Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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hive mind
Artificial intelligence. Network in hive mind brain. Vintage futuristic poster.
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post
Author
News
Date
March 19, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Is the “Singularity” Already Here?

Two experts in the tech field warn that the singularity, as we've come to imagine it, might be right around the corner
News
March 19, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

The singularity refers to the future point when the human and the machine will merge––when the personal and technological distinction breaks down entirely. It sounds dystopian and far off. But, two experts in the tech field warn that the singularity, as we’ve come to imagine it, is right upon us. Writing for The Conversation, John Kendall Hawkins and Sandy Boucher comment, To understand why this isn’t the stuff of fairy tales, we need only look as far as recent developments in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). BCIs are a natural beginning to the singularity in the eyes of many futurists, because they meld mind and machine in a way no other technology so far can. Elon Musk’s company Neuralink is seeking permission from the US Food Read More ›

apocalyptic city
Concept art illustration of post-apocalyptic New York city
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post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
March 18, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction
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The Last of Us, Episode 4

After a derailing of the narrative, the actual plot makes a comeback
Gary Varner
March 18, 2023
6
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

After a tough episode three, The Last of Us decides to return to the plot, and we see the writing quality improve somewhat. We pick up with Joel and Ellie driving down the road, and to be candid, the scenes are interesting. There was, however, one giant plot hole during this sequence I couldn’t ignore. It’s a little thing, but as someone who grew up in Missouri, I found it hilarious. So, while they are driving along, they come across a herd of bison. The subtext behind the camera shot is painfully obvious, “Now that man is gone, the buffalo have returned. Nature is healing!” Of course, what the camera crew failed to notice, or at least, what they were Read More ›

woman reading book
a woman is reading a book and holding coffee
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post
Author
News
Date
March 17, 2023
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Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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ChatGPT and Personal Consciousness

AI vs. the human voice in literature and the arts
News
March 17, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

This week, Peter Biles, Writer & Editor for Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, wrote a piece for Salvo on ChatGPT and the uniqueness of the human voice in literature and the arts. Biles cites Christina Bieber Lake, professor of English at Wheaton College, from her book Beyond the Story: American Literary Fiction and the Limits of Materialism. Bieber Lake pushes back against the reductionistic worldview of Darwinistic materialism, appealing to the personal nature of the human being and the relationships we share together. Since a computer fails to practice personal consciousness, it also fails to create meaningful literature, which always involves two persons––one person speaking to another. Biles also cites Robert J. Marks’s essential book on the topic Read More ›

retro-wave-80s-computer-all-in-one-illuminated-by-neon-light-isolated-on-black-stockpack-adobe-stock
Retro wave 80s computer all-in-one illuminated by neon light isolated on black
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post
Author
News
Date
March 17, 2023
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AI is Old News, Says Tech Consultant

AI actually dates back to the 1950s. It is not new, says Funk
News
March 17, 2023
1

This week, Robert J. Marks sat down with technology consultant and retired professor Jeffrey Funk, who contributes often to Mind Matters, usually in tandem with Gary Smith. Marks and Funk talked about tech startups, where the industry is headed, and the exaggerated hype that currently attends the discourse over AI. Funk talked about the various stages of AI development. “AI is not new,” he said. AI is 70 years old. ChatGPT and other generative AI models are based on neural networks, which have become economical through Moore’s Law, through this incredible increase in computing power that has been going on since the 1950s. But it’s slowed dramatically. -Jeffrey Funk, Jeffrey Funk on AI, Startups, and Big Tech | Mind Matters Read More ›

wheelchair-for-physical-assistance-at-nursing-home-close-up-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
wheelchair for physical assistance at nursing home, close up. Generative AI
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post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
March 16, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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The Last of Us, Episode 3 (Part 3)

Romanticizing a murder-suicide distracts us from the story and suggests an approval of euthanasia
Gary Varner
March 16, 2023
7
Arts & Culture

In the previous review, we discussed the love story of Bill and Frank, and how it must’ve only been written to appease the critics because, while it stirred some controversy, it contributed nothing to the plot. We started out following Joel and Ellie across the countryside, but then, we were unexpectedly forced to watch an approximately forty-minute flashback that literally showed Bill and Frank’s entire cliché and boring life together. And before we can return to the real story, we must see how the two meet their untimely end. This final sequence starts out with Bill getting into a gunfight with some raiders who are all dying horribly at the hands of Bill’s various traps. At first, Bill seems to Read More ›

composite-collage-image-of-delighted-black-white-colors-person-hold-telephone-raise-fist-celebrate-like-notification-facebook-instagram-tiktok-stockpack-adobe-stock
Composite collage image of delighted black white colors person hold telephone raise fist celebrate like notification facebook instagram tiktok
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post
Author
News
Date
March 16, 2023
Categorized
Global Technology
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The Clock’s Ticking for TikTok

