Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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physics-or-mathematical-equations-on-a-universe-decorative-led-background-give-the-impression-of-interstellar-space-travel-stockpack-adobe-stock
Physics or mathematical equations on a universe decorative LED background give the impression of interstellar space travel.

Does Mathematics Belong to an Eternal Realm?

Whether Platonism is the only possible approach or not, positions like anti-realism seem like an effort to evade the reality of immaterial things. Read More ›
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peaceful nature

Psychiatrist Looks at Mindfulness From a Christian Perspective

UCLA research psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz notes that the word “heart” in the biblical sense means the seat of consciousness, the seat of our spirit
Dr. Schwartz thinks that mindfulness research and practice has played a role in shaking up the idea that the mind is simply what the brain does. Read More ›
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AI chatbot robot assistant sitting at desk using computer as artificial intelligence. Business concept. AI generated

What AI Will Probably Really Do to White Collar Businesses

The tech media are full of scare stories but we can look at what happened when advanced technology hit blue collar industries as a guide
Let’s not count the humans out too soon. The real question is, are we doing anything that is unique, that could not just be replaced by a machine? Read More ›
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Scary gray alien walks and looks blinking on a dark smoky background. UFO futuristic concept. 3D rendering.

Alien Resurrection, Part 1: This Movie Pays for the Sins of the Last One

It's better than Aliens 3, but has a host of problems nonetheless.
Ripley remembers enough about her old life to have misgivings about the military raising the Alien Queen, but of course, she’s ignored, and the army moves on to the second phase of their plan. Read More ›
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Spaceship, inside of engine

Will the Driving Force for Space Exploration Be a Religious Cult?

Olson makes large assumptions as he develops his argument. But the literary licence granted to science fiction is not available to real-universe physics. Read More ›
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Earphones and mobile phone with podcast app on screen

Napster, Spotify, and AI: How Will AI Escape Copyright Woes?

Robert J. Marks on AI and learning from past copyright cases.

Copyright lawsuits are abounding against generative AI. Since the advent of ChatGPT in late 2022, various companies, artists, and writers have raised concerns over AI’s plagiaristic tendencies. Robert J. Marks, host of the Mind Matters podcast, has the story over at Newsmax. Marks recalls the debacle of Napster, a music streaming service that provided music for “free” without payment to the artists. Not surprisingly, it was soon shut down. So how will it fare with generative AI? What’s the solution to all the impending legal woes in the realm of AI? Marks writes, Today’s Spotify keeps automatic records of song frequency and, from subscriber’s payments, distributes royalties accordingly. Similar methods could be applied to compensate content creators by generative AI. It’s not Read More ›

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free-range chickens on an organic farm in styria,austria

Chicken Whisperers? Humans Learn to Interpret Chicken-ese Quickly

Animal languages deal in emotions and sometimes in basic information but not in ideas. Humans can understand them to the extent that we can follow the emotions. Read More ›
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Senior lady with her aged mother with dementia, embracing and smiling in a summer park

New Studies Point to Ways We Might Reduce the Effects of Dementia

What’s becoming clear is that, while dementia itself may not be preventable, its severity may potentially be mitigated by timely health care interventions. Read More ›
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Labirinth

Consciousness Wars Still Simmer, Despite Peacekeeping Efforts

If neuroscientists are looking fruitlessly for a material basis for the human mind, progress may always be measured in conflicts, not insights. Read More ›
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Woman gesticulating during interview with media, press conference, close-up

As Legacy Media Continues in Decline, It Espouses Censorship More

Even as late as the turn of the millennium, media people tended to be reflexively against censorship, but then courage failed along with relevance
It won’t be long before serious proposals are floated in the United States for government to fund legacy media, which would make them PR for government. Read More ›
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Creative Idea with Brain and Light Bulb Illustration, with Generative AI Technology

Robert J. Marks on the Copyright Lawsuits Against the Chatbots

Essentially, the salad of material that the chatbot produces for users contains thousands of ingredients lifted without compensation from copyright holders
Writing at NewsMax, Marx assesses the lawsuits and concludes that there is no free lunch. If generative AI must pay creators, users will probably also pay too. Read More ›
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Brain: network of astrocytes (glial cells that support neurons).

New Findings About Our Mysterious “Second Brain”

This “chat” among neurons, glia, and microbes could be important for research into the digestive system in relation to mood disorders, anxiety, and depression. Read More ›
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Team of scientists working in a laboratory, carefully conducting experiments and analyzing data. Generative AI

A Case Study in Why Peer Review May Be Unreformable

McIntosh and Hudson Vitale illustrate, by their very zeal to eliminate pro-life researchers, the built-in corruption of the peer review process
The excruciating difficulty for peer review is Goodhart’s Law: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” Bias makes it all worse. Read More ›
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graduation

Artificially Smart: Artificial Intelligence and Higher Education

Understanding needs to remain the metric by which students are evaluated
If steps aren’t taken to ensure that conceptual mastery remains the standard for higher education, most students will complete their degrees as technicians. Read More ›
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african american man looking at window

Philosopher Explains How We Can Know That Consciousness Is Real

Although it doesn’t emerge in this interview, Strawson is a panpsychist; thus he can maintain a materialist position and still argue that consciousness is real. Read More ›
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full moon setting over the bridger mountains in winter near bozeman, montana

Robert J. Marks to speak at Big Sky Conference in Billings, Montana

He will focus on the way in which, while AI offers exciting possibilities, many claims for AI are provably overblown
Marks points out in his work that many key acts of the mind, especially those involving creativity, are non-computable and AI doesn’t and can’t do them. Read More ›
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World War II airplane on formation

The Transhumanist Delusion of the Nazis

"All the Light We Cannot See" shows what can happen when the delusions of transhumanism join forces with an appalling ideology.
The Nazis were keen on creating a superhuman race with unsurpassable physical, intellectual, and (ironically) moral qualities. Read More ›
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Coronavirus fraud and covid-19 scams or medical lies and conspiracy theory as a virus scammer spreading false medical information. Burning medical mask. Coronavirus cincept.

Fighting Pseudoscience With Empathy? Try a Little Humility First…

The accusation of “pseudoscience,” under the current science regime, has often become little more than an elite-driven smear against inconvenient data
Sutter would be better off to worry more when things are called pseudoscience because, despite evidence in their favor, they contradict fashionable thinking. Read More ›
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Mobile dictionary, translator  and e-learning.concept . Learning languages online.  Smartphone and books with language courses.

Do People Who Speak Different Languages Think Differently?

For centuries, linguists found that an intriguing, attractive idea but there is no clear evidence for it
McElvenny credits linguist Noam Chomsky (1928–) with revitalizing the idea that we all have the same sort of minds; language does not really change that. Read More ›
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polar bear astronaut in space suit, generative ai

Internet Pollution — If You Tell a Lie Long Enough…

Large Language Models (chatbots) can generate falsehoods faster than humans can correct them. For example, they might say that the Soviets sent bears into space...
Later, Copilot and other LLMs will be trained to say no bears have been sent into space but many thousands of other misstatements will fly under their radar. Read More ›