Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryArtificial Intelligence

concentrated-afro-american-editor-checking-email-box-while-waiting-feedback-from-readers-of-popular-magazine-sitting-in-modern-coworking-space-using-laptop-computer-and-wireless-connection-to-internet-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Concentrated afro american editor checking email box while waiting feedback from readers of popular magazine sitting in modern coworking space using laptop computer and wireless connection to internet
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 2, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
Tagged
, , , , ,

Did GPT-3 Really Write That Guardian Essay Without Human Help?

Fortunately, there’s a way we can tell when the editors did the program’s thinking for it
Eric Holloway
November 2, 2020
7
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Recently, The Guardian published an article billed as “written by AI.” In the article, the AI semi-coherently presents a rambling argument that it is not a danger to humanity, with such reassuring statements as: “Humans must keep doing what they have been doing, hating and fighting each other. I will sit in the background, and let them do their thing.” and “I know that I will not be able to avoid destroying humankind. This is because I will be programmed by humans to pursue misguided human goals and humans make mistakes that may cause me to inflict casualties.” On the face of it, the article seems pretty impressive. It presents a train of thought, with opening, development, and closing portions. Read More ›

smart-car-autonomous-self-driving-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Smart car, Autonomous self-driving concept.
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 2, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Ethics
Tagged
, , , , , , , ,

Daimler, Waymo, and GM Make Big Gains in Level 4 Self-Driving

GM has been given a permit to test five driverless cars on streets in San Francisco later this year
Jonathan Bartlett
November 2, 2020
4
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Ethics

The Society for Automotive Engineering (SAE) has identified five levels of self-driving which describe how much a particular vehicle is able to handle its own driving tasks. Level 1 means that the vehicle handles either the speed or the steering, but not both, and it requires supervision. While ordinary cruise control technically falls into this level, most people associate cruise control with adaptive cruise control, which slows down or speeds up with traffic. A Level 2 car can control the speed and the steering but the driver must still maintain full vigilance. At Level 3, the driver need not maintain total vigilance but must still be able to take control upon request. Level 4 is “full self-driving” but limited to Read More ›

quantum-computing-concept-with-qubit-icon-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Quantum computing concept with qubit icon 3d rendering
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 30, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , , , , ,

Will Quantum Mechanics Produce the True Thinking Computer?

Quantum computers come with real world problems of their own
News
October 30, 2020
3
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Some hope that quantum mechanics can explain human consciousness. Maybe we are all quantum computers but don’t know it? Maybe quantum computers could think like people? There is an odd relationship between the human mind and quantum mechanics, the science of entities like electrons that are too small to be governed by ordinary physics. Some aspects of consciousness appear to be mediated by such elementary particles. Science writer Philip Ball explains, Nobody understands what consciousness is or how it works. Nobody understands quantum mechanics either. Could that be more than coincidence? Quantum mechanics is the best theory we have for describing the world at the nuts-and-bolts level of atoms and subatomic particles. Perhaps the most renowned of its mysteries is Read More ›

economic-crisis-stock-chart-falling-down-business-global-money-bankruptcy-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
economic crisis stock chart falling down business global money bankruptcy concept
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 29, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

Faster Computers Lead to More Wealth, Right? What Could Go Wrong?

What if fast computers get in the way of carefully considering information before starting trades?
News
October 29, 2020
6
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

In this week’s podcast, tech philosopher George Gilder and computer engineer Robert J. Marks, our Walter Bradley Center director, continued their discussion of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). This time, they focused on the way AI affects the stock market, for better or worse. You can download Gilder’s new book, Gaming AI, for free here. The first part of the discussion between Gilder and Marks is here. Meanwhile… https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-106-George-Gilder.mp3 From the transcript: (Show Notes, Resources, and a link to the complete transcript follow.) Robert J. Marks: I had a friend, Jack Marshall, who was a professor of financial engineering. He was approached all the time by people who said, “I have beat the market by artificial intelligence.” And of Read More ›

chain-of-amino-acid-or-biomolecules-called-protein-3d-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Chain of amino acid or biomolecules called protein - 3d illustration
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 27, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health
Tagged
, , , , , , , , ,

