Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryBusiness and Finance

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old books background

It’s Time to Buy Old Books Before AI Destroys Them

This book destruction scheme is the brain child of technicians, people who lead tech companies and tech labs who are wholly committed to a technological view of the world

Before AI companies buy up all remaining physical copies of older, rare, out-of-print, obscure, or nearly forgotten books, we can buy our own copies.

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Meeting, training and planning with a finance CEO, manager or leader and team in the boardroom. Collaboration, workshop and presentation with a business man and staff talking about vision and mission

Colleges and Universities: Still on a Road to Nowhere

One cost-saving proposal has been to eliminate courses with ten or fewer students, irrespective of what the course is teaching

Significantly, no administrators who were contacted recommended reducing schools’ budget woes by reducing the number of administrators.

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Cute, retro robot with glowing eyes reads a book

More Books for the Bots

AI companies are buying (and destroying) rare books

AI companies are using physical books to train them for their large language models since these texts aren’t already ridden with AI-generated writing.

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An open book with pages creatively folded to form a heart, a symbol of knowledge, love, and storytelling, resting on a wooden surface with a blurred background of bookshelves.

Are Fictionbots Triumphing Over Writers?

At The Spectator, Geoff Bagwell tells us that AI is destined to destroy the creative writing industry as bots take writers’ jobs

Reading for entertainment alone will become increasingly rare. I expect we will return to a culture where people who read are mainly looking for new ideas.

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Concept image to explain how AI hallucinations occur when an AI model generates false or illogical information that isn't based on real data or events, but is presented as fact.

Plagiarism and Defamation—Two More Bad Things LLMs Are Good At

The authors’ and publishers’ copyright claims against the chatbot developers are only one of the legal problems the industry faces

The LLMs’ hallucinations could end up getting them severely restricted in Europe, depending on the outcome of a recent legal challenge for defamation.

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Money inside shimmering bubbles floating in an uncertain financial market Large space for text in center Stock Photo with copy space

Speculation in Large Language Models: The Worst Sort of Business

Speculators buy an asset because they expect the price to keep rising, not because they want the income generated by the asset

The inventions that changed our lives for the better were usually accompanied by speculation bubbles and busts. LLM firms will likely attract the same fate.

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A hand is typing on a laptop keyboard with colorful lines and numbers. Concept of creativity and innovation, as the hand is using the keyboard to input data or code

Are AI Developers As Smart As They Are Made Out To Be?

My confidence in the intelligence of AI developers was shaken by two recent events

Many commentators seem to have forgotten Goodhart’s Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

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tree monument valley - usa

Is OpenAI Approaching the Valley of Death?

Overpromising is still a big problem; in any event, the fate of Netscape looms

OpenAI needs to show that ChatGPT is more than just the first publicly available LLM. It has not done that and maybe never will.

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AI Global Network: A Blue Vision of Future Technology

The Generative AI Bubble Has Begun to Pop

From hype to hard realities in the age of artificial intelligence

Recently, talk of a bubble has increased as it has become clear that OpenAI, and likely other AI software companies, may never become profitable.

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Businessman use artificial intelligence AI technology for enhanced work efficiency data analysis and efficient tools, Unlocking work potential with AI solutions chatbot help solve work problems.

Straight Talk About AI From a Valley Tech Exec

Microsoft vice-president Uli Homann lays out what it can — and can’t — really do for you

In Homann’s view, AI is best seen as “autocomplete with ambition.” But that doesn’t mean it can’t be quite useful.

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Protecting Balance Between Percentage And House Model

Home Ownership: Madness Over 30-Year Mortgages

It is tempting to put borrowing and investment decisions in separate mental buckets, but they are intimately related

When considering a mortgage, the correct comparison is not total payments but the return on the borrowed money versus the loan’s annual percentage rate.

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Close-up of a silicon wafer on a circuit board.

George Gilder: Wafer Scale Tech Will Have Smartphone’s Impact

However, in his COSM 2025 fireside chat with bestselling author Andrew Mayne, he conceded that it is a disruptive technology and many are hesitant to make the leap

Mayne noted that many college students today are more entrepreneurial-minded than in the past. They’re turning their anxiety about the future into productivity.

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City skyline, shrouded in a thick layer of fog. Elevated aerial view reveals numerous high-rise buildings emerging from a dense cloud cover. A clear, pale blue sky is visible above the clouds

A Lack of Transparency Threatens AI — and the American Economy

Even the Wall Street Journal does not appear to understand the nature of the looming problems

AI software startups should be required to release audited numbers so that we can at least understand the current state of the AI economy.

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The skill to dissect complex data, recognize patterns, and make logical decisions based on relationships and cause-effect.

Illusions: No, Large Language Models Do Not Understand

A recent New Yorker article is mistaken about this. For one thing, the LLMs have trouble distinguishing between causation and mere correlation

A real-world example of such struggles is the poor performance, in general, of AI-powered mutual funds.

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spacecraft orbiting the Moon with Earth glowing in the background. Stunning view of space exploration, lunar surface, and advanced satellite technology in outer space

Space travel: The future is slowly becoming everyday reality

Catch the vibe at COSM 2025. Oh, and we’ll also be talking about the national debt…

Relativity Space likes to call itself a “customer-centric rocket company.” When we hear a tag line like that, we know times have changed.

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Facial recognition technology to monitor the population on busy street. Generative AI

The Real Threat AI Poses to Us Is Created by Widespread Abuse

In If Anyone Builds It, Yudkowsky and Soares are not really grappling with this problem

The authors really believe in AI doom. Soares has stopped contributing to a retirement plan. I show that the serious problem is NOT superintelligence.

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Glowing blue large question mark, digital network design, abstract concept, symbolizes inquiry, problem-solving, technology, innovation, digital future

COSM 2025 Talk: Where Are We With AI Right Now? Really.

Recent developments should focus attention on Uli Homann's talk

Just as the AI industry is becoming more analytical and realistic about how best to use AI, some users are falling in love with chatbots. We need to know more.

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60 40 Strategy Money Savings Investment Mix Ratio Stocks Bonds 3d Illustration

For a Sounder Approach to Investment: Deep-Six the 60/40 Rule

Sometimes, good decisions require more than blindly accepting advice from humans as well as computers!

The conventional belief that a sound investment portfolio should be 60% stocks and 40% bonds does not stand up to careful scrutiny.

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Blue and purple neon 3d sphere of gradient waves and glowing particles. Abstract technology concept, Artificial Intelligence, engineering, big data, and innovations. Vibrant futuristic sphere.

Different Bubbles, Different Methods of Detection: What of AI?

Circular financing is one of the signs. Even the media are beginning to catch on

Circular financing is the last gasp for OpenAI and the cloud services. They need it to maintain the mirage of an economic boom despite big losses and small revenues for AI software.

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Drowning in debt as bank crises loom over an ocean of currency beneath stormy skies

COSM 2025: Publisher Steve Forbes’ Take On National Debt Crisis

He will be one of the participants in a panel discussion on That Unpleasant Subject at COSM 2025 in Scottsdale, Arizona, in November this year

Two other panelists are Chapman University’s Mark Skousen and John Tamny, author of The Deficit Delusion (2025). George Gilder will moderate.

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