The Boy Scouts of America used to enjoy a booming membership. But after some significant policy changes and a giant lawsuit, the organization is rapidly declining. In this episode, Robert Marks speaks with former Boy Scout leader Kent Marks on his experience in the organization and the enduring need to help boys navigate life in the digital age. Additional Resources
Will AI take us over? Will we ever reach a point where humans and machines will completely merge? In this episode, world-renowned Oxford mathematician John Lennox answers questions about artificial intelligence and the transhumanist claim that AI will turn humans into gods. Additional Resources
Dawn Wible, the founder of Talk More Tech Less, continues her conversation with Robert J. Marks on digital tech. How can we healthily use technology instead of being manipulated by Big Tech? In this episode, she lays out practical steps people can take to reclaim their time, relationships, and mental health. Additional Resources
Dawn Wible, founder of the digital wellness organization “Talk More Tech Less,” talks with Robert J. Marks about her advocacy for healthy screen time among children and young adults. Phone usage has dramatically increased in the last decade, especially during COVID-19. How can we be healthy and whole in a society so saturated with digital media? Additional Resources
In this week’s episode, Robert Marks resumes his conversation with tech consultant and expert Jeffrey Funk. They focus on ChatGPT, its value and limits, and the hype that often accompanies new developments in AI. Additional Resources
Humans have created technology for centuries. But what happens when we stop using tech and tech starts using us? In this episode, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Andrew McDiarmid sits down with Robert J. Marks to talk about the root meaning of technology, how it has developed, and the ways we can healthily navigate our highly technologized world. Additional Resources
In a continuation of last week’s conversation, technology experts Jeffrey Funk and Robert J. Marks explore the question of where today’s technological innovation is fostered. Academia? Private corporations? The military? Since many universities now prize publication over innovation, much of the real progress is being made elsewhere. Additional Resources
In this podcast episode, technology consultant and author Jeffrey Funk joins Robert J. Marks to talk about the artificial intelligence industry, how it’s used by Big Tech, and AI’s exaggerated hype. How do we respond to AI when technology is changing every year? Additional Resources
In this continuation of last week’s conversation, ex-Googler Blake Lemoine tells Robert J. Marks what originally got him interested in AI: reading the science fiction of Isaac Asimov as a boy in rural Louisiana. The two go on to discuss and debate sentience in AI, non-computable traits of human beings, and the question of the soul. Additional Resources
Former Google employee Blake Lemoine claimed that the Large Language Model LaMDA was a sentient being. The claim got him fired. In this episode, Lemoine sits down with Robert J. Marks to discuss AI, what he was doing at Google, and why he believes artificial intelligence can be sentient. Additional Resources
Can you beat casinos at their own game? Sometimes. Don Johnson beat Atlantic City casinos for over $15 million during a six-month period in 2011. Find out the ins and outs of casino gambling and card counting as Robert J. Marks interviews gambling expert Sal Cordova. In this intriguing podcast, you will discover how artificial intelligence plays poker, the strategies Read More ›
Robert J. Marks and Charlie Crockett discuss how the normalization of online pornography is connected with sex trafficking and abuse. In fact, the two industries are inextricably linked. They also discuss how military communications are affected by the widespread use of porn because of the high demand for spectrum (a limited resource). Additional Resources
Robert J. Marks and Charlie Crockett continue their conversation on the sad reality of human trafficking. In this episode, they focus particularly on how social media has become a place where predators will search and highlight children’s vulnerabilities — which so many young people share online. Marks and Crockett encourage parents to develop relationships of trust with their children and Read More ›
Robert Marks speaks on the difficult topic of human trafficking with his guest Charles Crockett, who works with the anti-trafficking advocacy organization Unbound Now. Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world and goes undetected all over the U.S. Marks and Crockett talk about the scope of the problem, common misconceptions about trafficking, and how to help victims in need. Read More ›
Perhaps you’ve heard of the “mind-body problem,” but what about the relationship between the mind and the brain? Is the mind just an illusion produced by the brain or is it something totally separate? Robert Marks talks with neurologist Andrew Knox on these topics and more in this week’s Mind Matters podcast episode. Additional Resources
Robert Marks and Andrew Knox continue their conversation on neurology, epilepsy, and mental illness. In this episode, they focus on the medications and practices that can help restore proper brain function, from antidepressants to forms of surgery to Elon Musk’s potential “Neuralink.” Additional Resources
The brain is a marvelous organ still not understood. Artificial neural networks are supposed to be a simulation of the human brain. But comparing the brain to an artificial neural network is like comparing the human heart to a pump handle. Dr. Andrew Knox and Dr. Robert J. Marks discuss the brain, aging, and neurology. Additional Resources
How does our brain chemistry affect addiction? How has artificial intelligence changed medicine? Anesthesiologist Dr. Richard Hurley discusses opioid addiction from a medical perspective with host Dr. Robert J. Marks. Then, an anonymous guest details their own experience with opioids. Finally, Dr. Hurley discusses how computer algorithms have both improved and stifled the proper practice of medicine. Additional Resources
Computer scientist and AI expert Selmer Bringsjord provides a wide-ranging discussion of artificial intelligence (AI) and its capabilities. Bringsjord, a professor at Rensselaer, addresses three features humans possess that AI machines won’t be able to duplicate in his view: consciousness, cognition, and genuine creativity. Additional Resources