Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryEthics

exoplanet-stockpack-adobe-stock
Exoplanet
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 17, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science
Tagged
,

When Sci-Fi Gets Earnest About Colonization — Sci-fi Saturday

Worth seeing but we never get to find out who the characters are fighting or why some treaty could not be arranged
News
July 17, 2021
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science

“Ripple Effect” at DUST by [ Hannah Bang at Dust, July 12, 2021, 7:12 min: “In a not so distant future- a coalition of the old earth’s nations have sought and claimed the discovery of a new planet “Gaia” as the human race’s last hope for survival. However, when the human settlements rolled in, what awaited them was neither discovery nor pioneering but colonization and war against the planet’s original inhabitants. With an increasingly militaristic government that demands the settlers’ sacrifice for the good of all, one family is torn apart when the eldest daughter, Ara, questions who the real bad guys are. At a time where mass think seems to be the safest option, Ripple Effect asks us if…

dna-test-in-the-lab-a-laboratory-technician-with-a-dispenser-in-his-hands-is-conducting-dna-analysis-in-a-sterile-laboratory-behind-glass-stockpack-adobe-stock
Dna test in the lab. a laboratory technician with a dispenser in his hands is conducting dna analysis in a sterile laboratory behind glass
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 14, 2021
Categorized
Data Privacy, Ethics, Law, Medicine and Health, Surveillance
Tagged
, , , , , , , ,

China Is Building the World’s Largest Global DNA Database

The government violates the country’s own privacy laws in the name of security and stability
Heather Zeiger
July 14, 2021
Data Privacy, Ethics, Law, Medicine and Health, Surveillance

A January 2021 study by a U.K. cybersecurity and privacy watchdog, Comparitech, found that China was the world’s worst offender for “widespread and invasive biometric data collection” out of ninety-six countries studied. The Chinese government aspires to build the world’s largest police-run DNA database. Its Made in China 2025 plan places a priority on building its biotechnology industry, which involves collecting a large number of DNA samples. The way Chinese authorities obtain DNA is often intrusive and without consent. In a previous article, we looked at how U.S. companies’ DNA sequencing and identification technologies end up in Xinjiang despite U.S. sanctions. In this article, we will look at how China is using DNA collection to further its national goals. China’s…

dna-sequence-with-colored-letters-on-black-background-containing-mutation-stockpack-adobe-stock
DNA sequence with colored letters on black background containing mutation
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
July 13, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Law, Surveillance
Tagged
, , , , , , , , ,

U.S.-Made DNA ID Equipment Is Being Sold to Xinjiang’s Police

Engineering professor Yves Moreau’s research shows that a more serious approach to existing sanctions against such uses is needed
Heather Zeiger
July 13, 2021
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Law, Surveillance

The U.S. leads the world in DNA sequencing technologies. Unfortunately, two U.S. companies’ products are being used in China in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region despite the fact that the U. S. has placed sanctions on such uses. The sanctions were put in place because Chinese authorities surveil and detain Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities without legal precedent and engage in acts that are in violation of the Genocide Convention of 1948. The New York Times, for example, obtained ten contracts, along with government procurement documents, showing that Thermo Fisher Scientific’s and Promega’s equipment is being sold to Xinjiang police: The government procurement documents and contracts show that several Chinese companies sold Thermo Fisher equipment worth at least $521,165 to…

father-and-son-competing-in-video-games-at-home-stockpack-adobe-stock
Father And Son Competing In Video Games At Home
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 6, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Mathematics, Peer Review, Science
Tagged
, , , ,

Why Did Video Gamers Uncover Fraud More Easily Than Scientists?

Video gamers are subject, a psychologist tells us, to much more rigorous constraints than scientists
News
July 6, 2021
Ethics, Mathematics, Peer Review, Science

In a recent article at The Atlantic, King’s College psychologist Stuart Ritchie, author of Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth (2020), has noted a curious fact: Video gamers are much quicker to spot fraud than scientists. The video game fraud he focuses on involved a gamer’s claim that he had finished a round of Minecraft in a little over 19 minutes, a feat he attributed, Ritchie tells us, to “an incredible stretch of good luck.” “Incredible” is the right choice of word here. “Dream,” as the player was known, later admitted — in the face of skepticism — that he had “inadvertently” left some software running that improved his game — thus disqualifying…

human-brain-with-an-implanted-chip-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Human brain with an implanted chip.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 27, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , , , , ,

Can Implanted Computer Chips Cure Depression?