Biden admin might ban TikTok in the U.S. if company doesn't sell
News
March 16, 2023
2
Global Technology

The Biden administration is considering banning TikTok in the United States if the platform’s parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t sell it. The news arrives amidst growing concerns over national security and Chinese espionage tactics, particularly in light of the “spy balloon” that was shot down off the American east coast in February. ByteDance is a Chinese company, and as such, is subject to disclose its information to the Chinese Communist Party. Today, more than half of American states have placed bans on state-issued devices out of privacy and security concerns. Texas representative Paul Michael McCaul said, TikTok is a modern-day Trojan horse of the [Chinese Communist Party], used to surveil and exploit Americans’ personal information. It’s a spy baloon for your Read More ›

golden-ring-and-mountains-digital-art-3d-render-stockpack-adobe-stock
Golden Ring and Mountains Digital Art 3D Render
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 15, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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Don’t Turn The Lord of the Rings into Star Wars

When you have something as good as the world of Middle Earth, it becomes ever easier to injure the original vision and trade quality for commercial success
Peter Biles
March 15, 2023
5
Arts & Culture

Amazon’s The Rings of Power, which is based on the appendices in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, was an ambitious and expensive project that arguably provided little more than a surface-level and underdeveloped interpretation of Middle Earth and its characters. The show, while entertaining and with its strengths, exemplified a flaw many fans feared: commercializing Tolkien inevitably leads to compromise. Even Peter Jackson’s highly praised rendition of the fantasy epic has its critics, including Tolkien’s son and heir of the family estate, Christopher. The show was visually stunning but had some storytelling issues. For one, we don’t ever get a sense of Middle Earth’s size. Characters pop in and out of different places as if it’s a five-minute Read More ›

looking-upward-the-sky-stockpack-adobe-stock
looking upward the sky
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post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
March 15, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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The Last of Us, Episode 3 (Part 2)

Why were we subjected to this episode if it wasn’t going to contribute to the narrative?
Gary Varner
March 15, 2023
6
Arts & Culture

Last time, we discussed how episode three started out relatively strong then unexpectedly shifted to another story altogether. It’s important to note that we are not watching a ten-minute flashback or some b-plot involving a couple of supporting characters. Almost all of the episode is devoted to Bill and Frank, and frankly, their story goes nowhere. As I mentioned before, the subject of this random entry into the series is Bill and Frank’s romantic relationship, and given the fact that this little deviation from the source material contributes nothing to the plot as a whole, it is strongly suspected that the only reason the writers chose to tell this story was to gain the admiration of critics who share their Read More ›

stocks-and-bonds-closeup-stockpack-adobe-stock
Stocks and Bonds Closeup
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 15, 2023
Categorized
Business and Finance
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Aren’t US Treasury Bonds Supposed to be Safe?

How can you lose money selling treasury bonds?
Jonathan Bartlett
March 15, 2023
3
Business and Finance

For context, read Bartlett’s two previous articles on the fall of SVB and interest rates. Some people are confused as to how you can lose money selling treasury bonds, since they are supposed to be “safe” assets (the government is not expected to default on its loans, and, if it does, the economy probably has bigger problems). Economist Bob Murphy put together a great explainer thread on Twitter, which I will largely follow here. Let’s say that there is an asset that always yields a 1% return every year on however much you have invested, but you never get the principal back except by selling it to someone else. Let us call this asset ABC, and let us say that it is Read More ›

cute-3d-snapchat-ghost-cartoon-character-stockpack-adobe-stock
Cute 3D Snapchat Ghost Cartoon Character
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post
Author
News
Date
March 14, 2023
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Artificial Intelligence
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You Too, Snapchat? Another AI Bot Hits the Scene

"My AI" is eerily human, like the Bing bot, and just as inappropriate
News
March 14, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence

Snapchat introduced a new feature in its app: an AI chatbot “friend” called “My AI.” (Just what lonesome teens need.) We’ve already seen the rogue behavior of Bing’s chatbot, which, in conversation with a New York Times tech journalist, dubbed itself “Sydney” and started beseeching its human counterpart to leave his wife and fall in love with it. Romantic, right? Not so much. The journalist left the experience with the creepy sense that AI had just crossed a sensitive boundary, and that tech companies need to get better at controlling the unpredictable beast they’ve unleashed. “My AI” Gives Shady Advice to Kids Just a couple of weeks later and here we are with AI making inroads into an app used Read More ›

vintage-bank-sign-stockpack-adobe-stock
Vintage Bank Sign
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 14, 2023
Categorized
Business and Finance
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Why Did the Tech Bubble Correspond with Low Interest Rates?

