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Mind Matters Reporting on Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Robert J. Marks

Drone monitoring barbed wire fence on state border or restricted area. Modern technology for security.
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 31, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Military
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Iran Conflict Shows Why the US Needs Autonomous Lethal AI Weapons

The bipartisan National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence recently released a sobering report about the U.S. lagging in development of killer robots
Robert J. Marks
January 31, 2020

To remain competitive, the U.S. military must respond and adapt to new warfare technology including weapons using AI, sometimes called killer robots. This includes autonomous AI that acts on its own. Chillingly, unlike atomic weapons, the tools to construct lethal AI weapons are cheap and readily available to all.

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Night city
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
December 17, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Programming
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Moore or Less: Why the Exponential Speed of AI Can’t Be Sustained

Faster computers only help the performance of AI algorithms that require search marginally.
Robert J. Marks
December 17, 2019

Exponential growth is often the beginning of a sigmoid or s-shaped curve where growth that appears to be exponential but eventually slows and reaches a saturation point. We see this in nature, for example, in bacteria. 

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Business colleagues review automotive design concepts wearing a virtual reality headset.
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
December 10, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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Abandoning Reality: Getting Lost in Oculus Quest’s VR

Amazing. And time to remember the history. I was the chair of the first serious conference dedicated to virtual reality twenty-five years ago
Robert J. Marks
December 10, 2019

Virtual reality got its start in the US Air Force’s investigation of heads-up display for pilots. Just as you see a candy wrapper on your dashboard reflected in the windshield while you drive, pilots could have nearly a instantaneous view of instrumentation simply by focusing their eyes from far objects to near.

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Student guy is buying tickets for train trip on weekend in tickets vending machine. Bearded male with backpack on his back is choosing the ticket type on a display of self service tickets automat.
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
December 9, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Business and Finance
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Random Comments on the Passing Scene: Carbon Computing and Much More

Child porn traffickers arrested despite their attempts to hide using high tech and Bitcoin
Robert J. Marks
December 9, 2019

Also, McDonald’s doubles down on self-ordering kiosks, acquires automation firm.

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3D Rendering of abstract binary data in glowing blue and red color. For deep machine learning, crypto currency, hi tech product uses. Big data visualization, artificial intelligence. With copy space
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
November 14, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Machine Learning, Surveillance, Technocracy
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The Greatest Threat We Face From AI—and What We Can Do

Here’s a list of things that have really happened with artificial intelligence (AI), in order of increasing severity.
Robert J. Marks
November 14, 2019

When we get to the end of the list, we will see that it is like beads connected by a string—revealing the most dangerous threat.

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Telecommunication network above city, wireless mobile internet technology for smart grid or 5G LTE data connection, concept about IoT, global business, fintech, blockchain
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
October 18, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Surveillance, Technocracy
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Smart Cities?: Proceed With Caution!

Zaheer Allam provides a balanced view of the future impact of AI on society
Robert J. Marks
October 18, 2019

In some Smart City master plans, our privacy will be seriously compromised.

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Silent reading Jilbert Ebrahimi Unsplash -HAwA1N2gjo8
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
September 19, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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AlterEgo Does Not Read Your Mind

What it really does may surprise you but many claims made for it are deceptive
Robert J. Marks
September 19, 2019
AlterEgo may prove invaluable for applications like helping the severely handicapped by using muscle movements that are usually unnoticed. But despite headlines and publicity claiming otherwise, it provides no technical stride forward in the field of AI-brain interface. Read More ›
alchemy still life
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post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
September 4, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Pursuit of the AI Singularity Is Modern Alchemy

Just as lead cannot just become gold, software cannot just become creative
Robert J. Marks
September 4, 2019
Isaac Newton was a great scientist but he wasted a lot of time trying to turn lead into gold. Today, some great computer scientists waste a lot of time trying to produce AI that creates better AI without a programmer. Read More ›
gud
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
August 1, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Work
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Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene: How to Spell Gud

Also, Google and Apple ditching college degree requirements is not really that new
Robert J. Marks
August 1, 2019

Twenty years or so ago, when I worked in Seattle, Microsoft was famous for the testing coding skills of their applicants and asking Mensa-like questions. Degrees were secondary.

