Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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black-stone-monolith-in-ancient-jungle-portal-or-a-sign-of-c-577826792-stockpack-adobestock
Black stone monolith in ancient jungle, portal or a sign of civilisation. Generative AI

Space Odyssey 2001: Decisions To Make About That Monolith

In Part 2 of my series on the sci-fi great, I want to consider where the Monolith fits in the hard vs. soft magic systems that make for sci-fi stories

Letting the question of who sent the monolith remain a mystery was probably a wise dramatic choice on the part of the writers.

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nature-photograph-of-tall-skinny-vantablack-monolith-on-a-fl-578520405-stockpack-adobestock
nature photograph of tall, skinny vantablack monolith on a flat glacier AI-Generated

2001: A Space Odyssey Was a New Type of Science Fiction

The film is perhaps best understood as three completely different stories whose only connection is the monolith

The greatest measure of a film’s success is the test of time. Something about this film works even though it breaks conventions.

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evil-ai-agent-robot-hacking-stockpack-adobe-stock-1330157571-stockpack-adobestock
Evil AI agent robot hacking

Does It Matter WHY a Chatbot Slanders You?

Google’s AI chatbot service blames users’ questions and unfixable software for the bot’s shocking defamation of a man’s character

Chatbots aren’t necessities. Meanwhile, long-esteemed laws and rules of conduct forbade slander and libel because they can seriously harm people.

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Two Commercial Airliners Pass Each Other at High Altitude

Micro Softy 54: A Plane Problem for Aspiring Engineers

The senator is leaving Washington to avoid the governor and their planes are headed in opposite directions

Today’s Micro Softy tests whether you are clever enough with math to code computers or be an engineer. Here’s the story: Senator Kornn did not like Governor Friar. Both were from Texas. When Kornn learned that Governor Friar was visiting Washington, DC, Kornn said “This town’s not big enough for the both of us.”  So Kornn decided to leave DC for that period. Kornn and Friar get on planes at the same time. One was at Reagan International Airport in DC and the other was at the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Airport. So each was flying to the other’s airport. Both planes took off at the same time. After a while, Kornn looked out of his first-class window and saw Read More ›

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Protecting Balance Between Percentage And House Model

Home Ownership: Madness Over 30-Year Mortgages

It is tempting to put borrowing and investment decisions in separate mental buckets, but they are intimately related

When considering a mortgage, the correct comparison is not total payments but the return on the borrowed money versus the loan’s annual percentage rate.

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labrador dog with ant

Animal Intelligence: What We Might Expect — and What Surprises Us

One risk with trying to put animal intelligence on a continuum with human intelligence is that it can result in apparently pointless controversies

Some feats of apparent intelligence point to information sources that did not likely just evolve over time among the life forms.

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city-skyline-shrouded-in-a-thick-layer-of-fog-elevated-aeria-1622244505-stockpack-adobestock
City skyline, shrouded in a thick layer of fog. Elevated aerial view reveals numerous high-rise buildings emerging from a dense cloud cover. A clear, pale blue sky is visible above the clouds

A Lack of Transparency Threatens AI — and the American Economy

Even the Wall Street Journal does not appear to understand the nature of the looming problems

AI software startups should be required to release audited numbers so that we can at least understand the current state of the AI economy.

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two-black-children-crouching-in-forest-examining-moss-and-in-1672239991-stockpack-adobestock
Two Black children crouching in forest examining moss and insects on fallen log using magnifying glasses, wearing backpacks and hats, exploring nature during outdoor adventure

Mass Delusion Is Interesting — Especially Among Opinion Leaders

The reaction to a new book, The Arrogant Ape, provides a classic in elite opinion, aired without reference to reality

All these intellectual worthies choose to miss the point: No life form other than humans writes books, reviews books, or contemplates any of the issues raised.

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close-up-portrait-of-a-neandertal-kid-generative-ai-stockpac-849520338-stockpack-adobestock
Close-up portrait of a neandertal kid - Generative AI

Tales From the Neanderthal Nights: Why They Really Disappeared

A new paper offers an assessment that does not need the Neanderthal to be the subhuman whose disappearance is explained by evolution. Arithmetic will suffice

There seems less interest today in maintaining a “subhuman” status for our Neanderthal ancestors. It’s good if that sort of thing makes people uncomfortable.

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courtroom-symbolizes-law-and-authority-through-a-judgment-ga-1533281955-stockpack-adobestock
Courtroom symbolizes law and authority through a judgment gavel

Case Study: How Not to Sue AI for Libel

I personally favor modernizing the civil laws against libel and defamation to take into account the type of injuries that chatbots can inflict.

