Mind Matters News and Analysis on Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Eric Holloway

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An array of symbols from the National Archives, Hämeenlinna, Finland
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
February 26, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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Artificial Intelligence Must Be Possible! Really…?

Many arguments for strong artificial intelligence depend on an ideological commitment to explicit, unproven theories about the universe
Eric Holloway
February 26, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Not only is it valid to ask whether artificial intelligence is impossible but the argument can be pursued on a scientific basis with quantifiable, empirical evidence.

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3D render of a technology background with code over male head
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
February 6, 2019
Categorized
Natural Intelligence
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The Brain Exceeds the Most Powerful Computers in Efficiency

Human thinking takes vastly less computational effort to arrive at the same conclusions.
Eric Holloway
February 6, 2019
Natural Intelligence
All of the tasks that AI accomplishes require a certain amount of memory, computational power, and time. We have a good enough understanding of the human brain to measure the same quantities used for the same tasks. Thus, we can measure the difference between what minds and machines require to solve the same problem. Read More ›
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Sparkler between two hands
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
January 21, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind
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The Creative Spark

An information theory justification for the intrinsic value of human beings
Eric Holloway
January 21, 2019
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind
Because creativity is unique to humans and irreducible, all human beings have the ability in principle. The fact that a particular human being’s creativity is not in use or is perhaps unusable at present does not mean that that person does not have the ability. Consequently, all humans have at least latent intrinsic instrumental value. Read More ›
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Fluorescent sign saying
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
January 4, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Technocracy
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Will artificial intelligence design artificial super-intelligence?

And then turn us all into super-geniuses, as some AI researchers hope? No, and here's why not
Eric Holloway
January 4, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Technocracy
Because Moore's law is an exponential law, the numbers multiply rapidly and we could hit the physical limit rather suddenly. Current indications are that Moore’s law’s speed has already slowed or even ceased to be a true description of the IT industry today. Read More ›
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Colorful toothpicks or pick-up sticks
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
December 27, 2018
Categorized
Machine Learning
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How Can We Measure Meaningful Information?

Neither randomness nor order alone creates meaning. So how can we identify communications?
Eric Holloway
December 27, 2018
Machine Learning
Dropping a handful of toothpicks on the table seems to produce a different sort of pattern than spelling out a word with toothpicks. Surprisingly, this intuitive distinction is harder to make in math and the sciences. Algorithmic specified complexity (ASC) enables us to distinguish them. Read More ›
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Man in a maze
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 29, 2018
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Has Neuroscience Disproved Thinking?

A philosopher argues that Nobel Prize-winning research shows that the theory of mind is just another illusion, useful for survival and success
Eric Holloway
November 29, 2018
Philosophy of Mind
We've all seen this sort of argument before in many other guises. It is commonly called “reductionism.” The reductionist claims that, because an object can be construed as made up of parts, the object is just the parts. It is like saying that because an article like this one is constructed from letters of the alphabet, the article is only rows of letters. Read More ›
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 5, 2018
Categorized
Machine Learning, Natural Intelligence
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Human intelligence as a halting oracle

Jonathan Bartlett proposes to model the human mind as a halting oracle.
Eric Holloway
November 5, 2018
Machine Learning, Natural Intelligence
A common objection to Bartlett’s idea is that humans cannot be halting oracles because we embed any unsolvable math problem as the halting condition for a loop and a human cannot tell us whether the loop will halt or not. This objection misses the fact that there is a range of oracles between plain Turing machines and a complete halting oracle. Read More ›
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
October 16, 2018
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence
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Does information theory support design in nature?

William Dembski makes a convincing case, using accepted information theory principles relevant to computer science
Eric Holloway
October 16, 2018
Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence
Intelligent design theory is sometimes said to lack any practical application. One straightforward application is that, because intelligence can create information and computation cannot, human interaction will improve computational performance. Read More ›
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
September 19, 2018
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Artificial intelligence is impossible

Meaningful information vs artificial intelligence
Eric Holloway
September 19, 2018
Artificial Intelligence
Because the law of independence conservation states that no combination of randomness and determinism can create mutual information, then likewise no Turing machine nor artificial intelligence can create mutual information. Thus, the goal of artificial intelligence researchers to reproduce human intelligence with a computer program is impossible to achieve. Read More ›
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
September 4, 2018
Categorized
Ethics, Machine Learning, Social Factors
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Slaughterbots: How far is too far?

And how will we know if we have crossed a line?
Eric Holloway
September 4, 2018
Ethics, Machine Learning, Social Factors
A greater focus should be on restoring the foundations of our nation over building superweapons. And the key foundation is all human beings' right to life. Read More ›
Roboter Arme
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Author
Eric Holloway
Date
August 15, 2018
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Could one single machine invent everything?

The king’s perpetual innovation machine was all ready to roll but then a skeptic butted in
Eric Holloway
August 15, 2018
Computers can never originate, they only regurgitate. Humans, on the other hand, can come up with original ideas, i.e. they write the programs in the first place. So, my proof shows that the human mind cannot be a computer program. Read More ›