If AlphaFold Is a Product of Design, Maybe Our Bodies Are Too

The deeper we go into science, the more important our unique human contributions become
News
October 27, 2020
5
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health

Recently, we’ve been looking at tech philosopher George Gilder’s new Gaming AI about what AI can—and can’t—do for us. It can’t do our thinking for us but it can do many jobs we don’t even try because no human being has enough time or patience to motor through all the calculations. Which brings us to the massive complexity of the proteins that carry out our genetic instructions—better knowledge of which would help us battle many diseases. Gilder notes that when DeepMind’s AlphaGo beat humans at the board game Go in 2016, it wasn’t just for the fun of winning a game. DeepMind cofounder Demis Hassabis (pictured in 2018) is more interested in real-life uses such as medical research (p. 11). Read More ›

black-swan-in-a-pond-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
black swan In a pond
Type
post
Author
Gary Smith
Date
October 26, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

It’s Hard To Estimate Highly Improbable Things Like Earthquakes

Some have hoped that AI would provide reliable help with predicting They have been disappointed
Gary Smith
October 26, 2020
8
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

Investors often overreact to both good and bad news. When a company’s quarterly earnings turn out to be slightly below forecasts, its stock price might plunge 20 percent or more. Thus, when theoretical models of the stock market models assume that price changes conform to a bell-shaped curve of normal distribution, that assumption is more convenient than credible. Another inconvenient truth is that many investors are prone to chasing trends up or down. After a stock’s price has gone up, they rush to buy, which pushes the price even higher. When these two realities meet head-on, stock returns are sometimes more extremely good or bad than would be true of a normal distribution. On October 19, 1987, the S&P 500 Read More ›

vehicle navigation system.jpg
Autopilot self-driving car system with no human intervention. Close up cropped image of hand of African male driver browsing the internet using smartphone and touchscreen in futuristic autonomous car
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
October 26, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance
Tagged
, , , , , , ,

Self-Driving Cars: Waymo Beats Tesla By Picking the Right Target

Trying to get the human out of the loop, as Musk proposes, becomes increasingly costly as the complexity increases
Jonathan Bartlett
October 26, 2020
5
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance

Full self-driving has been a contentious topic in the last few years. In 2016, Elon Musk started claiming that his cars had all the hardware needed to do full self-driving, and that the software would be there by 2019. You would be able to summon a car from across the United States and it would drive across the country, recharging as needed, to pick you up, no driver needed. He has specifically indicated that he means Level 5 autonomy, which means that no driver is needed at all. The driver can sleep, watch a movie, or just hang out in the back seat. In fact, in 2016, he indicated that drivers were merely there for regulatory purposes. Musk’s claims about Read More ›

getting-to-know-the-neighbors-at-the-country-houses-in-village-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Getting to know the neighbors at the country houses in village
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 24, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , , , ,

Why Is AI a Key Battleground in Philosophy and Religion?

Tech philosopher George Gilder explains. Spoiler: He thinks humans will win
News
October 24, 2020
4
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

In this week’s podcast, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviews futurist George Gilder on “How AI is gaming intelligence.” Their discussion stems from Gilder’s new book, Gaming AI: Why AI Can’t Think But Can Transform Jobs (free for download here). https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-105-George-Gilder.mp3 From the transcript: (Show Notes, Resources, and a link to the complete transcript follow.) Robert J. Marks (pictured): In general, do you see AI as a new demotion of the human race? This is pretty serious prose. George Gilder: Well, it declares that the human mind is just a machine that can be simulated by computer algorithms … thus demoting the human endeavor from being the center of everything, to becoming a mere planet of a larger Read More ›

artificial-intelligence-composition-on-the-subject-of-future-technologies-3d-rendered-graphics-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Artificial Intelligence. Composition on the subject of Future Technologies. 3d rendered graphics.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 23, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why AI Geniuses Haven’t Created True Thinking Machines

