CategoryArtificial Intelligence
Could HAL 9000 Ever Be Built?
I say yes. Some reflections on the 50th Year Anniversary of 2001: A Space Odyssey
Robogeddon!! Pause.
Wait. This just in: AI is NOT killing all our jobs
Can a Game Prove That Computers Could Really Think?
Philosopher Daniel Dennett thinks so. Let's apply Occam's Razor and see
Sometimes the ‘Bots Turn Out To Be Humans
That “lifelike” effect was easier to come by than some might think
Screenwriters’ Jobs Are Not Threatened by AI
Unless the public starts preferring mishmash to creativityAn AI-generated film is not an altogether new idea. Rule-based expert systems were used to write short plays over a half century ago, in the early 1960's. Then, as now, don’t expect creativity. That is not what AI does.
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Could One Single Machine Invent Everything?
The king’s perpetual innovation machine was all ready to roll but then a skeptic butted in
George Gilder: Life after Google Will Be Okay
People will take ownership of their own data, cutting out the giant “middle man”In his new book, he calls the successor era he envisions the “cryptocosm,” referring to the private encryption of data, represented by technologies such as blockchain.
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Why machines can’t think as we do
As philosopher Michael Polanyi noted, much that we know is hard to codify or automate
Why Can’t Machines Learn Simple Tasks?
They can learn to play chess more easily than to walk
The New Politically Correct Chatbot Was Worse?
If you are a human being who talks to people for a living, don’t quit your job
AI That Can Read Minds?
Deconstructing AI hypeThe source for the claims seems to be a 2018 journal paper, "Real-time classification of auditory sentences using evoked cortical activity in humans." The carefully described results are indeed significant but what the Daily Mail article didn't tell you sheds a rather different light on the AI mind reader.
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Claim: Yes, you can upload your brain
Fine print: They might have to kill you first
AI Has a (Wonderful) Plan for Your Life
Tech-savvy religion scholars play with reshaping societyThe team is pessimistic about getting politicians on side and hopes to persuade policy analysts to convince the politicians to adopt the policies their model suggests instead. Wildman predicts, “We’re going to get them in the end.”
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Virtual Railroads and West Virginia Back Roads
AI’s Temptation to Theft Over Honest ToilJust as a train on a rail requires minimal, or indeed no, human intervention, so cars driving on virtual railroads might readily dispense with the human element.
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Big Question: Can Big Data Read the Minds of Others?
And should Facebook scan your posts for suicidal thoughts? (It does.)Neurologist Robert Burton reflects at Aeon on the fact that mind reading does not really work. Most fashionable theories of mind, like the mirror neuron theory, have not really been much use: This is not to say that we have no idea of what goes on in another’s mind. The brain is a superb pattern-recogniser; we routinely correctly anticipate that others will feel grief at a funeral, joy at a child’s first birthday party, and anger when cut off on the freeway. We are right often enough to trust our belief that others generally will feel as we do. More. True, but the problem isn’t with recognizing what most people probably think; it’s with recognizing unusual but important patterns. How Read More ›
Robot Priests: And You Thought “Robotic Religion” Was Just a Pointed Criticism…?
You know, rote prayers, mindless gestures… Is that the way of the future for some?Reuters announced last year that in Japan, a robot can be hired to perform Buddhist funeral rites: A Japanese company has introduced a new role for SoftBank’s humanoid robot “Pepper” – a Buddhist priest for hire at funerals. … With Japan’s population ageing and shrinking, many Buddhist priests receive less financial support from their communities, prompting some to find part-time work outside their temple duties, said Michio Inamura, Nissei’s executive adviser. The funeral robot could step in when a priest was not available, he said. It also cost less at 50,000 yen (about $450) per funeral compared to more than 240,000 yen ($2,200) for a human priest. More. As of August 2017, the robot priest had not yet been Read More ›
How Humans Can Thrive in a World of Increasing Automation
Remarks on the purpose and goals of the Walter Bradley Center at its launchAt the official launch of the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence, July 11, 2018, design theorist design theorist William Dembski offered three key thoughts on the center’s purpose and goals—and how its work may be evaluated. Dr. Dembski was unable to attend*, so his remarks were read by the Center’s director Robert J. Marks: Good evening. Thank you for attending this launch of the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. In my talk tonight, I’m going to address three points: (1) the importance of its work, (2) its likely impact, and (3) why it is appropriately named after Walter Bradley. First, however, I want to thank friends and colleagues of Seattle’s Discovery Institute for their Read More ›
Neurosurgeon Outlines Why Machines Can’t Think
The hallmark of human thought is meaning, and the hallmark of computation is indifference to meaning.
AI machines taking over the world?
It’s a cool apocalypse but does that make it more likely?Doomsday thinking is easily mocked. The character marching hairy and barefoot under his “End Is Near” sign, is a staple of cartoons in middlebrow mags. Yet when media magnets market doomsday scenarios—like the late Stephen Hawking (“worst event in the history of our civilization”) and Elon Musk (“an immortal dictator from which we would never escape”) — it’s a Cool apocalypse.
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