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Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 Can Deceive and Blackmail
Is AI getting out of control?
1960s Chatbot Pioneer Was Right to Worry About What He’d Created
AI “companions” may be dumbing us down intellectually and emotionally
LLMs Are Bad at Good Things, Good at Bad Things
LLMs may well become smarter than humans in the near future but not because these chatbots are becoming more intelligent
No Mark Zuckerberg, AI ‘Friends’ Are Not Good for Mental Health
Zuckerberg's proposed AI friends will not alleviate the epidemic of loneliness and depression and I can tell you a few reasons why
The Last Humanist: What the Digital Age Can’t Replace
My review of Superbloom by Nicholas Carr, perhaps the last critic standing, with thoughts on some of his earlier books
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
Could Robots Be Programmed to Feel Ordinary Love?
The question is a bit more complex than we might at first think, as the British TV series Humans demonstrates
Philosopher Asks, Why the Toxic War on Masculinity?
Prominent evangelical philosopher Nancy Pearcey is teaching a course on the roots of the “hate men” movement today. Here’s an excerpt from the controversial book it's based on
What Happened to “Third Spaces”?
Many men are lacking the deep community and sense of brotherhood (fraternity) they need to flourish and grow.. Bringing back communal institutions might be crucial for social cohesionA few decades ago, the club was more of a thing. And not the kind where people rave and disco until six in the morning. No, these were “gentlemen’s clubs,” places where guys could separate themselves both from familial and professional venues and enjoy meaningful connection with other men. Anthony Bradley, a scholar at the Acton Institute, shared some of his thoughts and findings on the decline of these “third spaces” and how they’ve been detrimental towards men in particular. The rise of more egalitarian attitudes towards gender, which had the great net benefit of opening the door for more equal opportunity for women, inadvertently led to the decline of these male-centric institutions. Today, we see the result: many men Read More ›
How My World Looked Inside Apple Vision Pro
I felt everything the script intended for me to feel. But I left with a lot of questions
Interstellar (2014): The Plot Thickens—Well, Relatively…
Aside from adventures and misadventures exploring Miller’s planet, discovery of a dreadful secret awaits the crew
Is the New Natural-Sounding Chatbot GPT4.o Breaking a Barrier?
It depends on what barrier you mean, says philosopher of technology Shannon Vallor. It could harm vulnerable people by convincing them that it is a person
AI Is Going to Do the Dating for You
Making dating "easier" with AI might actually end up making it a lot harder.
Will Apple’s Vision Pro Be the Next iPhone?
Or end up like Google Glass? With Vision Pro, in order to see anything, including the ordinary world around you, you have to use the multiple mounted cameras(This article by Texas State University engineering prof Karl D. Stephan originally appeared at Engineering Ethics Blog (February 5, 2024) and is reprinted with permission.) Back in June of 2023, Apple announced its Vision Pro, which the Wikipedia article about it calls a “mixed reality” headset. This week, in some parts of the world you can now buy your own Vision Pro—for $3,500. While this will not be an obstacle for wealthy early adopters, the rest of us will probably wait until the beta-version bugs are worked out and the price comes down. In the meantime, we can think about what this means for the future of humanity. That sounds either presumptuous or silly, but there is no question that Read More ›
Alien Resurrection Part 4: The Good, the Bad, and the… Bizarre
In a single moment, Purvis becomes one of the most heroic characters in the entire franchise
When You Sync With Someone, Your Brains Wave Together
Neuroscientists have found that co-operation results in brain wave synchronyAt Scientific American, Lydia Denworth brought up an interesting topic earlier this month: The way that brain waves synchronize between two people who are communicating successfully: Neurons in corresponding locations of the different brains fire at the same time, creating matching patterns, like dancers moving together. Auditory and visual areas respond to shape, sound and movement in similar ways, whereas higher-order brain areas seem to behave similarly during more challenging tasks such as making meaning out of something seen or heard. The experience of “being on the same wavelength” as another person is real, and it is visible in the activity of the brain.” – Lydia Denworth, “Brain Waves Synchronize when People Interact,” Scientific American, July 1, 2023 For example, Read More ›
Dealing with Social Anxiety: Set Some Goals
Without an overarching goal, we can't effectively practice the practical steps that can get us over social anxietyIt’s no secret that rates of anxiety and depression have risen drastically in the modern American context. A cacophony of factors is to blame–everything from the decline of faith, loss of community, and digital media addiction. And for many, even when the possibility of social interaction arrives, the anxiety kicks in and leaves them feeling immobile and paralyzed. So, what can we do to practice confidence and ease in public situations? A new article at Psyche goes into depth on practical steps people can take to overcome social anxiety. The first recommendation is goal-setting. What’s your vision? What are the goalposts you’re shooting for in life? Fallon Goodman writes, Without an overarching goal, we can’t effectively practice the steps that Read More ›
A Fun Scottish Film on Breaking Free From Global AI
In “Widdershins,” our animated hero is leading the perfect life — if only he were a machine, that is. Then he meets someone who…In “Widdershins,” our animated hero is leading the perfect life — if only he were a machine, that is. Then he meets someone who… Can he break free? Does he even want to? Eleven minutes will tell… The life of a pampered gentleman is seamlessly automated by machines, but his orderly existence is thrown into chaos when he chooses to pursue a free-spirited woman, against the advice of his robot butler. – Director, Simon Briggs, 2018
Let’s Call AI What It Really Is: Faux Intelligence
Gary Smith at Salon: While GPT-3 can string words together in convincing ways, it has no idea what the words meanPomona College business and investments prof Gary Smith warns Salon readers not to be too gullible about what human-sounding chatbots really amount to. He notes that in the 1960s, a pioneer chatbot called ELIZA convinced many psychiatric patients that they were interacting with a real psychiatrist. The machine simply repeated back their statements as questions, a popular psychiatric technique at the time because it generated more and more discussion — from the patient. The patients’ belief that they were interacting with a human being came to be called the Eliza effect. Has much changed? If you play around with GPT-3 (and I encourage you to do so) your initial response is likely to be astonishment — a full-blown Eliza effect. Read More ›