Brain–computer interface (BCI) is promising for paralysis and prosthetics but raises concerns in the treatment of depression
News
June 27, 2021
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Brain computer interface (BCI) shows promise in treating paralysis or enabling prosthetics to work almost naturally. But BCI for treating depression sounds like hype: Say goodbye to pills, therapy, and all that. With such gloomy prospects, it was only a matter of time scientists realized there must be better ways to treat depression rather than pills. After all, drugs only work because they act on certain brain regions to modulate the concentration of certain neurotransmitters, like serotonin or dopamine. Therefore, in the end, the regulation of mood depends on stimulating brain signals in certain parts of the brain — that is, neurons firing — and this can be done more accurately by just zapping the neurons directly with electricity. Diego…

live-lobster-in-the-aquarium-product-in-the-supermarket-close-up-photo-of-big-lobsters-in-water-tank-for-sale-stockpack-adobe-stock
Live lobster in the aquarium. Product in the supermarket. Close up photo of big lobsters in water tank for sale
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 24, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
Tagged
, , , , , , , ,

Can Crabs Think? Can Lobsters Feel? What We Know Now

In Switzerland, it is now illegal to boil a lobster alive. Are the Swiss right? Is it cruel?
Denyse O'Leary
June 24, 2021
Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Because crustaceans have shells, we may tend to think of them as like machines. Yet crustaceans, along with octopuses, show some surprising abilities and complexities. Take crabs, for example: A new Swansea University study has revealed how common shore crabs can navigate their way around a complex maze and can even remember the route in order to find food … Spatial learning is quite complicated, so figuring out how it works in crustaceans gives us a better understanding of how widespread this ability, and learning in general, is in the animal kingdom.” The researchers tested 12 crabs over four weeks, placing food at the end of the maze each time. The route to the end of the maze required five…

real-python-code-developing-screen-programing-workflow-abstract-algorithm-concept-lines-of-python-code-visible-under-magnifying-lens-stockpack-adobe-stock
Real Python code developing screen. Programing workflow abstract algorithm concept. Lines of Python code visible under magnifying lens.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 23, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Law, Machine Learning, Medicine and Health
Tagged
, , , ,

How Do We Know the Machine Is Right If No One Knows How It Works?

We don’t, and that’s a problem, says Oxford philosopher John Zerilli
News
June 23, 2021
Ethics, Law, Machine Learning, Medicine and Health

Oxford philosopher John Zerilli, author of A Citizen’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence (2021), asks us to consider how machine learning, the most widely used type of AI, might be deciding our lives without our knowing it: There are many reasons not to take job rejections personally, but there’s one in particular you might not consider: you might have been screened out by an algorithm that taught itself to filter candidates by gender, surname or ethnicity – in other words, by factors that have nothing to do with your ability to do the job. Even if you’re unfazed by the spectre of runaway robots enslaving humanity, this little tale shows how the ascendancy of machine learning (ML) comes with risks that…

social-media-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Social media concept.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 23, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Social Media
Tagged
,

A Sad Truth: Social Media Rewards Us for Acting Badly

Our negativity sells advertising for them while polarizing society
News
June 23, 2021
Ethics, Social Media

Here’s the dismal report, from the University of Cambridge, about when we are likely to “share” information: Social media posts about the “political outgroup” — criticizing or mocking those on the opposing side of an ideological divide — receive twice as many shares as posts that champion people or organizations from one’s own political tribe. This is according to a study led by University of Cambridge psychologists, who analyzed over 2.7 million Tweets and Facebook posts published by either US media outlets or Members of Congress from across the political spectrum. Researchers also found that each additional word referencing a rival politician or competing worldview (e.g. ‘Biden’ or ‘Liberal’ if coming from a Republican source) increased the odds of a…

tin robots.jpg
Vintage tin robot toys
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 21, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, ,

Researchers: Humans “Exploit” Machines Without a Sense of Guilt!

