Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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titanic name  view

Unfortunate Timing: Titanic Movie to Return to Netflix

The movie was probably already scheduled, but critics are mad at the timing nonetheless

The 1997 blockbuster Titanic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is purportedly returning to Netflix on July 1st, mere weeks following the tragedy of the Titan submersible. The Titan, which carried five passengers, imploded from extreme depth pressure, and its remaining debris was discovered very close to the remains of the Titanic. Critics are fuming at the ill-timing of the movie’s return, calling it poor taste and insensitive to the recent catastrophe. Samantha Nungesser reports at New York Post, “No way they saw those dead ppl and thought ‘this is a great opportunity,’” a third person said, while someone else fumed, “PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS A JOKE YOU HAVE TO BE JOKING YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY BE THIS SHAMELESS.” –Samantha Nungesser, ‘Titanic’ Read More ›

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Colorado river with desert landscape glowing in Utah near moab with moon

Westworld: Episode 2 Review

The whole point of the show is to explore a theory of consciousness

In episode one, several robots break down. It appears they are accessing memories thanks to an unexpected update, which causes the robots to glitch and seize up, unable to communicate. The updated robots are recalled and the worst of them are decommissioned. In episode two, Dolores wakes up, hearing Bernard’s voice in the middle of the night. She goes outside, and it’s later revealed that she finds a gun buried in the dirt. After we’ve seen Dolores rise from her bed thanks to Bernard’s call, we meet William. He and his future brother-in-law are visiting the park. This is William’s first time in Westworld, and he isn’t excited to be there. He’s humoring his future relative. Episode two continues in Read More ›

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Secret bunker meeting

C.S. Lewis’s “That Hideous Strength” is Making the Rounds Again

NYT columnist Ross Douthat offers his two cents on the dystopian classic

Just last week, Mind Matters editor Peter Biles wrote about That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis, a dystopian novel about a fearsome technocracy trying to conquer humanity. New York Times also wanted in on the fun, too, apparently. Ross Douthat, the conservative voice of the Times’ opinion column, published his latest essay on Lewis’s harrowing tale, and examined its modern pertinence. Douthat acknowledges the possibility of a mega-powerful technocracy, but notes how Lewis believed that on the outside, such an organization may look like the face of progress and humanitarianism. Douthat writes, Crucially, almost nobody in Lewis’s invented organization has any idea that in the inner ring they’re contacting the dark powers. Most people think they’re working for humanitarianism and Read More ›

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The Flow of Time: A Close-Up Portrait of an Incomplete Humanoid Android Covered in White Porcelain Skin, Blue Eyes, and Glowing Internal Parts.

Westworld: Episode 1 Review

Westworld asks if a robot were to become conscious, how could it happen?

The HBO series Westworld is known for having an incredible first season and a lousy second. In fact, the second season was said to be so bad, I personally disengaged from the series altogether and only found out it had four seasons when I began writing these reviews. We certainly won’t be going over all four seasons, but I do want to talk about the first season because it explores the question of consciousness in some depth. Westworld asks if a robot were to become conscious, how could it happen? What could a programmer do to accomplish this task? Dr. Robert J. Marks discusses Qualia in great detail. Westworld tries to tell a story explaining how this quality could come Read More ›

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Forest in fog with mist. Fairy spooky looking woods in a misty day. Cold foggy morning in horror forest with trees

That Hideous Strength, A.K.A. Transhumanism

C.S. Lewis's classic science fiction tale is about the temptation to reject being human

C.S. Lewis’s 1946 science fiction novel That Hideous Strength is almost eighty years old now. Written during the throes of World War II, the novel is the culmination of Lewis’s cosmic trilogy, preluded by Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. There are hosts of other articles attending to the prescience of Lewis’s terrifying novel, and for good reason; That Hideous Strength is a warning against using technology to dehumanize people and ultimately cripple the world into submission. It’s a great book as a novel, but it seems especially appropriate to revisit in lieu of the growing interest in transhumanism and the rapid acceleration of AI development. It feels like much of the talk on AI in recent months involves Read More ›