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milada-vigerova-PE8srY2bDOs-unsplash
Stones balanced on table with a pen
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
July 30, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology
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Can Computer Algorithms Be Free of Bias?

Bias is inevitable but it should be recognized and admitted
Robert J. Marks
July 30, 2019

Gregory Coppola’s revelations about Google’s politically biased search engine shone a spotlight on how algorithms are written.

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Helmeted police officers photographed from behind during a protest
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
July 19, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
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Can AI Predict and Prevent Political Unrest?

The 1996 Democratic Convention tried neural networks but discovered a hidden flaw
Robert J. Marks
July 19, 2019

The police union’s 1996 objection to fingering specific officers as violence risks without a detailed explanation pinpoints a weakness of neural networks even to this day. The neural network is basically a black box.

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Balancing A Male And A Female Worker In The Cloud
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
July 18, 2019
Categorized
Education
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Why It’s So Hard To Reform Peer Review

Robert J. Marks: Reformers are battling numerical laws that govern how incentives work. Know your enemy!
Robert J. Marks
July 18, 2019

Measurement creates a temptation to achieve a measurable goal by less than totally honest means. As in physics, the simple act of measuring invariably disturbs what you are trying to measure.

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matthew-guay-Q7wDdmgCBFg-unsplash
Screen of boxes on copy of financial times
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 24, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Data Privacy, Ethics
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Random Thoughts on Recent AI Headlines: Google Gives Away “Free” Cookies…

Also, why AI can't predict the stock market or deal with windblown plastic bags
Robert J. Marks
June 24, 2019

A good rule of thumb is that unexpected outcomes increase exponentially as a function of AI complexity.

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elephant mask beautiful young hipster woman
elephant mask beautiful young hipster woman in the city
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 17, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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AI Is No Match for Ambiguity

Many simple sentences confuse AI but not humans
Robert J. Marks
June 17, 2019

Because computers lack common sense, they cannot interpret statements that assume a background of general knowledge, as the Winograd Schema challenges show.

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bacteria E.coli
Bacteria
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 10, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors
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McPathogens: Are McDonalds’ Order Kiosks Clean? Another Look

Can rebuttals exposing fake news be fake news themselves? Judge for yourself
Robert J. Marks
June 10, 2019
I snapped a picture of a kiosk screen shown below during a recent visit to a McDonald’s in Waco, Texas. The picture is taken at an angle where smudge leavings are most visible. Read More ›
Sunrise at the valley of orange plantation..Beginning of a new day with optimistic thought,inspiration concept..
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 4, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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Seven Minutes to Goosebumps: Confronting Materialism Head On

A new short film series takes on materialism in science, including that of AI’s pop prophets
Robert J. Marks
June 4, 2019
At the Bradley Center, we are open to discussing and reporting any such discovery but are also open to evidence leading to alternative explanations. Read More ›
chris-barbalis-186421-unsplash
Painted face, split in two
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 28, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
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AI as the Artful Dodger

Watch what happens when I train a neural network on portraits of 56 famous scientists, starting the process with a right eye
Robert J. Marks
May 28, 2019
New AI is much more sophisticated but the old and new AI share the property that the final result is nothing more than an interpolation of the training images used to train the AI. Read More ›
dayne-topkin-60559-unsplash
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post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 17, 2019
Categorized
Applied Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, Work
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What One Thing Do AI, Evolution, and Entrepreneurship All Need?

They all need an input of creativity to make things happen.
Robert J. Marks
May 17, 2019

Programs for AI and evolution share the limitation that nothing creative happens without the guidance of a programmer. And a thriving economy based on creative entrepreneurship is one of the things that cannot be automated.

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robert-bye-182304-unsplash
Skyscrapers in London looking up
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 8, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors, Work
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What It Really Takes to Build a High-Tech Company, Sell It, and Get Rich

Inventor and entrepreneur Hal Philipp offers a rewarding but cautionary true story
Robert J. Marks
May 8, 2019

The road to the success that Hal Philipp enjoys today was laced with landmines. When money starts rolling in, entrepreneurs must expect lawsuits. But perseverance and a strong character won the day. 

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