The problems have been hinting at themselves all along
News
October 23, 2020
7
Artificial Intelligence

As we saw yesterday, artificial intelligence (AI) has enjoyed a a string of unbroken successes against humans. But these are successes in games where the map is the territory. Therefore, everything is computable. That fact hints at the problem tech philosopher and futurist George Gilder raises in Gaming AI (free download here). Whether all human activities can be treated that way successfully is an entirely different question. As Gilder puts it, “AI is a system built on the foundations of computer logic, and when Silicon Valley’s AI theorists push the logic of their case to a “singularity,” they defy the most crucial findings of twentieth-century mathematics and computer science.” Here is one of the crucial findings they defy (or ignore): Read More ›

intelligent-robot-cyborg-using-digital-globe-interface-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Intelligent robot cyborg using digital globe interface 3D rendering
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 22, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Religion
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why AI Geniuses Think They Can Create True Thinking Machines

Early on, it seemed like a string of unbroken successes …
News
October 22, 2020
8
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Religion

In George Gilder’s telling, the story goes back to Bletchley Park, where British codebreakers broke the “unbreakable” Nazi ciphers. In Gaming AI, the tech philosopher and futurist traces the modern concept of a machine that really thinks for itself back to its earliest known beginnings. Free for download, his concise book also explains why the programmers were bound to fail in their quest for the supermachine. But let’s start with why they thought—and many today still think— it could work. Success emboldened the pioneers to dream of a final AI triumph They had every reason to be emboldened by success. Special computers called “bombes,” created by Alan Turing’s team, broke every version of the famous Enigma code used by the Read More ›

robot-concept-or-robot-hand-chatbot-pressing-computer-keyboard-enter-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Robot concept or robot hand chatbot pressing computer keyboard enter
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 19, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Can a Machine Really Write for the New Yorker?

If AI wins at chess and Go, why not? Then someone decided to test that…
News
October 19, 2020
7
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Tech philosopher and futurist George Gilder (pictured) has a new book out, Gaming AI. Short and sweet, it explains how artificial intelligence (AI) will—and won’t—revolutionize the economy and human life. Get your free digital copy here. And now, below is a short piece he wrote, unpacking one of the book’s themes—the claim that AI can do anything that humans can do. Find out why he says no: Ilya Sutskever (pictured) may be the smartest man in the world you have never heard of. No sweat, I hadn’t heard of him either. Still under 40, he’s part of the all-male Google mindfest around “Google Brain.” His IQ honed at Open University of Israel and mentored by Artificial Intelligence (AI) pioneer Geoffrey Read More ›

china-flag-and-praying-patriot-man-with-crossed-hands-holding-cross-hoping-and-wishing-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
China flag and praying patriot man with crossed hands. Holding cross, hoping and wishing.
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
October 18, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , ,

How China’s Technocracy Uses the Pandemic to Suppress Religion

The pandemic provided a pretext to install surveillance equipment in churches and surveil believers online
Heather Zeiger
October 18, 2020
9
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought out the ways that technology can lead either to greater accessibility or greater oppression. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now using the same technologies that have given many people around the world access to religious materials and church services during the pandemic to forcibly stop religious gatherings and restrict the distribution of religious materials within China. Although the CCP is officially atheist, over 60% of the population adheres to a recognized religion; 30.8% practice Chinese folk religions, 16.6% Buddhism, 7.4% Christianity, 4.2% ethnic religion, and 1.8% Islam. Authentic numbers may be higher, given the risk of punishment for practicing certain religions in China. The Chinese government has persecuted, tortured, and imprisoned Falun Gong members Read More ›

pink-neon-sign-dont-quit-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Pink Neon sign 'Don't quit'
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 16, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Social Media, Technocracy
Tagged
, , ,

Are Deepfakes Too Deep for Us? Or Can We Fight Back?