Ultimately, our economy’s deeper problems aren’t so much a result of “money” as they are bad allocations of resources.
Jonathan Bartlett
March 14, 2023
4
Business and Finance

For context, read Bartlett’s article explaining the fall of SVB here. I wanted to make a quick note about why tech bubbles tend to correspond with low interest rate environments. Interest rates essentially dictate how long someone can wait before they need to produce something of real value. In a 20% interest rate environment, it will be evident really quickly if you are failing to produce something of value. Since essentially 1/5 of your capital disappears each year, if you aren’t doing something that will generate real profits quickly, you are sunk. You can’t paper over problems with more borrowing because the cost of that borrowing is so high. Additionally, in such an environment, the payoffs for investment need to be large Read More ›

golden-gate-bridge-in-san-francisco-stockpack-adobe-stock
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 13, 2023
Categorized
Business and Finance
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What’s Going on at Silicon Valley Bank?

The bank's failure is making a lot of people nervous about their money
Jonathan Bartlett
March 13, 2023
5
Business and Finance

Many people awoke this morning to news of a bank that suddenly collapsed – Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB. While information is still developing, I thought I would provide some background information on what is known so far. SVB is the go-to bank for Silicon Valley startups. Over the last few years, the tech bubble has been growing and growing and growing, focused especially around Silicon Valley. That meant a lot of banking was happening, and it was happening with SVB. That is where the various companies put their deposits.  How does a bank make money? By lending out deposits. In 2021, at the height of the tech bubble (and, not coincidentally, at a historically low-interest rate environment). The bank did what most banks do Read More ›

wallpaper-of-cordyceps-fungi-realistic-detail-photo-macro-illustration-like-the-movie-the-last-of-us-stockpack-adobe-stock
Wallpaper of cordyceps fungi, realistic detail photo macro, illustration, like the movie the last of us,
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post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
March 13, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction
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The Last of Us, Episode 3 (Part I)

This episode serves as a bad omen when it comes to writers’ willingness to stick to the script
Gary Varner
March 13, 2023
6
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

In episode two, Tess sacrifices herself after being bitten, and in episode three, we find Joel and Ellie grieving over her death. This scene is another example of the actors overplaying the anger when the tone should be more somber. Joel is hesitant to talk to Ellie until Ellie insists that Tess’s death wasn’t her fault, and that Joel and Tess made their own choices. Now, there isn’t anything wrong with the scene necessarily, but in the first two episodes, it’s already apparent that the HBO adaptation is having a difficult time establishing the father-daughter dynamic between Ellie and Joel that the game is known for. This scene only adds to that problem. However, this might not be an issue Read More ›

human rights
Circle of paper people holding hands on pink surface. Community, brotherhood concept. Society and support.
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post
Author
Richard W. Stevens
Date
March 13, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Love Thy Robot as Thyself

Academics worry about AI feelings, call for AI rights
Richard W. Stevens
March 13, 2023
6
Artificial Intelligence

Riffing on the popular fascination with AI (artificial intelligence) systems ChatGPT and Bing Chat, two authors in the Los Angeles Times recently declared: We are approaching an era of legitimate dispute about whether the most advanced AI systems have real desires and emotions and deserve substantial care and solicitude. The authors, Prof. Eric Schwitzgebel at UC Riverside, and Henry Shevlin, a senior researcher at the University of Cambridge, observed AI thinkers saying “large neural networks” might be “conscious,” the sophisticated chatbot LaMDA “might have real emotions,” and ordinary human users reportedly “falling in love” with chatbot Replika.  Reportedly, “some leading theorists contend that we already have the core technological ingredients for conscious machines.”  The authors argue that if or when Read More ›

mice-feecing-in-an-urban-house-garden-stockpack-adobe-stock
Mice feecing in an urban house garden.
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post
Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
March 10, 2023
Categorized
Biology

Mice With No Mother?

