Author: John G. West

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post

John G. West
Date
December 21, 2024

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

In Machines We Trust

_{In an age of AI, who stands up for humans?} _{John G. West
December 21, 2024

3

Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

If you believe the media, AI has made both of us obsolete. We need to resign ourselves to an age of “thinking machines” in which human guidance and creativity are superfluous. This kind of thinking is false — and dangerous. AI will never become conscious. It will never truly be autonomous. It will always require human input and control. But if we treat AI as if it can be autonomous, we will open the door to the kind of manipulation and tyranny warned about by C.S. Lewis in his classic book The Abolition of Man. Unfortunately, there are few voices in the public square right now offering a sane assessment of both the capabilities and limits of AI. As a Read More ›

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post

John G. West
Date
December 8, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence}

In the Era of ChatGPT, Bradley Center and Mind Matters News Defend the Irreplaceable Human

_{From the COSM conference, a groundbreaking new book, and hundreds of perceptive articles, the Bradley Center has had a significant and successful year.} _{John G. West
December 8, 2023

4

Artificial Intelligence}

Editor’s Note: Mind Matters News is sponsored by the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence, a program of the non-profit Discovery Institute. We rely on donations from individuals like you to continue to operate. If you have benefited from Mind Matters News, would you consider an end-of-year donation to support our work in 2024? You can find more about the work of the Bradley Center in 2023 in the article below. This year the seemingly-miraculous capabilities of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) dominated public discussions about artificial intelligence (AI). While many pundits and tech writers openly wondered whether ChatGPT portended humanity’s doom, the Bradley Center provided a clear voice in defense of the continuing need for Read More ›

Walter Myers III at COSM 2021 on Silicon Valley

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post

John G. West
Date
December 14, 2021

Categorized
Events

Tagged
Featured}

Walter Bradley Center: Year in Review 2021

_{John G. West
December 14, 2021

4

Events}

Mind Matters News is sponsored by the non-profit Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute. Will you help Mind Matters News continue by supporting the work of the Bradley Center with an end-of-year donation? In a world awash with over-hyped claims (both pro and con) about artificial intelligence, the work of the Bradley Center couldn’t be more timely and important. People know at a fundamental level that they are not machines. But faulty thinking can cause people to adopt views that in their heart of hearts they know to be untrue. The Bradley Center seeks to help individuals — and our society at large — to realize that we are not machines, while at the same Read More ›

Illustration of spiral arrangement in nature. Golden Ratio concept

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post

John G. West
Date
October 27, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind, Science

Tagged
C.S. Lewis, John West}

New film: C.S. Lewis as a staunch defender of the mind’s reality

_{Lewis started out thinking that “the findings of science have concluded that human reason” resulted merely from “natural selection with random mutations… to confer upon humans a reproductive advantage.”} _{John G. West
October 27, 2021

6

Arts & Culture, Philosophy of Mind, Science}

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to spend an evening with famed writer C. S. Lewis, now’s your chance. On November 3, theaters around the United States and Canada will premiere a film titled The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis, and it may be the next best thing to meeting the real Lewis, who died in 1963. Adapted from a one-man stage show by New York actor Max McLean, The Most Reluctant Convert portrays Lewis’s intellectual journey from scientific materialism to idealism to theism to Christianity. It’s a cerebral and “talky” film, but that doesn’t mean it’s slow or boring. Clocking in at just 73 minutes, the film moves briskly and includes plenty of emotion and humor. (This Read More ›

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post

John G. West
Date
February 16, 2021

Categorized
Censorship, Media, Social Media

Tagged
Amazon, apple, censorship, discrimination, Facebook, Free speech, Google, Lawsuits, Parler, political discrimination, Seattle}

Little-Known Civil Rights Law Could Bring Big Tech to Its Knees

_{Many tech giants have considerable assets and many employees in Seattle's jurisdiction} _{John G. West
February 16, 2021

13

Censorship, Media, Social Media}

SEATTLE—As state and federal lawmakers consider drafting new legislation to counter big tech censorship of dissenting political voices, few seem to realize that an anti-discrimination law already on the books could spell big trouble for big tech companies that engage in political censorship. Ironically, the law was enacted by one of the most politically progressive cities in the country: Seattle. Unlike most political jurisdictions in the United States, Seattle expressly forbids discrimination on the basis of “political ideology.” Seattle defines political ideology expansively as any idea or belief, or coordinated body of ideas or beliefs, relating to the purpose, conduct, organization, function or basis of government and related institutions and activities, whether or not characteristic of any political party or group. This Read More ›