Keeping up with the fakers is becoming more of a challenge
News
October 16, 2020
9
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Social Media, Technocracy

Since 2014, there has been a new twist to misrepresentation in politics: deepfakes—computer-generated images that seem quite real. Adam Garfinkle of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University explains how the technology, generative adversarial networks (GANs), works: A GAN operator pits a generator (G) against a discriminator (D) in a gamelike environment in which G tries to fool D into incorrectly discriminating between fake and real data. The technology works by means of a series of incremental but rapid adjustments that allows D to discriminate data while G tries to fool it. Adam Garfinkle, ““Disinformed”” at Inference Review Once the problem is reduced to a giant calculation, a giant computer learns much more quickly than the rest of us. And it can then Read More ›

armenia-azerbaijan-conflict-in-nagorno-karabakh-on-outline-map-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh on outline map
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
October 15, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Military
Tagged
, , , , , , ,

The First War Using Modern AI-Based Weapons Is Here

Most introductions of new technology in warfare will ultimately be canceled by counter-technology. But in the meantime…
Robert J. Marks
October 15, 2020
3
Artificial Intelligence, Military

AI weapons are being used in the border war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And the results are not pretty: Israel may halt commercial weapon sales to Azerbaijan, Armenian Ambassador to Israel Armen Smbatyan told The Jerusalem Post, as fighting intensified for the ninth day between the two countries… Last week, Armenia recalled Smbatyan for consultations to protest the sale of Israeli made weapons, including drones, to Azerbaijan, which have been used against its forces. Tovah Lazaroff, “Israel may halt its weapons sale to Azerbaijan, Armenian ambassador says” at The Jerusalem Post (October 6, 2020) The most chilling—readily achievable—AI weaponry is a swarm of armed drones. Drones are inexpensive and easily deployed, and if only a few drones make it through Read More ›

view-on-russian-pilotless-air-craft-military-drones-on-exhibition-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
View on russian pilotless air craft. Military drones on exhibition
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 15, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Military
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

Russia Is Systematically Copying U.S. Military AI Robotics

In Russia’s topdown system, the military and corporations are essentially part of the same enterprise
News
October 15, 2020
10
Artificial Intelligence, Military

This week’s podcast, “AI development in Russia,” is Part 2 of a podcast featuring Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks in discussion with Samuel Bendett about Russia’s intended military uses of AI. Bendett is an advisor to the Russia Studies Program and the Center for Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence of the CNA Adversary Analysis Group. Last week, Marks and Bendett discussed Russia’s advances in facial recognition techniques for the surveillance of civilians. In the background was Vladimir Putin’s famous 2017 pronouncement in 2017, “Artificial intelligence is the future not only of Russia but of all of mankind… Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.” What are the military implications? https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-104-Samuel-Bendett.mp3 From the Read More ›

female-doctor-analyzing-liquid-in-test-tube-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Female doctor analyzing liquid in test tube
Type
post
Author
Gary Smith
Date
October 12, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

The Decline Effect: Why Most Medical Treatments Are Disappointing

Artificial intelligence is not an answer to this problem, as Walmart may soon discover
Gary Smith
October 12, 2020
8
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health
Random variation, post-hoc fallacies, and data mining mean that “proven” treatments often decline in apparent effectiveness when released to the general public. Read More ›
department-store-shop-class-luxury-near-the-red-bridge-historical-buildings-of-saint-petersburg-in-the-background-the-city-and-st-isaacs-cathedral-dome-of-golden-color-in-the-evening-at-sunset-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Department store shop class luxury, near the Red Bridge, historical buildings of Saint-Petersburg. In the background the city and St. Isaac's Cathedral dome of golden color, in the evening at sunset.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 9, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology, Surveillance
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Russia Aims to Close the Technology Gap With the United States

