Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryArtificial Intelligence

group-of-students-using-laptops-and-other-devices-in-classroom-stockpack-adobe-stock
Group of students using laptops and other devices in classroom.

ChatGPT: The Enemy of Memorization

New research documents memory loss among frequent ChatGPT users

Recent research has illustrated a troubling connection between the use of ChatGPT and memory loss and falling academic performance among college students. The logic of the linkage makes sense; when students rely on AI to write their papers or organize all of their information, they forego the need to ingest and memorize the material themselves. More than merely failing to remember what they learn, the ChatGPT addict risks never learning the material in the first place. Frank Landymore, speaking on a new study on the topic, writes at Futurism, Perhaps unsurprisingly, the researchers found that students under a heavy academic workload and “time pressure” were much more likely to use ChatGPT. They observed that those who relied on ChatGPT reported Read More ›

flint-sparking-matchstick-for-authentic-ignition-concept-fire-starting-survival-gear-camping-essentials-emergency-preparedness-stockpack-adobe-stock
Flint sparking matchstick for authentic ignition. Concept Fire starting, Survival gear, Camping essentials, Emergency preparedness

Sundar Pichai Says AI Will Be as Big as Fire

The AI bubble is going to pop.

Ask someone how big AI will be, and the answer is likely huge. But how big is huge? Why does this matter? Because big forecasts encourage big investments, trials, and purchases. After big consulting companies predicted eight years ago that AI would have economic gains of about $15 trillion by 2030, many countries and companies felt the need to pay for their own reports from those same consultants. Of course, those consultants said that those countries could experience rapid productivity gains and those companies could experience rising profits if they implemented AI in the right way, which was of course under the guidance of the consulting companies! Eight years later and few of their predictions have come true. But their Read More ›

digital-law-concept-law-scales-at-data-center-abstract-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
Digital law concept. Law scales at data center. Abstract background

EU’s Massive New AI Law Won’t Stop Worst-Case Systems

The Act is drafted using legal language that confers broad additional power to governments
At minimum, the AI Act serves humanity by identifying the many ways AI endangers fundamental human rights as well as human peace and prosperity. Read More ›
retro-robot-mad-of-junk-rusty-metal-learning-human-civilization-by-it-self-reading-books-like-making-updates-in-library-stockpack-adobe-stock
Retro Robot mad of junk rusty metal learning Human Civilization by it self reading books like making updates in library

Former Googlers Weren’t Shocked by Gemini

The new bot simply reflects the tech giant's ideological commitments.
For them, Gemini is in keeping with Google's corporate culture and represents the tech giant's prioritization of ideology over excellence. Read More ›
chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-conversational-chat-bot-by-open-ai-using-machine-learning-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence conversational chat bot by open ai using machine learning, Generative AI

At Chronicle of Higher Ed: Critical Thinking Isn’t Just Chat

Gary Smith and Jeffrey Funk test Big Tech’s chatbots for critical thinking skills before an academic audience — with sobering but often hilarious results
On a serious note, Smith and Funk stress that — despite chatbot buzz — we must both practice critical thinking skills and teach them to students. Read More ›
robot-chat-bot-android-and-digital-evolution-of-robotics-future-processor-development-technologies-3d-illustration-of-quantum-cyberspace-ai-and-global-data-stockpack-adobe-stock
Robot, chat bot, android and digital evolution of robotics. Future processor development technologies. 3D illustration of quantum cyberspace. AI and global data

About the claim that chatbot Claude 3 showed self-awareness…

Has anyone noticed the resemblance between the conviction that an AI project thinks like a human and that extraterrestrials are visiting us?
Just as extraterrestrials are Out There because we don’t want to think we are alone, chatbots are Becoming Human because we don’t want to feel we are unique. Read More ›
isolated-childrens-toy-against-a-blue-texture-background-teddy-bear-from-childhood-an-old-pink-hippo-stockpack-adobe-stock
Isolated children's toy against a blue texture background, teddy bear from childhood, an old pink hippo

Pink Dancing Hippos: Don’t Tell ChatGPT-4 Not to do Something

Can OpenAI fix this flaw in GPT4? Absolutely. Time will tell if they do or not.
Moral: Don’t ask GPT-4 to NOT do something. Chances are the current version might let you down. Read More ›
doctor-and-robotics-research-diagnose-human-brains-scan-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Doctor and robotics research diagnose Human brains scan generative ai

If AI Speeds Up Science, Does It Risk Squashing Some Parts?

A Yale anthropologist and a Princeton psychologist warn of the dangers of overreliance on AI in science
Researchers could end up being constrained by the limits of what AI can do, cut off from what it can’t do, and possibly unaware of the embedded viewpoint. Read More ›
robot-hand-displays-blue-digital-interface-wearing-blue-suit-and-helmet-stockpack-adobe-stock
Robot hand displays blue digital interface, wearing blue suit and helmet.

How Materialism Handicaps Us in Understanding AI’s Limits

Sabine Hossenfelder acknowledges AI’s limits, yet she is convinced that it will become conscious
Such a position is not something the materialist derives from the evidence; it is imposed by the ideology. Read More ›
artificial-neuron-in-concept-of-artificial-intelligence-wall-shaped-binary-codes-make-transmission-lines-of-pulses-andor-information-in-an-analogy-to-a-microchip-stockpack-adobe-stock
Artificial neuron in concept of artificial intelligence. Wall-shaped binary codes make transmission lines of pulses and/or information in an analogy to a microchip.

