Mind Matters News and Analysis on Natural and Artificial Intelligence

CategoryReligion

El santuario de Gaea
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News
Date
July 15, 2019
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Artificial Intelligence, Religion
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Our AI Overlords Will Save Earth, Says Prominent Scientist

AlphaGo, the Go-playing computer program, is the start of telepathic superintelligences that will tackle climate change
News
July 15, 2019

James Lovelock, both distinguished scientist and founder of the Gaia concept of Earth, need only live to July 26 to be a centenarian. In his new book, co-authored with Bryan Appleyard, he sees the Go-playing computer program AlphaGo as the start of a new type of life that will save the planet, as he told New Scientist recently: Specifically, about the new AI overlords: In his new book Novacene, James Lovelock says the creation of AlphaGo was the start of a new kingdom of life that will create and think for itself. He’s optimistic that this new kingdom of life will want to keep us around like we keep plants in gardens. “James Lovelock says artificial intelligence is the start Read More ›

Image of earth with different times against green vignette
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News
Date
July 10, 2019
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Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Religion
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How Do We Know Our Universe Is Not a Sim World?

It’s an interesting idea, say Bradley fellows, but for a number of reasons, it is not credible
News
July 10, 2019

The computer sim universe seems to be a way of dealing with the massive evidence of the fine-tuning of our universe without invoking traditional philosophy or religion.

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Vehicle heading into sunset Forrest Cavale 1739 Unsplash
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post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
June 24, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Factors
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True Believer Loses Faith in Fully Self-Driving Cars

Levandowski sees the future—and it is tech aids for safer driving
Brendan Dixon
June 24, 2019

Fully autonomous vehicles—aka self-driving cars—are a techno-utopian fantasy that stands little to no chance of realization in the coming decades. The industry is slowly starting to separate that fantasy from achievable reality.

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post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
June 23, 2019
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion
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A Really Long Time Is Not Forever

No matter how our lives are prolonged, there is a hard stop to our universe
Eric Holloway
June 23, 2019

If eternity is what we truly want, then we should not let ourselves become distracted by technolongevity, and instead, seek our true heart's desire, and find out for ourselves if it is a sham or a reality.

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Silhouette of a man against a dark, cloudy sky
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Author
News
Date
June 16, 2019
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Philosophy of Mind, Religion
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Theologian, Battling Depression, Reaffirms the Existence of the Soul

J. P. Moreland reasons his way to the evidence and captures his discoveries in a book
News
June 16, 2019

It’s not often that a theologian admits to personal issues like anxiety and depression. But Biola University’s Moreland has written a book about how he coped by learning more about the nature of our immaterial minds.

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Strange ocular looking shape descending
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News
Date
June 9, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Factors
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Will Space Aliens Become a New Majority Religion?

Nearly as many young Americans believe in ET as in God, says religion prof
News
June 9, 2019

Popular culture is looking for high-tech ETs to be its saviors and Silicon Valley aspires to become those ETs. What could possibly go wrong?

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Blurred lights coming from above
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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
May 27, 2019
Categorized
Religion, Social Factors, Technocracy
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Silicon Valley’s Strange, Apocalyptic Cult

Key Valley figures hope to beat death the transhumanist way. Oh, by the way, YOU are doomed
Denyse O'Leary
May 27, 2019

Everything has a history, including Silicon Valley. According to a new media theorist, an influential Valley philosophy might underlie the current attitudes, values, and beliefs: There is a Silicon Valley religion, and it’s one that doesn’t particularly care for people — at least not in our present form. Technologists may pretend to be led by a utilitarian, computational logic devoid of superstition, but make no mistake: There is a prophetic belief system embedded in the technologies and business plans coming out of Google, Uber, Facebook, and Amazon, among others. Douglas Rushkoff, “The Anti-Human Religion of Silicon Valley” at Medium In an excerpt from his new book, Team Human (2019), Rushkoff traces the history to a post-Cold War collaboration centered on Read More ›

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buildings opening to the sky in cruciform shape
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post
Author
Jay Richards
Date
April 23, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Factors
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New Evangelical Statement on AI is Balanced and Well-Informed

The signers are clearly (and rightly) skeptical that computers can become conscious moral agents
Jay Richards
April 23, 2019

Too much of the debate over AI is dictated by prior metaphysical commitments that are rarely examined. This Evangelical Statement is a welcome contrast because it makes the theological issues explicit.