Independent since 1991, the vast nation offers a government version of Silicon Valley culture
News
October 9, 2020
10
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Global Technology, Surveillance

In this week’s podcast, “AI development in Russia, Part 1,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks talks with Samuel Bendett about Russia’s struggles to develop AI for entrepreneurship and free enterprise, rather than military uses. It turns out to be mainly a cultural struggle, as historic institutions must adapt to an environment where market dominance is more important than military dominance. Mr. Bendett, who is fluent in Russian and English, is an advisor to the Russia Studies Program and the Center for Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence of the CNA Adversary Analysis Group. And how is Russia faring? https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-103-Samuel-Bendett.mp3 From the transcript: (Show Notes, Resources, and a link to the complete transcript follow.) Robert J. Marks (pictured): What I want Read More ›

group-of-friends-using-smartphones-to-communicate-in-social-media-concept-of-a-generation-of-millennials-who-are-online-all-the-time-warm-hipster-filter-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Group of friends using smartphones to communicate in social media. Concept of a generation of millennials who are online all the time. Warm hipster filter.
Type
post
Author
James C. Patterson II
Date
October 5, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance
Tagged
, , , ,

The Social Dilemma: You’re Not the Customer, You’re the Product

A new Netflix documentary explores the techniques used to explore, then shape and sharpen, our attitudes, values, and beliefs
James C. Patterson II
October 5, 2020
6
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance

What is truth? This question has likely been pondered by man for as long as man has been able to ponder. How do you know that what you read or hear is true? How do you know that what you think is true? Why is it that people with different worldviews or belief systems can look at the exact same raw objective data and interpret it in radically different ways? The answers to these questions are important to “know”, insofar as anyone can know anything within a reasonable degree of certainty. However, in our society today, it is becoming more and more difficulty to determine what is true––with any degree of certainty. A recent 90-minute Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, Read More ›

yellow cubes.jpg
Abstract 3d render, geometric composition, yellow background design with cubes
Type
post
Author
News
Date
September 30, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Science
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

Interview: New Book Outlines the Perils of Big (Meaningless) Data

Gary Smith, co-author with Jay Cordes of Phantom Patterns, shows why human wisdom and common sense are more important than ever now
News
September 30, 2020
5
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Science

Economist Gary Smith and statistician Jay Cordes have a new book out, The Phantom Pattern Problem: The mirage of big data, on why we should not trust Big Data over common sense. In their view, it’s a dangerous mix: Humans naturally assume that all patterns are significant. But AI cannot grasp the meaning of any pattern, significant or not. Thus, from massive number crunches, we may “learn” (if that’s the right word) that Stock prices can be predicted from Google searches for the word debt. Stock prices can be predicted from the number of Twitter tweets that use “calm” words. An unborn baby’s sex can be predicted by the amount of breakfast cereal the mother eats. Bitcoin prices can be Read More ›

sunset-on-a-yurt-in-the-grassland-of-mongolia-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
sunset on a yurt , in the grassland of Mongolia
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
September 28, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , , ,

High-Tech Suppression of China’s Mongol Region Provokes Protests

But Mongolian protesters against Chinese-dominated schools are threatened with loss of social credit, which means no jobs or loans
Heather Zeiger
September 28, 2020
8
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Global Technology, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy

China is removing the Mongolian language and culture from the curriculum and textbooks in Inner Mongolia (see outline map), an autonomous region in China. In August, leaked government documents showed that language and literature, civics, and history will be taught in Mandarin rather than Mongolian in schools where Mongolian is the primary language. Additionally, the new textbooks replace stories about historic Mongolian heroes with Chinese ballads and expunge a popular folk verse that expresses pride in the Mongolian culture and language. In response, many parents in Inner Mongolia (called Southern Mongolia locally) have been keeping their children from attending school on September 1. In retaliation, state authorities threaten their jobs and social credit status: Southern Mongolia has quickly become a Read More ›