Mind Matters News and Analysis on Natural and Artificial Intelligence

CategorySocial Factors

toby-stodart-1238363-unsplash
Cardboard boxes from Brouhaha brewery waiting to be shipped
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post
Author
News
Date
February 19, 2019
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Social Factors, Work
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Amazon pulls out of the New York City deal

Is this a message about the new economy in America?
News
February 19, 2019
Social Factors, Work

Jay Richards thinks that crony capitalism is a long-term problem but that, in this case, New York legislators showed “staggering economic illiteracy and a disregard for their constituents”

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Alita-Battle-Angel-Still
Still from the movie Alita, Battle Angel
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post
Author
Adam Nieri
Date
February 18, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors, Technocracy
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Alita: Battle Angel: A Mind Matters Review

If you love anime and felt betrayed by the flop of Ghost, I would highly recommend Alita
Adam Nieri
February 18, 2019
Social Factors, Technocracy

Although it doesn’t strictly feature AI, Alita invites us to ponder what it means to be human. Are we defined by a human brain? Or are there aspects of being human that are not solely associated with the brain?

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Businessmen Having a Business Agreement
Japanese Businessmen Having a Business Agreement
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post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 13, 2019
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Social Factors, Work
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STEM Education 4: Do STEM Nerds Need to Learn Latin?

Okay, not Latin. But some arts subjects do enhance a STEM career
Robert J. Marks
February 13, 2019
Social Factors, Work

Well-roundedness is appropriate in applied STEM curricula to the extent that it rounds out the skills necessary for success as a STEM professional.

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Two fighter planes, one older one newer
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post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 8, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Social Factors
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STEM EDUCATION 3. Killing People and Breaking Things

Modern history suggests that military superiority driven by technology can be a key factor in deterring aggression and preventing mass fatalities
Robert J. Marks
February 8, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Social Factors
Today, better AI is the goal of the arms race. Russian President Vladimir Putin has prophesied: “Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere [AI] will become the ruler of the world.” Putin’s remarks apply to both economic and military dominance. Read More ›
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Cryptic characters in neon, a password or curse word
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
February 6, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Machine Learning, Social Factors
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Bitcoin: Is Lack of Trust the Biggest Security Threat?

It’s almost a parable: Everyone can see, no one can access, the millions trapped in the ether by a password known only to a dead man
Jonathan Bartlett
February 6, 2019
Ethics, Machine Learning, Social Factors
Is this the future of currency? Seems like the Dark Ages to me. Bitcoin is a clever idea, but it is perhaps too clever for its own good. Read More ›
sad robot
Toy Robot looking at itself in mirror
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post
Author
Jay Richards
Date
February 5, 2019
Categorized
Machine Learning, Social Factors
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That Robot Is Not Self-Aware

The way the media cover AI, you'd almost think they had invented being hopelessly naïve
Jay Richards
February 5, 2019
Machine Learning, Social Factors
If this is how The Telegraph reports on a robotic arm, can you imagine what it will sound like when we get humanoid robots who seem to carry on conversations? We had best inoculate ourselves now against AI hype from science reporters while most of us still have enough self-awareness to realize what’s going on. Read More ›
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Close up of colorful silicon wafers
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post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 3, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Social Factors
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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
Artificial Intelligence, Social Factors

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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adam-whitlock-270558-unsplash
Yelling and screaming amidst colorful powder in the air
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post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
February 1, 2019
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Social Factors
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How the Internet Turns Coffee Klatches into Mobs

A philosopher sheds light on how the Covington high school kids became America's Most Hated
Michael Egnor
February 1, 2019
Philosophy of Mind, Social Factors
The chaos and violence rising in our own country and around the world get much of their fuel from the obscurity and contagion of the internet, which is kerosene sprayed on the sparks tossed up by civilization. If we are to survive this conflagration, we must understand how these fires grow. Read More ›
liam-charmer-1201092-unsplash
Bronzed person wearing virtual reality glasses
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post
Author
News
Date
January 31, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, 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
Artificial Intelligence, Social Factors, Technocracy
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.” Read More ›
Boy and blackboard filled with math formulas
boy in glasses, blackboard filled with math formulas background
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 29, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors, Work
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STEM EDUCATION 2. Not Everyone Is Lucky Enough to be a Nerd

How do you identify extroverted nerds? When you are talking to them, they look at YOUR shoes
Robert J. Marks
January 29, 2019
Social Factors, Work
If I am made to confess that college courses in Shakespearean sonnets will make me a better person, then English literature majors had better confess that calculus makes them better people. Read More ›
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Scrabble pieces with numbers and letters
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post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
January 29, 2019
Categorized
Machine Learning, Social Factors
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The Numbers Don’t Speak for Themselves

The patterns uncovered by machine learning may reflect a larger reality or just a bias in gathering data
Brendan Dixon
January 29, 2019
Machine Learning, Social Factors
Because Machine Learning is opaque—even experts cannot clearly explain how a system arrived at a conclusion—we treat it as magic. Therefore, we should mistrust the systems until proven innocent (and correct). Read More ›
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Machinist working a loom
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post
Author
Winston Ewert
Date
January 25, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors, Work
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Remember the Luddites!

