Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryArtificial Intelligence

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Site of a train derailed accident

Is Open AI — and Chatbots in General — the Next Train Wreck?

Gary Marcus notes the string of head office departures and both he and Jeffrey Funk look at the history of hype, hope, and long AI winters
Not only isn’t there a huge commercial market for digital plagiarism by chatbots, they are attracting huge copyright lawsuits instead. Read More ›
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Man reading in the park

Sam Altman Was on My Favorite Writing Podcast. His View on Storytelling Surprised Me.

When we read, we want to hear from a human about what it means to be human.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has garnered a fair share of criticism from the writing crowd for creating ChatGPT, a tool that on the surface seems to banish the need for human writers at all. However, Altman recently appeared on David Perell’s prominent writing podcast “How I Write” to talk about his own writing process, AI, and what he uses ChatGPT for. Altman and Perell talk about the importance of language for human communication, with Altman noting how he can’t imagine human life without language. AI, Altman says, is supposed to make language and the writing process “better.” In his view, that’s what computers have also sought to do: Create opportunities for humans to expand and deepen their capacities. But Read More ›

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Chatbot assistant, Ai Artificial Intelligence

Computer ‘Creativity’ Is Simply Digital Plagiarism

One outcome is many lawsuits against generative AI companies whose programs snatch and use copyrighted material
As radio host Mark Davis put it recently, “ultimately everything AI does is go in search of something that some human being said or wrote sometime.” Read More ›
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robot reading book and solving math data analytics, concept of future mathematics artificial intelligence

Is True Artificial Intelligence Possible? A Science Perspective

Many will conclude that true AI — AI that thinks like humans — must be possible because we hear so much about it from so many sources
Experiments like ARC–AGI have finally made true computer intelligence into a scientifically respectable theory, because AI can now be falsified. Read More ›
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Artificial intelligence chat, anthropomorphic robot artificial intelligence talking with human. Generative AI

AI-Generated Social Media? Looks Like It’s Already Here.

The only problem? You can't simulate community.
Do we need another app simulating human experience to solve the loneliness crisis? More simulation entails further disconnection. Read More ›
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Abstract glass molecules floating in blue fluid background with selective focus - environment, water or clean energy concept

No, the AI Bubble is Nothing Like the Dotcom Bubble

Don't listen to the tech bros on this one

Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers, said recently on LinkedIn: “The skepticism around AI’s ROI today feels a lot like the doubts people had about the internet in its early days. Back then, no one could fully grasp how much the web would transform our lives, and now AI is on the same path. Yes, it might be tough to measure immediate returns, but if history teaches us anything, it’s that game-changing technologies take time to show their true impact. By embracing AI, we’re not just adopting a tool — we’re investing in a future where human potential gets a major boost, and new opportunities are unlocked. Just like the internet became the foundation of our digital world, AI has Read More ›

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Digital brain connected to data center. Artificial intelligence concept. Based on Generative AI

When the Computer Tried Being a Mind, It Almost…

Philosopher Andy Clark offered to explain the popular computational theory of mind to Robert Lawrence Kuhn — but then a gap appeared
The weakness of mind-as-computer theories is that the steps by which a computer motors through a problem involve nothing that would generate mental states. Read More ›
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Illustration of AI generating unique poetry and prose, generative AI in literature, machine learning, creative writing, advanced technology, digital storytelling

National Novel Writing Month Approves AI Writing

But what about most of the arts and culture community?
The pushback was swift and overwhelming negative. Read More ›
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the new president of united states of america is a cyborg robot android illustrative generative ai

Harris vs. Trump? Why Not an AI for President Instead?

A writer at the business magazine Forbes seriously considers that option. But look before you leap…
It would be a disastrous idea because sometimes creative decision-making is critical, but AI is and will remain clueless about that. Read More ›
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Beethoven Monument by Ernst Julius Hähnel, large bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven unveiled on Münsterplatz in 1845 on the 75th composer's birth aniversary in Bonn, North Rhine Westphalia, Germany

Will the Real Beethoven Please Stand Up?

AI images are starting to take over the internet
Whereas the original painting offers a nuanced revelation of the person, the AI image looks like a malcontented version of Mel Gibson. Read More ›
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Humanoid robot doing work in front of a laptop in an office room. Based on Generative Ai.

Why Are Robots Built To Look Like Humans?

It’s not because that’s the most efficient way to design them for high tech work
The main effect of humanoid robots is psychological; people tend to believe they are actually thinking when they are not. Read More ›
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Closeup financial chart with uptrend line candlestick graph in stock market on blue color monitor background

AI Increased the Market Cap of the Magnificent Seven by $10 Trillion. Will it last?

AI is here to stay, just not in these insanely high share prices
Are the benefits from generative AI really hundreds of times higher than those from Microsoft Office? Read More ›
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tanned five-year-old boy playing in the sand on the beach, summer

When an Advanced AI Faces Off Against a Five-Year-Old…

Many problems don't turn on complex reasoning but on knowing how the world works
Five-year-olds instinctively know that you shouldn’t stack books on top of a cake, even if they might try it just to see what happens. Read More ›
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robot is taking a walk with a dog

Researcher: AI Can’t Be Conscious Because It Is Not Alive

Consciousness is not computation. Without the ability to experience events from one phase to the next (sentience), we could not really be conscious
In terms of the nature of the obstacles faced, is conscious AI a problem more like Pluto tourism or time travel? Why is this question not raised more often? Read More ›
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Old computers from the 80s in an abandoned computing center

When materialist assumptions about the mind begin to sound dated…

A 2017 profile of Roger Penrose and his consciousness theory was penned before slow changes and major tumults rocked the discipline — and it shows
Paulson’s Penrose profile is written as if materialism is going to prevail but that seems much less likely now than it perhaps did in 2017. Read More ›
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Robot eyes closeup

Computer Science Prof: The Turing Test Was Not About Intelligence

The aim was to pretend intelligence, to fool people. That makes a big difference when we ask whether computers can become intelligent
Computers only compute. Better computer imitation of non-computational thinking is not a step on a road to non-computational thinking as a reality. Read More ›
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Cute and little robot helper with artificial intelligence raising hand. Generative AI

Programmer: Chatbots Are a Dead End. Time for a New Contest!

François Chollet is offering $1.1m in prize money for the next step on the road to computers that think like people
But what if computers that think like people are a hard ceiling, like time travel — because not all thinking is 1's and 0's…? Read More ›
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Bot abstract background illustration - 3d rendering

Asked at Wired: Is AI Destined to Always Screw Up Sometimes?

As the market reels: If you would never tell anyone to eat rocks, your desk job is probably safe from this generation of AI
Some think that continued progress toward human-like thinking is inevitable but that’s becoming more a matter of faith than technology. Read More ›
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Blue car drown in water canal. Extreme accident vehicle sink in river pound lake, traffic incident

Our Tech Use Crosses the Line When We Trust It Too Much

Don't be like Michael Scott and let AI drive your car into a lake
I've never driven my car into a lake screaming "the machine knows!" like Michael Scott did but the temptation to use technology like this loom in everyday life. Read More ›
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Female robot face, Artificial intelligence concept. Generative AI

Programmer: AI could certainly become conscious

From Casper Wilstrup's perspective, we can't demonstrate that anything is NOT conscious so creating conscious AI is simply a matter of using the scientific method
The reason Casper Wilstrup is so sure is that he has adopted panpsychism — the view that everything participates in consciousness. Read More ›