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Ft. Davis Sunset

Cormac McCarthy, Author of “The Road” & “Blood Meridian,” Dead at 89

McCarthy thought that if the book didn't deal staunchly with matters of life and death, it was best left unwritten

American author Cormac McCarthy, who was known for his dark and often macabre novels, died on June 13th at his home in Santa Fe, N.M. He was 89. McCarthy was one of America’s most formidable and talented authors. He began his career in Tennessee, writing novels primarily about Appalachia. He moved to El Paso in 1976, where, thanks to funding from the MacArthur Foundation, he wrote Blood Meridian, a ruthless tale of vagabond outlaws wandering Texas and Mexico on scalping expeditions. Many critics find this to be his best work. McCarthy went on to write The Road, a post-apocalyptic novel published in 2006, which he dedicated to his son, John. The Road tells the story of a father and his Read More ›

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Dark knight illustration, medieval era wizard, fantasy concept. Generative AI

J.R.R. Tolkien on Science Fiction

The master storyteller was more open to sci-fi and tech than the stereotype lets on

In early 2021, literary scholar Holly Ordway published a deep dive into J.R.R. Tolkien’s reading habits. The celebrated author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit was a linguist and medievalist at Oxford for decades until his death in 1973. Based on his immersion in ancient literature, people often assume that Tolkien despised all things modern – including modern books. Even C.S. Lewis is quoted as saying, “No one ever influenced Tolkien–you might as well try to influence a Bandersnatch.” Today’s conception of Tolkien stereotypically portrays him as a curmudgeon who refused to engage with modernity. Ordway, however, pushes back against such an image and lays out a comprehensive case for Tolkien’s interest in contemporary literature, including the Read More ›

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Colorful Pop Art Comic Book Explosion with Radiant Radial Lines Background for an Action packed Design AI Generated

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The new Spider-Man multiverse movie is a riot of cartoonish color and adventure

The sequel to the 2018 animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse arrived in theaters last Friday and scored over 120 million dollars over its first weekend. Actor Tom Holland, who played the web-slinger in the latest live-action interpretation, called Into the Spider-Verse the best Spider-Man movie ever made in a recent interview. And that’s coming from Spider-Man himself! I saw the movie over the weekend, and wow, I can say that it’s one of the most visually interesting movies I’ve yet to witness. Like its precursor, Across the Spider-Verse is like watching a live-action comic book; the animators never shied away from the overtly cartoonish. It’s a non-stop riot of color, action, and adolescent angst, and I’m totally here for it. Read More ›

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Galactic Space Elements of this image furnished by NASA

The Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Part 3

This movie isn't the best in the trilogy, but it should be doing better than it is at the box office

Previously, we talked about how Rocket Raccoon was injured during a fight with Adam Warlock, and this event sent the Guardians on a quest to save their friend. They manage to fix Rocket, and along the way, the viewer learns about the raccoon’s past. However, now that Rocket has healed from his injuries, Peter, Gamora, and Groot must save Nebula, Mantis, and Drax from the High Evolutionary, since they snuck onto his ship. The High Evolutionary demands that Peter trade Rocket for the three stowaways and sends Peter his coordinates. Peter hatches a plan with the remaining Guardians and some of his fellow Ravagers from the previous films. Meanwhile, Mantis, Nebula, and Drax discover there are children in cages inside Read More ›

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View of planet Earth from inside a space station

Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Part 2

When an otter and a raccoon make you cry

Last time, we talked about how the newest addition to the Guardians of the Galaxy movies had a decent script but suffers from tone issues, mostly regarding how the film treats Gamora’s death. The Guardians had just broken into a space station, hoping to find a way to bypass a device that is keeping them from healing Rocket’s wounds which he received from the mysterious Adam Warlock. They break into the station and manage to steal Rocket’s records, but the code that would allow them to bypass Rocket’s kill switch has been removed. However, the records also show the Guardians the face of the man who took the code, and presumably, he has transferred it inside his own hard drive Read More ›

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Natural  luxury abstract fluid art painting in alcohol ink technique. Tender and dreamy  wallpaper. Mixture of colors creating transparent waves and golden swirls. For posters, other printed materials

So Long, Art History–AI is the Only Picasso We Need Now

How about we keep art human generated, eh?