Wrestling with AI: Making More and Better Disciples

AI may have "knowledge," but it lacks wisdom.
Even if it were possible that AI reaches consciousness — it will never have the mind of Christ. Read More ›
ai-concept-humanoid-robot-with-artificial-intelligence-fictional-woman-android-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
AI concept, humanoid robot with artificial intelligence, fictional woman android, generative AI

The Singularity — When We Merge With AI — Won’t Happen

Futurist predictions depend on the assumption that the human brain is like a machine, says, computer scientist Erik Larson. But it isn’t
Larson tells his EP podcast host that the real danger is that powerful AI in the hands of bad actors could bring down banking systems and cripple grids. Read More ›
conceptual-illustration-of-sora-openais-text-to-video-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Conceptual Illustration of Sora, OpenAI's Text-to-Video AI

Sora: Life Is Not a Multiple-Choice Test

With Sora, as with other generative AI developments, some are quick to proclaim that artificial general intelligence has arrived. Not so fast.
The hallucinations are symptomatic of generative AI models’ core problem: they can’t identify output problems because they know nothing about the real world. Read More ›
brain-psychology-mind-soul-and-hope-concept-art-3d-illustration-surreal-artwork-imagination-painting-conceptual-idea-stockpack-adobe-stock
Brain psychology mind soul and hope concept art, 3d illustration, surreal artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea

Programmer: How We Know Computers Won’t Surpass the Human Mind

Winston Ewert points out that we can only devise a “halting detector” less powerful than the ones our own minds have
Ewert predicts that, while humans will get better at building artificial intelligence systems, we will never be able to match ourselves. Read More ›
illustration-of-a-silhouette-of-a-guy-looking-over-a-cliff-stockpack-adobe-stock
Illustration of a Silhouette of a Guy Looking over a Cliff

Over a Cliff? It’s That Bad for Venture-Backed Startups?

Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith think that much high-tech today is not producing value. Chatbots? Their “main successes have been in generating disinformation and phishing scams”
For example, journalist Matt Taibbi was stunned to learn from Gemini that he’d written controversial stories — that don’t exist. What’s the market for libel? Read More ›
cute-and-little-robot-helper-with-artificial-intelligence-raising-hand-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Cute and little robot helper with artificial intelligence raising hand. Generative AI

Google Gemini Presents a Past That Never Happened

You can't trust a bot to give you a history lesson, turns out.
Walter Kirn tweeted recently: "Gemini AI is inventing damaging stories about people and figures I know. It is an automated false-witness weapon." Read More ›
two-robots-walking-on-the-streets-of-an-abandoned-futuristic-city-on-a-rainy-day-digital-art-style-illustration-painting-stockpack-adobe-stock
Two robots walking on the streets of an abandoned futuristic city on a rainy day, digital art style, illustration painting

Is AI the Triumph of Left-Brained Thinking? What Follows?

Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist argues that it is and asks us to consider what its cultural lean toward the “left brain” is doing to us
He notes, “ AI … has no sense of the bigger picture, of other values, or of the way in which context—or even scale and extent—changes everything.” Read More ›
stock-market-diagram-on-lcd-screen-selective-focus-stockpack-adobe-stock
Stock market diagram on LCD screen. Selective focus.

AI and Wall Street’s Hype Curve

Almost all new tech has a hype curve. Here are the stages.
Technologies that have surfed the hype curve include superconductivity, the Segway, cold fusion, information theory, Theranos, Piltdown man and string theory. Read More ›
chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-conversational-chat-bot-by-open-ai-using-machine-learning-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence conversational chat bot by open ai using machine learning, Generative AI

Astrophysicist: Don’t Say That Chatbots “Hallucinate”

Adam Frank points out that human-type “hallucination” is not at all what drives a chatbot to claim that the Russians sent bears into space
Frank, fellow physicist Marcelo Gleiser, and philosopher Evan Thompson argue in a new book that ignoring explicitly human experience is a blind spot for science Read More ›
confused-robot-stockpack-adobe-stock
Confused robot

If AI’s Don’t Know What They’re Doing, Can We Hope to Explain It?

With AI, we have a world of powerful, useful, but entirely opaque systems. We don’t know why they make decisions and neither do they

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the fact that AI’s don’t understand the work they’re doing. That makes the goal — to make them think like people — elusive. This brings us to the second problem, which ended up spawning an entire field, known as “Explainable AI.” Neural networks not only don’t know what they’re doing when they do it, they can’t in general explain to their designers or users why they made such-and-such a decision. They’re a black box; in other words, they are obstinately opaque to any attempts at a conceptual understanding of their decisions or inferences. How does that play out? It means, for example, that, with image recognition tasks like facial recognition, the network can’t explain Read More ›

artificial-intelligence-white-ai-robot-thinking-and-looking-big-screen-monitor-of-big-data-on-blue-high-technology-for-the-future-rise-in-technological-singularity-background-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Artificial intelligence, White AI robot thinking and looking big screen monitor of big data on blue high technology for the future rise in technological singularity background, Generative AI

Why, Despite All the Hype We Hear, AI Is Not “One of Us”

It takes an imaginative computer scientist to believe that the neural network knows what it’s classifying or identifying. It’s a bunch of relatively simple math
The AI scientist’s dream of general intelligence, often referred to as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), remains as elusive as ever. Read More ›