Alan Turing’s original “computer” was actually a human being…
But will human beings now be thought of as computers?We should reflect on how unthinking use of technology can shape us, despite our commitments.
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Elon Musk Walks Back Full Self-Driving Claims
His Q3 earnings call with investors was a stark contrast to earlier claims about a robotaxi fleetOf course, Musk blames other people for “misconstruing” his claims. This certainly isn’t the first time he has palmed off responsibility for his own mistakes onto others.
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Self-Driving Cars: Florida Lawmakers Speed Through Caution Signs
Legislation seems fuzzy about who accepts responsibility when things go wrong with autonomous vehiclesI believe that most autonomous vehicle manufacturers will exercise an abundance of caution. But if laws are fuzzy, reckless manufacturers may escape blame and innocent riders, drivers, and pedestrians will pay for the resultant mayhem.
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Robot-Proofing Your Career, Peter Thiel’s Way
Jay Richards and Larry L. Linenschmidt continue their discussion of what has changed—and what won't change—when AI disrupts the workplaceWe treat the assembly line as if it has always been here, says business prof Jay Richards, but it only dates back to Henry Ford, a century ago. It’s disappearing but work isn’t disappearing. It’s just changing a lot.
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Is Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity Now Nearer — or Impossible?
In response to Kurzweil’s talk at the COSM Technology Summit, panelists noted that AI achievements are revolutionary in size but limited by their nature in scopeGeorge Montañez, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Harvey Mudd College, took issue with Kurzweil’s claim that AlphaGoZero needed no instructions to beat humans at the game of Go: “For a system like this to work, a human must define the incentive structure, also encoding the assumptions.” The sheer power of a computing system does not cause it to do anything at all.
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Why AI Art Is Not Art
Author and anesthesiologist Ronald W. Dworkin reaches back to Tolstoy to explainThe fad may already be peaking. The business case for AI art is not especially compelling because there is already a huge consumer art industry catering to every taste in decor. Producing more merely decorative novelty art faster does not create more customers for it.
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Consciousness Is Two Hard Problems, Not One
Psychology prof Gregg Henriques argues, consciousness “plays by a different set of rules than the language game of science”The James Madison U prof argues, “I believe the differences between the language games or domains of science/behavior and of soul/spirit and morality/ethics are crucial for us to keep in mind as we hunt for a more consilient scientific humanistic philosophy that can guide humanity in the 21st century.”
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Computer prof: Computers will never be conscious
Subhash Kak counters the AI boosters with cogent explanationsDr. Kak points out, “More than 80 years ago, pioneering British computer scientist Alan Turing showed that there was no way ever to prove that any particular computer program could stop on its own – and yet that ability is central to consciousness.”
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The AI Revolution Has Come for Stock Art
But we'll still need photographers and modelsThe new tools allow for a level of customization not previously available. They also allow for a level of anonymization.
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Smart Cities?: Proceed With Caution!
Zaheer Allam provides a balanced view of the future impact of AI on societyIn some Smart City master plans, our privacy will be seriously compromised.
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If Big Tech Were Spinning Its Wheels, Would We Know?
Not necessarily, says an economics prof who worries about the slowing pace of innovation but not of hypeThe slowing Funk refers to is in fundamental innovations like transistors and lasers. The apparent progress often turns out to be in patent applications for a bewildering array of comparatively insignificant mobile phone apps.
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What Do the Turing Test and ID Have in Common?
George D. Montañez shows that if a test can detect intelligence in computers, a test could also detect intelligent design in natureThe Turing test for design in computers relies on the same principles as the detection of design in nature. The materialist can have, in principle, no intelligence in either computers or nature or possible intelligence in both. But he can’t pick and choose.
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Anti-Technology Backlash: What’s Real? What’s Myth?
First, the Luddites, who started it all, were smarter than many people thinkBut there is not much point in being a traditional Luddite today. You don’t want to smash the robot; you want to bring the price down to where you can own a piece of it.
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A Type of Reasoning AI Can’t Replace
Abductive reasoning requires creativity, in addition to computationAI, says William Littlefield, would get stuck in an endless loop with abductive reasoning, which is an inference to the best explanation or an educated guess. But it plays an important role in creating hypotheses in the sciences.
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How You Can Really Know You’re Talking to a Computer
In a lively exchange, computer science experts offer some savvy adviceClaims that a given program has “passed the Turing test” should be treated skeptically because a program can be optimized to pass the Turing test without demonstrating any particular intelligence.
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Can We Engineer Consciousness in a Robot?
One neuroscientist thinks we need only “simple guidelines.” His underlying assumptions are just wrongGraziano’s approach is not new. Ancient philosophers thought the mind was fire (not too long after the discovery of fire). Early modern philosophers thought the mind was a machine (just as the machine age got started). Now suddenly it’s a computer…
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Another Life: All Fun, Games Till an AI Falls in Love
Then it descends into a convoluted drift of uncertain storytellingAnd the victim is not primarily the viewer, who has other options. The victim is the art itself.
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The Brain: Junkyard, Watch, or Antenna?
A warped genius reviews the options, as he seeks ultimate power - a taleAfter many dead ends, Flim realized that all forms of human power are ultimately controlled by the human mind. Thus, if he could harness the power of the mind, he would finally be able to create anything his heart could desire.
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Has AI Been Racist?
AI is, left to itself, inherently unthinking, which can result in insensitivity and biasJust any available data swatched into systems may embody prejudices that only become evident in use.
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Are Robot Pastors the Answer to Religion’s Decline?
Many Christians say no. Some Buddhists say yes. What is expected of the pastor?Perhaps it comes down to what we believe is the ultimate reality and what we expect from that ultimate reality.
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