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a-pile-of-light-bulbs-one-bulb-is-glowing-bright-while-the-o-803430156-stockpack-adobestock
A pile of light bulbs, one bulb is glowing bright while the others are dark can symbolize creative thinking or innovative ideas being born from simple concepts Generative AI

Monday Micro Softy 52: Elon Musk Parody Asks: Are You a Genius?

The puzzle comes from a parody X account but it is a genuine stumper

Last week’s puzzle is easy to solve if we recall how many parents a child needs and of what type…

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a-smiling-teacher-assists-elementary-school-students-using-c-1662462033-stockpack-adobestock
** A smiling teacher assists elementary school students using Chromebooks in a bright, colorful classroom. Technology integration in modern education is evident. **

How AI Could Create Vast Increases in Learning Efficiency

Part 2: Artificial intelligence is promising to fundamentally transform education, leading to vast increases in efficiency of learning

Alpha School students are said to advance an average of 2.6× faster than peers on nationally normed MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) tests and frequently score in the 99th percentile.

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beautiful girl protests with the help of her hands her protest and emotions of denial

Denial? Science seeks trust but avoids the need for inner reform

Current science seems to be going full steam ahead to Cancel the means by which it formerly advanced knowledge of the world

Despite a swamp of scandals, the focus of discussion seems to be getting the public to trust again, not reform of the system.

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metallic-swiss-knife-isolated-on-black-stockpack-adobe-stock-498942067-stockpack-adobestock
Metallic swiss knife isolated on black

Human Tools Found From a Tumultuous Period 2.7 Million Years Ago

The authors talk much about “evolutionary” and “evolution.” But actually, it doesn’t sound as if there was much evolution at all. It sounds more like one enduring insight

New technologies enable ideas and abilities that are latent in human beings to take form. Thus claims about the evolution of consciousness are problematic.

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will-rogers-stockpack-adobe-stock-36846391-stockpack-adobestock
Will Rogers

Scaling Up is Not Going to Make Large Language Models Intelligent

ChatGPT-5 misunderstood the jab in a simple Will Rogers joke five out of six times

Bigger data centers are not going to change the harsh reality that LLMs are prone to generating unreliable blather.

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chat-gpt-artificial-intelligence-copy-writing-bot-by-open-ai-611480062-stockpack-adobestock
Chat GPT Artificial Intelligence copy writing bot by Open AI. Robot for student homework, education.

Large Language Models: Inconsistent Because They’re Unintelligent

Here’s what happened when I tested popular LLMs on student exercise questions I have been using for over fifty years

Claims that an LLM is intelligent don’t square with the fact that it may answer a question one way and, a few seconds later, simply contradict itself.

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facial-recognition-technology-to-monitor-the-population-on-b-608983195-stockpack-adobestock
Facial recognition technology to monitor the population on busy street. Generative AI

The Real Threat AI Poses to Us Is Created by Widespread Abuse

In If Anyone Builds It, Yudkowsky and Soares are not really grappling with this problem

The authors really believe in AI doom. Soares has stopped contributing to a retirement plan. I show that the serious problem is NOT superintelligence.

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a-close-up-view-of-a-human-egg-cell-surrounded-by-sperm-cell-1268573917-stockpack-adobestock
A close-up view of a human egg cell surrounded by sperm cells, illustrating fertilization.

How a Biologist Became a Casualty in the War on Reality

If evolutionary biology’s core belief is that everything human can be reduced to animal impulses, truth is merely a survival strategy. But nonsense proved more successful

Carole Hooven discovered that, where the sex binary nature of humans is concerned, the new elite at Harvard and The Lancet thrive on nonsense. But she can’t.

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60 40 Strategy Money Savings Investment Mix Ratio Stocks Bonds 3d Illustration

For a Sounder Approach to Investment: Deep-Six the 60/40 Rule

Sometimes, good decisions require more than blindly accepting advice from humans as well as computers!

The conventional belief that a sound investment portfolio should be 60% stocks and 40% bonds does not stand up to careful scrutiny.

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Portrait of smiling multinational people different religions stand together. National Religious Freedom Day. January 16. Holiday concept. Template for background, banner, card, poster and wallpaper

At Psych Mag: How Your Brain Allegedly Invented God…

Not THIS again, you say? Yes, this again. Straight out of the 1970s, as if the last fifty years of research never happened

One effect of the presumption of atheism in science is that all kinds of speculation can be grandfathered as reasonable scientific thinking.

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