Biotechnologists keep pushing the borders of what is possible in procreation
Wesley J. Smith
March 10, 2023
3
Biology

Biotechnologists keep pushing the borders of what is possible in procreation. Mice pups have now been born with no mother and two fathers. It was done, apparently, by transforming skin cells from male mice into pluripotent stem cells and thence into egg cells with XX chromosomes. From the Guardian story: Male skin cells were reprogrammed into a stem cell-like state to create so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The Y-chromosome of these cells was then deleted and replaced by an X chromosome “borrowed” from another cell to produce iPS cells with two identical X chromosomes. “The trick of this, the biggest trick, is the duplication of the X chromosome,” said Hayashi. “We really tried to establish a system to duplicate the X chromosome.” Read More ›

hands-stockpack-adobe-stock
hands
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 10, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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Observing and Communing

What human art and literature do that AI can't
Peter Biles
March 10, 2023
5
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

AI image generators like Midjourney or DALL-E are generally adept at capturing the accuracy of the human form. The concerns over copyright, job infringement, and general degradation of the visual arts via such AI are ongoing concerns for many artists and practitioners. However, a new New Yorker article by Kyle Chayka identifies a noticeable flaw in AI artwork: human hands. Missing the Big Picture Chayka begins by recalling an art class where he was asked to draw his own hand. It’s an assignment for beginners, and as behooves a novice, tempts the artist to focus more on the specific contours of the hand instead of the overall structure and form. The forest gets lost in the trees, so to speak. Read More ›

brain-psychology-mind-soul-and-hope-concept-art-3d-illustration-surreal-artwork-imagination-painting-conceptual-idea-stockpack-adobe-stock
Brain psychology mind soul and hope concept art, 3d illustration, surreal artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea
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post
Author
News
Date
March 9, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Blake Lemoine and Robert J. Marks on the Mind Matters Podcast

Marks and Lemoine discuss sentience in AI and the question of the soul
News
March 9, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence

Robert J. Marks, director of the Walter Bradley Center for Natural & Artificial Intelligence, sat down with former Google employee Blake Lemoine, who made headlines last year when he claimed AI can be “sentient.” The claim also led to his departure from Google. The two had a fascinating conversation, to say the least. In today’s episode, they discuss whether AI can indeed become sentient, the non-computability of certain human traits, and the question of the soul. Marks and Lemoine couldn’t differ more on these fundamental points. Whereas Lemoine thinks AI can be sentient, Marks firmly rejects such a notion. In addition, Lemoine’s materialistic worldview controls his understanding of the brain, while Marks defends the existence of the immaterial mind. While Read More ›

frankensteins lady
display model mannequin face portrait
Type
post
Author
Nathan Jacobson
Date
March 9, 2023
Categorized
Virtual Reality
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The Composite

Seductive Optics and Skeuomorphic Intelligence, Part IV.
Nathan Jacobson
March 9, 2023
6
Virtual Reality

This is the last in a series. Read Part I, Part II – “Moving PIxels“, and Part III -“Talking Boxes“. The greatest aspiration of artificial intelligence Frankensteins is stitching together all the sundry parts into a moving, talking, seeing, and interacting android. Today, this composite of technologies is most famously embodied in Sophia. This android from Hanson Robotics is an international “celebrity”, appearing on late night shows and on the exhibit floors of tech conferences. With how many things are we on the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein On its marketing page, Sophia’s marketing department puts the following words in its mouth, as though it has a sense of self Read More ›

conceptual-art-concept-of-problem-mind-psychology-freedom-and-solution-surreal-painting-jigsaw-puzzle-on-human-head-stockpack-adobe-stock
Conceptual art, concept of problem mind psychology freedom and solution, surreal painting, jigsaw puzzle on human head.
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post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
March 8, 2023
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Kenneth Miller on Consciousness and Evolution

Despite Miller's claims, neither human reason nor free will evolved because neither are generated by material processes
Michael Egnor
March 8, 2023
8
Philosophy of Mind

Kenneth Miller is a biologist at Brown University who has been very active in his written and vocal support for Darwin’s theory of evolution. He’s neither a materialist nor an atheist – he is a Catholic, and in being one of the rare Darwinists who doesn’t subscribe wholeheartedly to the materialist/atheist paradigm, he allows himself to be used as a token theist by the Darwinists. It helps his career, no doubt, but doesn’t advance the truth. Not an admirable place to be. Miller’s New Book and What it Misses In his 2018 book The Human Instinct: How We Evolved To Have Reason, Consciousness, and Free Will, Miller manages a feat uncommon even for Darwinists – even the title of the Read More ›

talking-mannequin-boxes
Type
post
Author
Nathan Jacobson
Date
March 8, 2023
Categorized
Virtual Reality
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Talking Boxes

Seductive Optics and Skeuomorphic Intelligence, Part III.
Nathan Jacobson
March 8, 2023
4
Virtual Reality
There will be synthesized versions of gravelly voices, deep baritones, fast talkers, low talkers, high talkers, yada, yada, yada. Amazon has added functions to enable Alexa to whisper, emphasize a word, or mimic local slang. But as our talking boxes run their routines, they understand nothing. Read More ›