Humans, we are told, are so unethical that we take advantage of "benevolent" self-driving cars
News
June 21, 2021
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind

In case no one knew this, humans are cruel, greedy, and deceptive. We even take advantage of self-driving cars. Our crimes are revealed in a recent study that scolds humans as “unwilling to cooperate and compromise with machines. They even exploit them.” When you’ve stopped laughing, you might be interested to learn of some intriguing findings from studies of human behavior around self-driving cars (autonomous vehicles) and Prisoner’s Dilemma games. One team of researchers, in a test involving 9 experiments and 2000 participants, tried to determine whether humans would behave as co-operatively with AI systems as we do with fellow humans: The study which is published in the journal iScience found that, upon first encounter, people have the same level…

octopus-stockpack-adobe-stock
Octopus
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 17, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , ,

Octopuses Get Emotional About Pain, Research Suggests

The smartest of invertebrates, the octopus, once again prompts us to rethink what we believe to be the origin of intelligence
Denyse O'Leary
June 17, 2021
Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

The octopus is becoming a popular creature among neuroscientists. It is a very smart invertebrate with an unusually complex nervous system, organized in a fundamentally different way from that of, for example, mammals. Recently, a researcher has found the first strong evidence that octopuses feel pain, as opposed to merely reacting to it. There are two parts to pain: The natural physical reaction, like a sophisticated alarm system, sets off a chain of involuntary responses. But that chain of responses, by itself, doesn’t prove that any “self” is feeling anything. The alarm system would work just the same in an empty building as in a populated one. The second component can be called “emotional.” The life form experiences the pain…

science-fiction-illustration-of-a-battle-cruiser-spaceship-travelling-faster-than-the-speed-of-light-in-hyperspace-3d-digitally-rendered-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock
Science fiction illustration of a battle cruiser spaceship travelling faster than the speed of light in hyperspace, 3d digitally rendered illustration
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 12, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science
Tagged
, , , , , ,

What If a Loved One Aged Much Faster Than You? – Sci-fi Saturday

It’s one of the implications of faster-than-light travel
News
June 12, 2021
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science

“ARK” at DUST by Nelson Cruz (June 8, 2021, 8:19 min) “Captain Mira Bernhard is finally home after a lengthy mission to the new planet, GAIA – humanity’s last hope. But what’s only been a 5-year trip for her, has been 45-year wait for her husband.” Review: ARK debuted in 2020. Time, we are told, is running out for Earth. The radio announcer, informing the audience of Bernhard’s ship’s arrival, also announces that this will be the final week of broadcasts. We are told that Bernhard’s husband Peter (played by Patrick Gorman) does not know what to expect. But, of course, he really does. And he faces a big decision: Should he just free her (Sheila Cutchlow) to return to…

ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
AI・人工知能
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 12, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Ethics, Law
Tagged
, , , , ,

Could You Be Reconstructed From Your Memories? – Sci-fi Saturday

If you were, would destroying the digitized “you” be murder?
News
June 12, 2021
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Ethics, Law

“The Final Moments of Karl Brant” at DUST by Neil Ellice and Matthew Wilson (June 10, 2021 at DUST, 15:46 min) “Set in the near future where experimental technology allows two detectives to bring a murder victim back to life in a digital state in order to question him about his final moments.” Review: This is an “oldie” from 2013, recently uploaded to DUST. Entrepreneur Karl Brant and academic neuroscientist Bennett Ferryman were partners in a promising new high tech venture in which Brant suddenly perishes, leaving Ferryman now the sole owner — and under interrogation down at the local cop shop: “Am I a suspect?” “Not if you give us a good reason why you shouldn’t be.” Not too…

in-the-hospital-sick-man-lying-on-the-bed-his-visiting-wife-hopefully-sits-beside-him-and-prays-for-his-rapid-recovery-tragic-somber-and-melancholy-scene-stockpack-adobe-stock
In the Hospital Sick Man Lying on the Bed, His Visiting Wife Hopefully Sits Beside Him and Prays for His Rapid Recovery. Tragic, Somber and Melancholy Scene.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 8, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience
Tagged
, , , ,

Is It Safe to Revise the Standard for Legally Recognized Brain Death?

