Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryLaw

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Autumn River Tours in Canada illustrated in a clean infographic, showcasing river cruises and canoe trips through scenic waterways like the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa River

New York State: Bill of Rights Proposed for Lakes, Waterways

Imagine the disruption of normal life if waterways could not be used to make a living or be treated as property at all. But that’s the goal
This bill illustrates the expansive and anti-human goals of the nature-rights movement, which is gaining steam every day. Read More ›
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Cancel word on a red enter key of the black pc keyboard. Concepts of cancel culture, ostracism and call-out culture social media and in the Internet. Computer enter key with message.

How Our Expert Classes Have Torpedoed Public Trust

Long time free speech advocate Greg Lukianoff and Angel Eduardo dissect the Cancel Culture that makes distrust a quite reasonable choice
All that said, it’s not villains who keep Cancel Culture going. It’s people for whom being Nice is far more important than telling the truth. Read More ›
enteral-feeding-dropper-and-a-old-man-patient-in-the-hospita-386430238-stockpack-adobe_stock
Enteral feeding dropper and a old man patient in the hospital with oxygen mask in the background

Bioethicists Get Legacy of Terri Schiavo Death Wrong

Some bioethicists complain that her protracted starvation death has powered pro-life forces into political prominence
In reality, after the Schiavo case encouraged acceptance, majorities supported such deaths and people with severe brain injuries became a disposable caste. Read More ›
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Hacker in prison cell. Selective focus. AI generated, human enhanced

Should the Iconic Stanford Prison Experiment Study Be Retracted?

Within six months of the death of the famous sociologist who devised it, long-simmering questions have risen to the surface
Beware of wildly popular sociology that tells us that our public policy preferences are somehow embedded in human nature. Life was never as simple as that. Read More ›
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A monkey looking at a virus in a close-up shot

PETA Sues NIH: Claims First Amendment Right to Talk to Monkeys

The complaint alleges the animal rights advocates have a right to receive communications from “fellow primates” that are “willing speakers.”
Effective stroke treatment was almost prevented decades ago because animal rights fanatics nearly destroyed the researcher’s career. PETA still brags about it. Read More ›
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handcuffs on the red book of laws. close-up. Black background.

Science Blogger: Make Violating “Scientific Consensus” a Crime

Attitudes like those expressed by Ethan Siegel have cost the scientific sector much of the public’s trust and goodwill.
A properly balanced relationship with expertise won’t be restored by imposing autocratic consensus rules. “Science” really needs less hubris and more humility. Read More ›
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Vials with Sodium pentobarbital used for euthanasia and lethal inyecion in a hospital, conceptual image

Swiss Canton Liberates Suicide Tourism from Police Investigation

Suicidal people are increasingly abandoned to lethal assistance, with steps continually taken to make death easier to access
Predictably, assisted suicides are provided under ever-lessening oversight, to ever-expanding cadres of the eligible, leading eventually to death on demand. Read More ›
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Mountain Goats and Hidden lake, Glacier National Park, Montana USA

Montana Senate Passes Bill Outlawing Physician-Assisted Suicide

In a muddled legal situation, the bill declares assisted suicide to be contrary to Montana public policy, making a previous courtroom defense unavailable
Legislation like this must be carefully written because assisted-suicide activists frequently redefine terms and obfuscate crucial distinctions. Read More ›
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Futuristic robot hand holding glowingDeepSeeksign in dark ambient

DeepSeek: Honing In on the Challenges It Presents

Although the program is admirably streamlined, censorship, data breaches, copyright violation, and lack of guardrails are among the most prominent challenges
The distillation technique that DeepSeek apparently uses to poach OpenAI’s database results, over time, in a loss of information on the internet. Read More ›
ai-creative-artificial-intelligence-icon-on-flag-of-china-an-1226963711-stockpack-adobe_stock
AI creative artificial Intelligence icon on flag of China and sunset sky background, Chips and Brain. Neural networks and machine learning concept. Deepseek, Chatgpt

Did China’s DeepSeek Violate OpenAI’s Legal Rights?

“Distillation” technology may have allowed DeepSeek to piggy-back on ChatGPT to capture market share
The complex legal wrangle continues but, in general, I would advise against treating AI products as legally equivalent to human products. Read More ›
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View of Mount Taranaki (Taranaki Maunga) from Lake Mangamahoe, Egmont National Park, on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island.

