Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

News

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An octopus holding a plastic bottle , generative ai

Maybe Being a Loner Helps the Octopus Be Smart?

With the asocial brain hypothesis, researchers ask us to think beyond traditional explanations for why some animals display unexpected intelligence

The research mainly shows that there is more than one route to animal intelligence and shaking up Darwin’s tree can be productive.

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Human evolution

Who, Exactly, Is the Subject of Evolutionary Psychology?

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and science writer Denyse O’Leary offer some thoughts about why the discipline does not make sense

The whole Darwinian paradigm of natural selection falls apart when you’re dealing with the human mind. It’s a very different thing.

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A breathtaking panoramic view of the deep blue ocean stretching to the horizon beneath a vibrant sky filled with fluffy white clouds. Gentle waves shimmer in the sunlight, creating a peaceful seascape

Do Readers Remember Bluesky, the Kinder, Gentler Twitter?

It is still playing catchup in terms of user numbers

If you don’t want conflict or controversy, don’t pretend you want to be where the news is. And don’t be surprised if your platform mostly appeals to conventional people who all agree with each other.

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Healthy, smiling 100 years old woman.

More humans are living to be 100 years of age

It is a logical outcome of a general improvement in health care

In the United States, the change plays out as a boom in centenarians. The population of persons aged 100 or more grew by 50% between 2010 and 2020.

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Frustrated professional struggling with unreliable AI chatbot responses at night office

Who Coined the Phrase “the Magician’s Twin”?

The pitfalls of relying on AI for your facts

Thanks to AI chatbots, a phrase I probably coined phrase has become so recognizable that most people think C. S. Lewis himself said it!

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Busy bored young African-American male author office worker in glasses sitting at the desk typing on laptop, working on project, writing creating article or blog, feeling lack of motivation to finish

Authors be warned: AI scams are much cleverer today

Sophisticated AI tools can now tailor an email so that is sounds personal — a far cry from the junkmail that ends up in our recycle bins.

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Digital twin technology illustration of an airplane with holographic simulation model, representing aviation, flight simulation, aerospace innovation, and smart maintenance ai new

Do We Really Live in an AI Simulation?

A formal logical analysis explains why the hypothesis is self-undermining

The simulation argument quietly replaces one proposition with the other. It begins with evidence about the world we observe and ends with a conclusion about a world we can no longer observe.

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Multiverse Meanderings: Exploring Alternate Realities

Claims for a Multiverse Violate Basic Logic

Michael Egnor: To account for the fine-tuning of our universe, many thinkers claim, without evidence, that there are innumerable universes. But they won’t accept the existence of God

Occam’s Razor is never raised as a critique of the multiverse that I’m aware of. But multiverse claims are an obvious contradiction of the Razor’s minimalist approach.

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Photo editors discussing about photos

SpringerNature sells Scientific American to Canadian firm

A question hangs in the air: Is the traditional, time-governed, print-focused way of publishing news even relevant in the non-local, instantaneous age of the internet?

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Human woman facing artificial intelligence interface in a futuristic setting.

Yes, someone now tracks outlandish AI claims daily

Ultimately, he wants more democratic control of AI though just what that might mean is unclear. Most of the AI apocalypses aren’t going to happen anyway because failure is the price people pay for divorcing reality.

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Black History

Are Our Rights Blessed by God, or Begrudged by Government?

In every situation, protections accorded human rights have reflected what cultures and governments think about the value and dignity of man

In the Western tradition human rights have been said to exist independently of the state because they have been based upon human dignity.

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USA 250th anniversary Independence Day golden hour flag family polished holiday composition warm family gathering mood flag closeup with family gathering beyond creates warm national anniversary

On Our 250th Anniversary, There Is a Battle for America’s Soul

The most impassioned appeals for human rights by politicians and scientists mean nothing if they have abandoned their belief in the distinctive dignity of man

Without this conviction there is no logical ground for supporting human rights in the United States or elsewhere; there is no logical ground for human rights at all.

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image depicting tangled web of fake news signs symbolizing the spread of disinformation

Where did a concept like “malinformation” even come from?

So far, the academics have not succeeded in getting people to incorporate concepts like disinformation and malinformation into the English language. But not for want of trying.

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Social media censorship, political war between US president banning social networks. Tiny person on the laptop keyboard looking at the forbidden sign on the screen. Internet communication risk concept

Temporary setback in the U.S. for the information controllers

Based on worldwide trends, it is fair to say that the would-be disinformation police are not gone in the U.S.; they are more likely waiting for a favorable moment.

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Monkey wearing glasses is sitting at a desk with a laptop. The monkey appears to be working on the laptop, possibly typing or browsing the internet. Concept of humor and playfulness

That Monkey Cannot Even Find Shakespeare!

When it comes to randomly typing out the complete works of Shakespeare, time is not the monkey’s problem; information is

Instead of asking whether a system can imitate human behavior, the relevant question is whether it can generate new functional information.

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