People have a right to not have a controversial concept of death imposed upon them
News
June 8, 2021
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Neuroscience

Originally published on MercatorNet on May 28, 2021 by Nancy Valko I have been writing for many years about the implications of brain death, the lesser known “donation after cardiac/circulatory death”, diagnosed brain death cases like the supposedly “impossible” prolonged survival and maturation of Jahi McMath, and unexpected recoveries like Zack Dunlap’s. Some mothers declared “brain dead” were able to gestate their babies for weeks or months to a successful delivery before their ventilators were removed. Last August, I wrote about the World Brain Death Project and the effort to establish a worldwide consensus on brain death criteria and testing to develop the “minimum clinical standards for determination of brain death” (emphasis added). I also wrote about the current effort “to revise the (US) Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) to assure a…

little-brave-pawn-wearing-artificial-paper-crown-suit-on-chessboard-with-figures-business-entrepreneur-leadership-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Little brave pawn wearing artificial paper crown suit on chessboard with figures, business entrepreneur leadership concept
Type
post
Author
News
Date
June 4, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , ,

Do You Have a “Selfish Prefrontal Cortex”?

Do you tell “white lies” only for selfish motives?
News
June 4, 2021
Ethics, Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind

A recent neuroscience paper claims to determine whether your motives are selfish: You may think a little white lie about a bad haircut is strictly for your friend’s benefit, but your brain activity says otherwise. Distinct activity patterns in the prefrontal cortex reveal when a white lie has selfish motives, according to new research published in Journal of Neuroscience. White lies — formally called Pareto lies — can benefit both parties, but their true motives are encoded by the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). This brain region computes the value of different social behaviors, with some subregions focusing on internal motivations and others on external ones. Kim and Kim predicted activity patterns in these subregions could elucidate the true motive behind…

apps-globe
Young man using modern mobile phone
Type
post
Author
Andrew McDiarmid
Date
May 31, 2021
Categorized
Data Privacy, Ethics, Programming, Surveillance
Tagged
, , , , , ,

Does the Company Selling You Tech Have the Same Worldview As You?

A worldview is how we view the world and our place in it.
Andrew McDiarmid
May 31, 2021
Data Privacy, Ethics, Programming, Surveillance

Much of the technology we interact with today is part of a larger group of ecosystems maintained by major tech companies. If you have an iPhone, for example, you’re often more likely to use a Macbook, watch AppleTV, or subscribe to Apple Music. If you shop on Amazon, you might also have their Echo digital assistant or a Ring video doorbell. And if you Chromebook, you’re likely to use Gmail and maybe have a Pixel. Fueled by brand loyalty, tech ecosystems are part of the workings of a healthy free market. But if you’re going to commit to a tech company by being part of their ecosystem, it’s important to compare the worldview of that company to your own and…

human-skull-with-a-syringe-holds-in-the-mouth-and-vaccine-bottle-on-space-of-brown-paper-bad-side-effect-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Human skull with a syringe holds in the mouth and vaccine bottle on space of brown paper, Bad side effect concept
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 31, 2021
Categorized
Ethics, Medicine and Health
Tagged
, , , ,

Michael Egnor: Stop Making Killing a Form of Cure

Euthanasia and abortion are not forms of medicine, he says
News
May 31, 2021
Ethics, Medicine and Health

Recently, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor pleaded with medical colleagues to take a stronger stand on the rapid normalization of killing as a form of “cure” in our society: The medical profession should take a clear stand on this issue: doctors who deliberately kill — whether by abortion or by physician-assisted suicide or by euthanasia — are not practicing medicine when they kill. Medical practice always entails the maintenance of health, the treatment of disease, and the relief of suffering. Ending the life of a patient or of the child in his mother’s womb is neither the maintenance of health nor treatment of a disease nor the alleviation of any suffering. It is simply the killing of an innocent unwanted child. I…

melting-watch-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Melting Watch
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 22, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science
Tagged
, ,