New Zealand Mountain Named a Person with Rights, Responsibilities

And what responsibilities can the mountain possibly assume? Can it be sued for an avalanche?
Nature rights is an ideological statement demoting mankind into just another animal in the forest. Read More ›
diverse-group-of-children-playing-on-swings-at-a-colorful-pl-854721506-stockpack-adobe_stock
Diverse group of children playing on swings at a colorful playground on a sunny day

Gender-Dysphoric Children Protected from “Gender-Affirming Care”

The American medical establishment is increasingly the fringe advocate on this issue
Associated Press, covering for the transgender lobby, is all yesterday’s news, akin to a million-year-old mosquito stuck in amber. Read More ›
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elephant

Colorado Supremes Unanimously Nix Elephant Personhood

The court further ruled that such a radical and culture-destroying change in law should not be imposed by courts but rather legislatures
It is way past time for the overburdened courts to dismiss these animal standing cases out of hand at the trial court level. Read More ›
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Robot Judge in a Law Library Setting

Can AI Really Code the Value of Humans?

The new book Soulless Intelligence urges that we program all AI systems to treat all humans as infinitely valuable – the only exceptions being criminals and aggressors
The life-and-death challenge we face is how to ensure that AI systems never “take over” or even make recommendations and decisions that endanger humans. Read More ›
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Close-up of a colorful lobster in a coral reef.

Edge of Sentience Summarizes Research on Animals’, AIs’ Feelings

And animal rights laws as well. But there is a dark side to Jonathan Birch’s approach too…

Philosophy prof Jonathan Birch, principal investigator of the Animal Sentience Project at the London School of Economics, has written a book on whether and how animals feel things: The Edge of Sentience (Oxford University Press 2024). It’s not as arcane a topic as it might at first appear. It shows up in new legislation and think tanks. At Amazon, we learn, for example, “In 2021, he led a review for the UK government that shaped the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. In 2022-23, he was part of a working group that investigated the question of sentience in AI.” And as Birch told Marc Bekoff at Psychology Today, I’m probably best-known for my work on invertebrate sentience, which is one part Read More ›

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question mark symbol covered in lush green plants against a vibrant green background. The image includes ample space on the right side for captions or text, highlighting nature and inquiry themes

High UN Official Supports Nature Rights and Environmental Lawfare 

Nature doesn't really go to court. People with political agendas do
Lawfare and the resulting usurpation of public policy by courts allows the elites to decide environmental policies by diktat. Read More ›
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Cellphone, mental health and woman in her bed with depression while watching videos on social media. Tired, sleepy and depressed female with insomnia networking on a phone in her bedroom at home.

Australia’s Social Media Ban and Children’s Mental Health

An Australian psychiatrist hopes that his job might become easier in the future due to Australia's coming ban on underage use of social media
Is it any wonder that Silicon Valley CEOs ban their own children from social media? When did a phone become more fun than parties and people? Read More ›
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A close-up of a syringe resting on a sterile tray, with soft focus on the background, highlighting the tools involved in assisted suicide

Questionable Study on Assisted Suicide and Suicide Correlation

Bioethicists find a way to make suicides "disappear" from a study
Euthanasia activists claim that legalizing assisted suicide doesn’t increase overall numbers. But their study actually shows a significant impact. Read More ›
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Digital Espionage: Vector Art of a Hacker in Action

Last Year Saw the Worst Telecom Hack in Our Nation’s History

While millions of Americans’ metadata were compromised, the specific targets seem to be important political figures and people of interest to the Chinese government
Who is responsible for allowing the Salt Typhoon hack to go on so long and infiltrate so deeply? Government and telecoms currently blame each other. Read More ›
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Snohomish River at Lowel Park

Voters Grant Rights to a River in Everett, Washington

Scientific certainty about potential damage to the river need not even be demonstrated

This article is reprinted from National Review with the permission of the author. More than 30 U.S. cities have adopted nature rights ordinances, mostly to prevent fracking. And now in the recent election, 57 percent of voters in Everett, Wash., granted rights to a geological feature, specifically, the Snohomish River watershed. From the initiative: The Snohomish River Watershed possesses the rights to exist, regenerate, and flourish, which shall include the right to naturally recharge, the right to naturally flow, the right to water quality necessary to provide habitat for native plants and animals, the right to provide clean water, and the right to restoration. The Snohomish River Watershed shall also have the right to be free from activities or projects which violate those rights. This is Read More ›