Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryBusiness and Finance

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Beautiful translucent soap bubble on dark background

Do High AI Startup Valuations Mean Great Success, or Desperation?

The answer is important but is not as clear as we might think. First, let's look at the background

Consider a recent news report: “Anthropic is in advanced talks to raise $2 billion in a deal that would value it at $60 billion, more than triple its valuation from a year ago” says the Wall Street Journal. Anthropic’s last venture capital (VC) funding round, less than two months ago, raised $2 billion, bringing its total funding to $9.6 billion. OpenAI had raised $6.6 billion, last October just a year after it raised $10 billion from Microsoft the previous year and just months after it also raised funds on the debt and secondary markets. So that $6.6 billion round was the largest VC funding round ever, a little larger than the $6 billion that Elon Musk’s generative AI startup, xAI, raised in 2023. Read More ›

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Translucent soap bubbles floating with natural green backdrop

The AI Bubble: Hype, Reality, and Consequences

In this week's podcast, Pomona College economics prof Gary Smith discusses with Robert J. Marks what generative AI is and isn't good for
AI can be a helpful tool when used appropriately but, he warns, the current AI boom mirrors past economic bubbles, driven by hype and inflated expectations. Read More ›
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Bubbles

Another Warning That the AI Bubble Is Near Bursting…

AI analyst Gary Marcus: There is no principled solution to hallucinations in systems of this type
Maybe the reason there is no principled solution to AI hallucinations is that we cannot create artificial human minds. Read More ›
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Cows at stable. Netherlands. Farming. Modern Dutch farm. Netherlands. Cows eating roughage. Cows eating silage. Feed gate. Cattle breeding.

NYT Column: Factory Farms Are Good for People and the Planet

Journalist Michael Grunwald points out that factory farming means fewer natural spaces are cleared for farmland than would otherwise be the case
Journalist Michael Grunwald points out that factory farming means fewer natural spaces are cleared for farmland than would otherwise be the case. Read More ›
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A person uses touch screen technology in everyday life. AI Generated. Suitable for advertising.

Flashes of Genius: Hal Philipp’s Journey of Invention, Resilience

His groundbreaking work on optical sensors for automated doors and faucets laid the foundation for his career
Reflecting on his 100-hour workweeks and legal battles, he cautions against solo ventures without financial and legal backing. Read More ›
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ATM machine in a dimly lit area with ambient lights and signage.

Debanking May Be More Common Than We Realize

Sometimes the motive seems political — unrelated to concerns about creditworthiness or suspicion about illegal activities
Last March, it came out that the US Treasury Department had sent a list of “hate groups” to major US banks; more recently, a number of crypto firms were hit. Read More ›
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Manhole drain cover on streets of lower Manhattan

Microsoft: What Did You Need To Work There in the Early Days?

They asked questions that were not about the details of computer technology. The questions made you think. Hard.
For example. they would ask questions like, why are manhole covers round? Read More ›
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Student child holding smartphone during control exam test at school and cheating on the exam

Chegged Out: How ChatGPT Schooled a Study Giant

AI has transformed how students approach both learning and cheating

AI is going to both create and destroy businesses. An interesting victim of AI is the academic assistance business. Academic dishonesty, the dark side of academic assistance, is a fancy term for cheating. With profit-motivated websites like Chegg.com, cheating became easier. When taking an exam, a student could take a photo of a difficult problem and send it to Chegg. In literally minutes, the student would be sent the answer over a cell phone. How do they do it? Often Chegg employs smart nerds from poor countries who, by local standards, are paid big bucks for their efforts. To use Chegg, a subscription is needed. But why include a human in the loop when AI can give you a quicker Read More ›

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Inferno Social media hype concept art poster.

AI Pessimists vs True Believers: A Deepening Divide

There is a growing divide about AI even among AI experts but many of them like polarizing content, just as the consumers of political information do
True believers don’t focus on short-term trends because they aren’t very positive. But short-term trends should be consistent with a long-term forecast. Read More ›
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Terahertz and optical wireless communication towers in a futuristic city with softwaredefined networking control centers

COSM: Ethernet Inventor Asks, Are We Ready for New IT Technology?

Bob Metcalfe will talk about new technologies like electromagnetic waves from the “dead zone” of the spectrum that are slowly becoming economically viable
Metcalfe’s Law of IT growth begins with the fact that one fax machine — for example — is useless. Two help a bit but millions of them made a difference. Read More ›
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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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High-tech assembly line in a factory manufacturing computer chips with robotic arms and precise processes

Carver Mead and the Computer That Couldn’t Possibly Work

Mead, who named Moore’s Law and played a key role in developing the computer chip will be honored at COSM November 1
Mead never saw technology research as a left-brained thing; for him, he says, it is a matter of love. It only sounds simple afterward. Read More ›
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View of the surface of the moon.Elements of this image furnished by NASA

Is NASA a Spent Force in Space Exploration?

A government report implies it is, as private groups are moving into the space business and China is catching up quickly
What if a private craft is the first to discover extraterrestrial life? What laws apply? Read More ›
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3D rendering of graphene surface, black atoms and bonds with carbon glossy structure, glossy surface

Renowned Chemist James Tour To Speak on New “Sci-Fi” Material

Tour is speaking at COSM 2024 on his work with graphene which, despite its astounding qualities, originates in pencil lead
As developers ponder how to produce graphene in large quantities, trend watchers wonder whether Silicon Valley will one day be Graphene Valley. Read More ›
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surgical instruments in operation room.

The ‘Gender-Industrial Complex’ Makes Billions Annually

A new report produced recently by the American Principles Project sheds light on financial incentives
The report discusses long-term health risks and malpractice issues, demonstrating how the conjoining of big profits and radical ideology is a toxic mix. Read More ›
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Four-leaf clover stands out against green leaves

Bad Luck Seldom Persists — But it Never Guarantees Good Luck

Many people embrace the fallacious law of averages in their daily lives when "regression toward the mean" is a more realistic picture
For example, the baseball player with the highest batting average in any season generally does not do as well the season before or the season after. Read More ›
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fire alphabets, X

What’s Behind the World Advertiser Boycott Against X?

Elon Musk’s refusal to censor news has made him enemies in top boardrooms
The platform continues to grow — and may be evolving into a new type of medium — but first it must survive massive industry hostility. Read More ›
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minimalist circuit board with tiny monopoly townhouses the style is flat and minimalistic with simple shapes and limited colors

Google Decision Challenges Trillion-Dollar Internet Gatekeeper

How one company cornered the market for the human mind
The judge ruled that Google operates unlawfully: It effectively excludes competitors while its prices and services are unresponsive to consumer market demands. 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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Financial crisis stock chart business on economy market background with down diagram money exchange finance graph or loss global investment trade analysis recession and fall sales price crash risk.

Why the Artificial Intelligence Bubble May Be About To Burst

For one thing, Space Odyssey’s HAL and Prometheus’s David aren’t really happening, for good reasons
Gary Marcus argues that Big Tech got rich, largely on promises, without confronting the known limits of artificial intelligence. Read More ›