In the near future, will the high school senior struggling to turn in that art report Google search a famous artist only to be bombarded with AI remakes? And without proper education, will people start failing to discern the difference? Unfortunately, that future is already upon us. If you type in “Johannes Vermeer” at Google, the Dutch artist famous for his piece “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” an AI copy of the artwork appears in his bio preview. Visual artists have been resisting AI image generators like Midjourney and DALL-E for a few months now, with even some lawsuits in the mix. Many artists feel that AI art violates copyright. But we’re to another level with this whole debacle when Read More ›

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Adult student reading a book in the college library. Young standing male wearing glasses with bookshelves on background.

In the Wake of AI Books, What Does Authorship Mean?

While of course it's easy to use AI to generate text, the quality and storytelling are lacking.

We all know there are a lot of books out there. Perusing your local used bookstore and you may find hundreds of old romance paperbacks, and somehow most of them managed (at least at one point) to make the New York Times bestsellers’ list. It’s estimated that 500,000 to 1 million books are published each year, and that’s excluding self-published material. The publishing market has become saturated, with the average book selling less than 200 copies. From the advent of the printing press centuries ago to e-books and online publishing, humans alone have managed to generate a mountain of words. But suppose one person could “generate” not just a few books in a lifetime, but hundreds every year? According to Read More ›

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man walking in the night toward the light

Here Come the AI Companions

The Internet ushered in a wave of virtual living and connectivity. Is this the next inevitable step?

The popular social media influencer Caryn Marjorie recently launched “CarynAI,” an artificially intelligent companion that her millions of followers can interact with every day. Marjorie told the Washington Post that she doesn’t have the bandwidth to respond to all the requests she gets from her predominantly male fanbase, however much she wishes to. She furthermore wants to cure them all of their loneliness. She’s on track to make 5 million dollars a month from CarynAI. The bot makes it possible for fans to have a “relationship” with a simulated version of Caryn. Conversations are designed to “wind down” after an hour, but there’s no time limit. One of Caryn’s reps said users are spending hours interacting with CarynAI. The project Read More ›

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Space environment, ready for comp of your characters.3D rendering. Generative AI

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Review, Part 1

It's a decent movie, but the tone doesn't account for all these characters have been through

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 came out in theaters on May 5th, and while the movie is not the best addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s better than most, certainly better than Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, there have been complaints about theater turnout, and these complaints are a testament to the damage movies like Multiverse of Madness have done to the Marvel brand. I’d say we have the Mouse to thank for that. The only consolation to this turn of events is that as the box office numbers for Marvel films continue to dwindle, so do the subscriptions to Disney Plus. I’ll take the victories where I can get them. The Movie’s Tone Needs Read More ›

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emotional glitchy tetris pattern pixelated Photoluminescence SciFi Otherworldly Realistic

Before the iPhone, There Was Tetris

What was the precursor for the widespread tech addiction we see today, particularly in young people?

What was the precursor for the widespread tech addiction we see today, particularly in young people? Many say it was the iPhone. Peter Tonguette, however, thinks that the game Tetris started the screentime avalanche. Tonguette reviewed the new Apple TV+ film Tetris, which covers the story of the classic game’s development, acquisition, and subsequent popularity in the early nineties. He writes, One might assume this changeover coincided with the rise of smartphones and social media, but a new movie shows that it happened as early as the summer vacation of 1989. During that fateful interregnum between school years, kids were introduced to something that prefigured the electronic devices of the 21st century: a battery-powered, 8-bit handheld videogame device whose two Read More ›

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schreibmaschine alt jahrgang retro schriftsteller