Sci-fi Saturday: In a Future Market, Time To Live Is Bought, Sold

An employee wants to rebel against the greed and injustice but then she would run out of time …
News
May 22, 2021
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science

“The Bargain” at DUST by Eleonora Mignoli (May 18, 2021, 10:57 min) “Hired by a man who buys and sells time, a young bodyguard is torn between serving her master and fighting for the people he ruins with his power.” Cora is indentured in the service of Hue, the creator and owner of time-exchanging technology. She is alive thanks to Hue’s monthly “payments”: on her own, she’d have only a few weeks left. She works as his bodyguard and assistant, extracting or injecting time from his clients. She is horrified by Hue’s predatory deals, but complaining means breaching her contract. However, when a single mother of two falls victim to his extortion, Cora’s leash finally snaps. She now has to…

two-ants-conflict-ants-fight-conceptually-dialogue-conversation-meeting-showdown-difficult-negotiations-beautiful-rainbow-background-ants-large-raised-abdomens-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Two ants. Conflict, ants fight. Conceptually - dialogue, conversation, meeting, showdown, difficult negotiations. Beautiful rainbow background. Ants large, raised abdomens
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 22, 2021
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science
Tagged
, , , ,

Sci-fi Saturday: What If Insects Could Put Humans on Trial?

In Science+, a shrunken inventor finds himself facing Ant Justice
News
May 22, 2021
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science

“Science+” at DUST by Leela Varghese (February 28, 2021, 11:11 min) “When Matt accidentally shrinks himself and is captured by the ants whom he has unwittingly been squashing, he must find a way to escape their clutches and his impending death sentence.” Review: This is what good comedy looks like. Matt is filming himself doing various science projects for his (possibly) YouTube program “Science+”, when he gets shrunk by his own shrink-o-matic. The ants, seen face to face, turn out to be roughly like people, of whom — Matt discovers — he has killed nearly 3500. They learned English from humans in Britain but otherwise they speak Ant. You must hear that. And no more spoilers. The story raises some…

robot-vs-man-human-humanoid-robot-work-with-laptops-at-desk-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Robot vs man. Human humanoid robot work with laptops at desk.
Type
post
Author
Stephen Berger
Date
May 19, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
, , , , , , , , ,

Will Humans Ever Be Fully Replaceable by AI? Part 3

Data outlines what can be quantified but does not show the comparison between AI and human performance at the most important points
Stephen Berger
May 19, 2021
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind

To get the right answer to the question of whether artificial intelligence will ever become capable of replacing man we must get the ontology, epistemology, and metrology right. Ontology seeks to understand the essential nature of things and the relationships between different things. Epistemology looks at what we can know and how accurately we can know what is knowable. Finally, metrology explores how we make measurements and comparisons. To get the right answer we must measure the right things (ontology), select what we will measure (epistemology), and determine how we make our measurements and comparisons with accuracy, precision, and repeatability (metrology). Mistakes in any of these areas will lead to a bad outcome. A common mistake is to measure what…

communicator-technology-on-wood-table-top-view-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
communicator technology on wood table top view
Type
post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
May 17, 2021
Categorized
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Work
Tagged
, , , , , , , , , , ,

Apple’s Supply Chain Includes Forced Labor in China

Big companies like Apple claim they try to avoid forced labor but maybe not hard enough
Heather Zeiger
May 17, 2021
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Work

The Information, an online periodical covering the tech industry, found that Apple’s supply chain includes companies that use the forced labor of members of minority groups in China, particularly Uyghurs — Chinese citizens who are ethnically Turkish and mostly Muslim: The Information and human rights groups have found seven companies supplying device components, coatings and assembly services to Apple that are linked to alleged forced labor involving Uyghurs and other oppressed minorities in China. At least five of those companies received thousands of Uyghur and other minority workers at specific factory sites or subsidiaries that did work for Apple, the investigation found. The revelation stands in contrast to Apple’s assertions over the past year that it hasn’t found evidence of…