Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryArtificial Intelligence

ai-agents-and-smart-assistants-automate-tasks-and-support-hu-1511420001-stockpack-adobestock
AI agents and smart assistants automate tasks and support human intelligence. Enhance workflows, drive innovation in business, marketing, education, data analysis, and sales with AI-powered tools.

As Scholars Use AI To Write Papers, Are They Courting Doom?

Questions arise like, what even IS an author? Why does authorship matter? Why should students learn to write? And who needs scholars?

If academic papers in a discipline can be mostly AI written, why credential scholars anyway? Perhaps the discipline itself is obsolete.

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classic statue Socrates

My Brand-New Tech Idea Turned Out To Be … Socrates!

This experience was a useful reminder that sometimes what looks like the frontier of science and technology is just another path into philosophy

The question of how to recognize a discovery without any criterion for recognition turned out to be Meno’s Paradox, from Plato’s dialogues.

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cosmic-geometry-a-celestial-blueprint-968406816-stockpack-adobestock
Cosmic Geometry: A Celestial Blueprint

Top Mathematicians Issue Letter Warning About a Rush to AI

Fields Medalists are concerned that a rush to produce answers could come at the expense of careful explanation and shared understanding

AI can solve a problem without understanding the proofs so the question arises, was anything learned that can be passed on?

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panic attack in a man

AI Could Kill Us All? Yes, So Could Old Age. Take a Deep Breath…

Assessing the current AI hysteria includes asking “Who do all these apocalyptic claims benefit?”

Without ignoring the threat, we need to see that insiders’ panic is often wrapped up in their personal stake in the problems and possible solutions.

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Protesters holding yellow angry face signs.

Data Centers Challenge Our Usual Politics — Will They Change It?

True, they use a lot of energy. But much of the controversy seems to suggest a shift in the political landscape

This year, Harvard Magazine featured an article that asserts that the Democrats have lost key tech industry endorsements. Let’s see if that matters.

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Close-up of computer screen displaying code at night.

What Exactly Was AI’s Breakthrough in Hard Math?

Claude translated an already proven theorem into a detailed computer-related derivation, which is much more difficult than, say, translating it into Cantonese

Meanwhile, some are asking if Claude’s Navier–Stokes proof really originated with a researcher and a math prof using the system.

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ai-enhances-social-media-engagement-using-intelligent-icons-1949061448-stockpack-adobestock
AI enhances social media engagement using intelligent icons, influencer tracking tools, and smart communication platforms for modern digital interaction. Artificial intelligence spline

Data Centers: Is a Chinese Bot Farm Feeding You Your Opinions?

Maybe bots are not influencing you — but you can be sure they are trying

One really interesting feature of the opposition to data centers is that it pits the political left against the tech titans who have generously funded it.

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small-lonely-toy-robot-sitting-on-window-sill-looking-at-sun-1964824539-stockpack-adobestock
Small lonely toy robot sitting on window sill looking at sunset with warm orange copy-space. AI and feelings, emotions concepts.

How Our Tech-Obsessed Age Responds to Grief: Grieftech

Just when we thought that the chatbot craze couldn’t get crazier — departed loved ones get uploaded as chatbots

Grieftech poses genuine problems when avatars seem to keep the deceased unchanged in a changing world — or change just when we want them to.

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abstract-holographic-world-globe-with-many-connection-points-697851436-stockpack-adobestock
abstract holographic world globe with many connection points symbolizing social media and life for business wallpaper background. Generative AI

AI: A Boon or a Bane? Misunderstood, or Misused?

Pew Research finds that young people are losing faith in a glorious AI future. They have a point but...

When the young people inherit the world, they can start getting tough with misuse and abuse but first they should take the time to learn how it works.

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Woman Versus Robot In Office Job Takeover

Does AI Really Threaten Your Job? That Depends On Your Job

According to Robert J. Marks, jobs that AI won’t disrupt use the unique human attributes of understanding and creativity

Marks points out that model collapse means that AI can’t simply keep getting better by training itself until it becomes a superintelligence.

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new build data center, computing center in Eemshaven, Groningen, The Netherlands. hyperscaler.

Big Tech Data Centers Are the New Big Hate

The growing hostility is based on environment and employment concerns and cuts across party lines

Data centers will probably create jobs as well as eliminate them, which is usually what new technologies do, but environment concerns remain.

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Detailed Close-up of an AI Chip on a Circuit Board

Robert J. Marks II on the Benefits and Potential Perils of AI

What does AI mean for the future of humanity?

Some claim that AI is merely a very sophisticated tool that will lead to stunning societal improvements, while others worry about potential dark negative effects.

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ai-generated-researcher-examining-virus-structure-and-data-c-1986423401-stockpack-adobestock
AI generated researcher examining virus structure and data charts on digital screen in laboratory representing medical research biotechnology analysis and healthcare innovation

AI Didn’t Create Artificial Viruses; Humans Did. 

Turning a story about invented viruses into a story about AI obscures the main point

World political leaders like Donald Trump should be much more concerned about these developments; they could easily leap out of the lab.

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Side view close-up, apple on laptop, healthy snack based on fruit.

Deceptions from Eden to AI

Always be cautious and independently do your own research when obtaining information from AI

For secularists who do not take this story literally, it can also be understood as a metaphorical literary device on the fall of Man, as there is no doubt that anyone who tries to play the part of God ends up ‘toast’ and buried.

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evil-ai-agent-robot-hacking-1330157571-stockpack-adobestock
Evil AI agent robot hacking

The Daily Mail: Clickbait in the AI Arms Race

Contrary to the article’s premise, the AI did not invent any bad behavior. It copied or adapted techniques that are already well known and widely available

The real concern is that AI can find, combine, and carry out existing malicious techniques much faster and on a much larger scale than the human one.

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An open book with pages creatively folded to form a heart, a symbol of knowledge, love, and storytelling, resting on a wooden surface with a blurred background of bookshelves.

Are Fictionbots Triumphing Over Writers?

At The Spectator, Geoff Bagwell tells us that AI is destined to destroy the creative writing industry as bots take writers’ jobs

Reading for entertainment alone will become increasingly rare. I expect we will return to a culture where people who read are mainly looking for new ideas.

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AI developer working on data models, surrounded by data visualizations

Even the Tech Bros Are Turning Against AI

Some claim the problem is AI slop

Some tech bros are even questioning the corporate benefits from generative AI, a year after academic analyses started questioning them.

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ai-hallucinations-and-incorrect-outputs-false-information-an-1893565863-stockpack-adobestock
AI hallucinations and incorrect outputs. False information and fabricated contents. Businessman using generative AI on a laptop computer.

With AI, It’s Verify. Then Verify the Verification

Advice for AI Natives

AI “immigrants” like me tend to approach artificial intelligence with a healthy measure of skepticism. AI natives, who grew up with it, should learn this too.

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Biological and science background

Today’s Computer Chips — Measured in Beard-Seconds

Could we use beard-seconds as a measurement? Actually, we could

Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors on a computer chip doubles about every two years. But Moore’s Law must eventually stop at the Planck length.

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