The Luddites became famous for breaking machinery during the Industrial Revolution. Were they entirely wrong?
Winston Ewert
January 25, 2019
Social Factors, Work
People often think that the Luddites were merely anti-technology because they opposed automation during the Industrial Revolution (1760–1840). The story is more complex. As we face increasing automation today, we might want to see what we can learn from their history. Read More ›
nettoyage de graffiti
Worker in blue uniform cleaning graffiti
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post
Author
News
Date
January 15, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors, Technocracy
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Facebook’s Secret Censorship Rules Expose a Key Problem

Most moderators are not skilled and have only a few seconds to decide on a post
News
January 15, 2019
Social Factors, Technocracy
Censorship is part of the larger question of whether social media are the telephone company (a communications platform), the newspaper (a publisher), or unregulated private klatsches. Or something else altogether? Read More ›
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Neon sign saying
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post
Author
News
Date
January 14, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors, Technocracy
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Your Phone Knows Everything Now

And in a world where no data is anonymous, yours may be sold to the highest bidder
News
January 14, 2019
Social Factors, Technocracy
Your location can be a useful guide to your buying habits, whether or not you want to buy anything or think anyone has any business snooping on you to find out. Read More ›
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post
Author
News
Date
January 14, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Social Factors
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Research Showing That Fake News Easily Fools Us Collapses

A recent paper claiming that low-quality news (“fake news”) spreads as quickly on social media as accurate news has been retracted by its authors.
News
January 14, 2019
Ethics, Social Factors
A team from the Shanghai Institute of Technology sought to study whether accuracy made any difference to whether a post goes viral on social media. They cited a concern about “the digital misinformation that threatens our democracy.” Read More ›
Minnesota State Fair
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
January 10, 2019
Categorized
Machine Learning, Social Factors
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It’s 2019: Begin the AI Hype Cycle Again!

Media seemingly can’t help portraying today’s high-tech world as a remake of I, Robot (2004), starring you and me.
Jonathan Bartlett
January 10, 2019
Machine Learning, Social Factors
I have a problem with the possible outcomes when people who don’t know the difference between technology fact and fiction make important decisions based on information from journalists who write as if every computer is a potential personality like HAL from Space Odyssey 2001. Read More ›
Children using computer in school
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 3, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors
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Can an Algorithm Be Racist?

No, the machine has no opinion. It processes vast tracts of data. And, as a result, the troubling hidden roots of some data are exposed
Denyse O'Leary
January 3, 2019
Social Factors
It’s tempting to assume that a villain lurks behind such a scene when the exact opposite is the problem: A system dominated by machines is all calculations, not thoughts, intentions, or choices. If the input is wrong, so is the output. Read More ›
chang-qing-219688-unsplash
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 31, 2018
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Social Factors, Work
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How Can Information Theory Help the Economy Grow?

New information is the true source of new wealth; everyone wins when we learn how to produce it more efficiently
Jonathan Bartlett
December 31, 2018
Social Factors, Work
What gives humans the ability to increase in prosperity, according to Eric Holloway, is our ability to “read” from Plato’s Library of new ideas, thus providing an ever-growing supply of side information that powers the economy. Read More ›
jacket-manikin-mannequin-1263374
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
December 28, 2018
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Social Factors
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4: Making AI Look More Human Makes It More Human-like!

AI help, not hype, with Robert J. Marks: Technicians can do a lot these days with automated lip-syncs and smiles but what’s behind them?
Robert J. Marks
December 28, 2018
Artificial Intelligence, Social Factors
This summer, some were simply agog over “Sophia, the First Robot Citizen” (“unsettling as it is awe-inspiring”) Read More ›
audience-crowd-fans-93490
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
December 26, 2018
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Social Factors
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5: AI Can Fight Hate Speech!

AI can carry out its programmers’ biases and that’s all
Robert J. Marks
December 26, 2018
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Social Factors
Putting these kinds of decisions in the hands of software programs is not likely to promote vigorous and healthy debate. Read More ›