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Eyeball with ring light reflection in pupil
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post
Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
April 8, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Religion, Technocracy
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Transhumanism, the Lazy Way to Human ‘Improvement’

Transhumanists don’t seem much interested in such real improvements in the human condition. They want quick, easy technological fixes
Wesley J. Smith
April 8, 2019

The transhumanist movement swoons over increasing intelligence. If I had to choose between increasing the intelligence of the human race versus enhancing our capacity to love, the human race would be far better off embracing the latter than the former. There is no brain implant for that.

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travelers-publicity-still
Characters on the show Travelers with their guns drawn
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post
Author
Adam Nieri
Date
February 28, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Technocracy
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A Mind Matters Review: Travelers Portrays AI As A Benevolent God

AI can even heal miraculously, but there is a price to be paid…
Adam Nieri
February 28, 2019

Season 3 seems like a good time to weigh in on the show’s overall audience appeal, level of materialist dogmatism, and vision of the future of AI.

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Close up of colorful silicon wafers
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Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 3, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Technocracy
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The Idol with Feet of Silicon

Religions based on artificial intelligence (AI) cannot transcend the limits of computers
Robert J. Marks
February 3, 2019

Those proclaiming that exclusive truth lives totally in naturalism are constrained to a sadly narrow view of the world. Some naturalists have put their faith in AI and have founded the AI Church. They may think they are doing something new and cutting edge, but as Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun (1:9).

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Worshippers or concert goers gaze at lighted diamond
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News
Date
February 1, 2019
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Artificial Intelligence, Religion
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Tales of an Invented God

The most important characteristic of an AI cult is that its gods (Godbots?) will be created by the AI developers and not the other way around
News
February 1, 2019

A book on the new pop science religion might well be titled “Tales of the Invented God.” Its author would likely be challenged to keep up with all the non-events breathlessly documented. After all, the technocrats who invent their future gods can change, re-envision, replace, upgrade, eliminate them at any time.

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Bronzed person wearing virtual reality glasses
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Author
News
Date
January 31, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion, Social Factors, Technocracy
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AI as an Emergent Religion

Science philosopher Mike Keas’s new book discusses how AI and ET are merging, to create a religion of futurist magic
News
January 31, 2019

Many Singulatarians hold that their soon-to-be-realized technology will be indistinguishable by the rest of us from magic.   Are they serious? Well, in 2005, Kurzweil said that the magical Harry Potter stories “are not unreasonable visions of our world as it will exist only a few decades from now.” when, due to AI, “the entire universe will become saturated with our intelligence.”  Keas warns that this type of thing encourages people “to expect the experiential equivalent of occult phenomena.”

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Mind Matters
Date
November 19, 2018
Categorized
Ethics, Machine Learning, Religion
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Facial Recognition Aids Persecution of Chinese Christians, Muslims

Western companies still seek business ties with an increasingly authoritarian regime
Mind Matters
November 19, 2018

The crackdown on religion is said to stem from Xi Jinping, who became President in 2012. After he got term limits removed in March 2018, some have begun to privately call him “Emperor Xi.”

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Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 5, 2018
Categorized
Machine Learning, Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Social Factors
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Did AI show that we are “a peaceful species” triggered by religion?

No, but this episode shows how science media sometimes help mislead the public
Jonathan Bartlett
November 5, 2018

Unfortunately, most of the public knows about science only through science media professionals. And it is apparent that science media professionals often know little to nothing of what they are talking about.

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CCTV camera or surveillance operating with crowded people in bac
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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 29, 2018
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion
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AI Has a (Wonderful) Plan for Your Life

Tech-savvy religion scholars play with reshaping society
Denyse O'Leary
July 29, 2018

The team is pessimistic about getting politicians on side and hopes to persuade policy analysts to convince the politicians to adopt the policies their model suggests instead. Wildman predicts, “We’re going to get them in the end.”

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art-creative-dark-158769
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Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
July 23, 2018
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Social Factors
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Robot Priests: And You Thought “Robotic Religion” Was Just a Pointed Criticism…?

You know, rote prayers, mindless gestures… Is that the way of the future for some?
Denyse O'Leary
July 23, 2018

Reuters announced last year that in Japan, a robot can be hired to perform Buddhist funeral rites: A Japanese company has introduced a new role for SoftBank’s humanoid robot “Pepper” – a Buddhist priest for hire at funerals. … With Japan’s population ageing and shrinking, many Buddhist priests receive less financial support from their communities, prompting some to find part-time work outside their temple duties, said Michio Inamura, Nissei’s executive adviser. The funeral robot could step in when a priest was not available, he said. It also cost less at 50,000 yen (about $450) per funeral compared to more than 240,000 yen ($2,200) for a human priest. More.   As of August 2017, the robot priest had not yet been Read More ›