreyfus (1929–2017), Rebel Science (pseudonym), self-driving cars}

Programmer: Deep Learning Can’t Give Us Computers That Think

_{Artificial general intelligence (AGI) — computers that think like humans — would need to be able to generalize, which he says Deep Learning doesn’t do} _{News

January 10, 2023

6

Artificial Intelligence, Programming}

At Medium late last year, a programmer/researcher who writes under the name “Rebel Science,” assessed Deep Learning, a favorite of the self-driving car quest, as “useless” because it can’t generalize: The biggest problem with DL is its inherent inability to effectively generalize. Without generalization, edge cases are an insurmountable problem, something that the autonomous vehicle industry found out the hard way after wasting more than $100 billion by betting on DL. Rebel Science, “Deep Learning Is Not Just Inadequate for Solving AGI, It Is Useless” at Medium (Nov 2, 2022) Displaying for readers a picture of a bicycle, he continues, A deep neural network cannot perceive this bicycle unless it has been previously trained to recognize it. Generalization is the Read More ›

3D illustration of Escher's inspired stairs

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 9, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Mathematics, Physics

Tagged
Closer to Truth, M. C. Escher (1898-1972), Night and Day (Escher 1938), Relativity (Escher 1953), Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Roger Penrose}

How Surreal Artist MC Escher Influenced Physicist Roger Penrose

_{Escher’s mathematical art was all the more remarkable because he had no formal training in mathematics} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 9, 2023

4

Arts & Culture, Mathematics, Physics}

Last month, Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviewed eminent British mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose on a number of topics, including the influence of surrealist artist M. C. Escher (December 9, 2022/32:00 min). Here is a transcribed selection from the second part of the discussion in Part 1 above*, beginning around the 12-minute mark, with some notes: Robert Lawrence Kuhn: We talked about the impossible Penrose triangle which really opens up another area of your life in terms of visual representations of remarkable things. Penrose tiling really new ways of thing of seeing visual representation of fiery fundamental geometric and algebraic transformations and things. But what I wanted to ask you is, as youdeveloped that you had this interaction with the artist Read More ›

Sick asian senior woman fainted unconscious at the table, fall face down,elderly female patient stop breathing due to heart failure, cardiac arrest,severe arrhythmia, sudden unexpected death syndrome.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
January 9, 2023

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience

Tagged
Alzheimer's disease, Andrew Knox, Dementia, Featured, Juvenile Huntington's disease, Memory formation, Memory loss, Robert J. Marks, Strokes, Syncope}

How Do Strokes, Dementia Offer Insight Into How the Brain Works?

_{Neurologist Andrew Knox thinks the brain may store memories is an associative scheme, where previous memories are used to build up new ones} _{News

January 9, 2023

7

Medicine and Health, Neuroscience}

In the podcast released last Thursday, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed pediatric neurologist Dr. Andrew Knox from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health on “Ways the brain can break” (#220, January 5, 2023). What follows is from Part 3 of the discussion. Here’s Part 1: How our brains are — and aren’t — like computers and Part 2: What is happening when children have strokes or dementia signs? https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/Mind-Matters-220-Andrew-Knox-Episode-1.mp3 This portion begins at roughly 18:25 min. A partial transcript and notes, and Additional Resources follow. The discussion began with the question, “How does the brain store memories?” Andrew Knox: There are different schemes for storing memories, but patients with Alzheimer’s seem to have Read More ›

the drawings from the ceiling of Altamira cave in Santillana Del Mar, Cantabria, Spain

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 9, 2023

Categorized
Archeology, Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Becky Ferreira, Ben Bacon, Cave paintings, Kristina Killgrove, Lunar calendar, Melanie Chang, Paul Pettit}

Do Cave Paintings From 20,000 Years Ago Show Symbolic Writing?

_{In an article in the Cambridge Archeological Journal, researchers say they’ve deciphered the dots and Y’s among the animal paintings} _{Denyse O'Leary

January 9, 2023

5

Archeology, Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind}

London-based wood carving conservator Ben Bacon has, with academic colleagues, shaken up Ice Age paleontology by demonstrating that the marks on the 20,000-year-old cave paintings of animals found across Europe could be interpreted as a lunar calendar timing their reproductive cycles: Prof Paul Pettitt, of Durham University, said he was “glad he took it seriously” when Mr Bacon contacted him. “The results show that Ice Age hunter-gatherers were the first to use a systemic calendar and marks to record information about major ecological events within that calendar.” News, “Londoner solves 20,000-year Ice Age drawings mystery” at BBC (January 5, 2023) The paper is open access. Bacon had spent many hours both on the internet and in the British Library, studying Read More ›