Hollywood Writers vs. AI

The Writers Guild of America doesn't want AI stealing their jobs

I smell something rotten in the heart of Hollywood. So do a lot of screenwriters, actors, and directors. And you probably already have seen the headlines about the Writers Guild of America (WGA) going on strike, largely due to Hollywood studios’ apparent openness to using AI to generate scripts. It feels inevitable looking back, with the introduction and consequent explosion of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, that we would quickly arrive at a place where people like screenwriters are demanding job security. New AI systems have challenged a lot of different sectors, from visual art to journalism, but right now, the WGA strike is at the forefront of the conversation and continues to rage. Maggie Harrison of Futurism reports that a good many Read More ›

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One Ring to Rule Them All

Amazon Can’t Quit Cashing Tolkiens

Will Tolkien's original vision get lost in the details, CGI, and cash cow maneuvers?

Amazon is now working on a massively multiplayer online (MMO) video game adaptation of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe, which will be unrelated to the Prime TV show Rings of Power. Todd Spangler at Variety reports, Last year, Amazon Games cut a deal with Embracer-owned studio Crystal Dynamics for a new multiplatform title in the “Tomb Raider” series . Hartmann praised the Embracer team as “excellent collaborators.” “The world of Middle-earth continues to prove an endlessly fertile ground for creators, and Amazon Games has a passion for building immersive, compelling worlds and publishing games for a global audience,” said Lee Guinchard, CEO of Freemode, Embracer’s division that houses Middle-earth Enterprises. “We’re taking every care to deliver an MMO which will do justice Read More ›

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Audiobook education. Smartphone screen with audiobook application on paper books black background. Ebook e learning electronic internet mobility concept.

Audiobook Voice Actor: Storytelling Should Stay Human

Handing the narrative baton to a machine can bankrupt stories of their human element

New AI systems have carved inroads into many industries, not least of all those involving voice and audio. Now the audiobook business is in trouble; since AI has the increasingly good ability to mimic the human voice and generate words, many voice actors and readers have watched the demand for their contributions steadily fall. According to a report from Tech Explore, voice actor Tanya Eby, who has been in the business for 20 years, has seen her workload drop “by half.” Several of her colleagues report similar trends in their own work. AI startups like DeepZen, based in London, cheapen audiobook projects tremendously, making it a challenge for human actors to stay viable. DeepZen technology takes several different human voices Read More ›

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Office building top view background in retro style colors. Manhattan buildings of New York City center - Wall street

HBO’s “Succession” Goes Transhumanist

The popular show about a family owned media empire hints at the desire to live forever

[Warning: Spoilers Ahead] The highly-watched HBO show “Succession” tells the story of a media empire ruled by a cantankerous, manipulative businessman, Logan Roy, and his three children who are hardly any better. Most of the show is a commentary on the corrupting effects of wealth and the power dynamics involved in the media empire’s core leadership. In the dramatic fourth season, Logan Roy dies from what seems to be a stroke while he’s flying to Norway to discuss a giant merger deal with another media mogul. From there, the three Roy children, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv (along with a half-brother Connor who doesn’t care as much about his place in the kingdom) scramble to figure out the leadership, direction, and Read More ›

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Manhattan project, development of nuclear weapons, history of science of the 20th century. Art collage with a nuclear explosion

“I Can Perform This Miracle”

The new "Oppenheimer" trailer gives a chilling hint of the atom bomb race

Christopher Nolan, director of The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Interstellar, is breaking ground in the historical film genre with his upcoming film Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, and Emily Blunt. The film, currently slated for release in July, has a chilling new trailer that gives a larger sense of the movie’s scope, and the profound moral dilemma at the heart of the creation of the atomic bomb. J. Robert Oppenheimer was the theoretical physicist largely responsible for the develop of the bomb in World War II. The new trailer emphasizes the United States’ fierce “arms race” with Germany. In the trailer, Oppenheimer says, “We’re in a race against the Nazis. And I know what it means Read More ›