Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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Of AI and Aliens: Two Philosophers Give Their Thoughts

These sound minds are great resources to draw from in the chaos of our times

Just when you thought our cultural moment couldn’t get any more outlandish, here comes a congressional hearing in which several high-profile individuals claim U.S. intelligence is in possession of “non-human biologics,” a euphemism for “alien stuff.” In a recent YouTube interview, Sean McDowell of Biola University asked philosophers William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland what they thought of extraterrestrial life and its implications. Craig, a philosopher and theologian, said it would have no bearing on his belief in God’s existence, but emotionally, that it would be remarkably unsettling, and would amount to the greatest discovery in the human history. McDowell pivoted from aliens and addressed the question of artificial intelligence, which Moreland, who specializes in the philosophy of mind, was Read More ›

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AI Writer Chat GPT Computer

Do AI Developers Really Not Know What They’re Making?

A speech-and-language AI researcher counterclaims the doomsdayers

A new article by AI researcher Arlie Coles at American Mind aims to “demystify” artificial intelligence, particularly the claim that AI creators have no idea what they’re creating. Coles says that we understand AI much better than the doomsdayers let on. Part of the reason for AI’s cloudy nature is due to its mathematical complexity, which Coles finds understandable. But that’s no reason not to try and understand what AI is and gauge its benefits and capacities in an accurate light. She writes, We do know what we’re building and how it works, and it’s not too late for us to speak forthrightly about AI so that the general public, not just those with math or computer science Ph.D.s, can Read More ›

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Bitcoin golden coin on computer circuit board

Is an Information-Based Currency Possible?

Two philosophers talk about the potential of digital, decentralized forms of money and exchange

In today’s featured video, enjoy an older but essential interview on the topic of alternative forms of money like cryptocurrency. Philosopher Jay Richards interviews mathematician, entrepreneur, and philosopher Dr. Bill Dembski about his unique thought experiment regarding how one could create a decentralized, DIY, information-based currency. Richards also explores with Dembski the concepts of natural and artificial intelligence. We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There you’ll find several lectures, interviews, and panels dealing with issues that range from economics, Big Tech, and artificial intelligence. Notable speakers include 2022 Kyoto Prize winner Carver Mead, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and George Gilder, co-founder of Discovery Institute Read More ›

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Armageddon. Nuclear bomb or asteroid impact creates a nuke mushroom

Science as Insight vs. Science as Power

What are the core purposes of science and math? Evaluating the idea of "knowledge as power" in the computer age

Should machines replace mathematicians? This phrase is the headline of a new post by science writer John Horgan, who comments on the current state of mathematics and the growing potential of AI and computers to do all the “heavy lifting” of the mathematical enterprise. Horgan notes that mathematicians were the ones to develop computers in the first place, but now, with the advent of advanced computing and artificial intelligence, the role of human-driven mathematics is getting vague. However, maybe math is more about input and output but a “way of being human.” For Horgan, data and computation don’t get to the heart of scientific and mathematical endeavors. It needs to mean something more than an impersonal process geared towards calculable Read More ›

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Milky way in Utah over the Green River from Swasey's Beach.

Westworld: Episode 6 Review

Maeve and the audience get some answers

Since Maeve can now wake up at will while being repaired by the technicians, she begins visiting one particular body shop technician named Felix on a regular basis. Maeve begins asking questions about what she is, and Felix explains that while he is a human, she is a robot, and her creators have programmed her to behave in certain ways. Maeve, at first, doesn’t accept this, but then Felix shows her a tablet that is recording and logging her every word. The show doesn’t make it clear whether this log is just recording what she is saying, or if the program on the tablet is telling her what to say. Once Maeve sees this, she glitches and shuts down. Felix Read More ›

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The Tower of Babel

“The Bigger the Toy, the Smarter You Ought to Be to Use It”

With great technological power comes great moral responsibility, said Peterson

The Canadian clinical psychologist and YouTube lecturer Jordan B. Peterson, who ascended to international fame upon the publication of his book 12 Rules for Life, has shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence, and has been speaking on the subject in his interviews with greater regularity. Here’s a short clip (ten minutes long) of Peterson lining out some of the ethical challenges with AI: “We’re primitive children on the ethical front with the tools of gods,” Peterson said, noting how in the last few decades, technological and scientific progress has far outpaced humanity’s ethical maturity. For Peterson, the more sophisticated and powerful the technology, the greater need there is for virtue, self-control, and good will in order to handle these tools Read More ›

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Cyborg head using artificial intelligence to create digital interface 3D rendering

Mission Impossible: Don’t Bother Me With Facts

The Tom Cruise action movie is built on faulty AI assumptions, but it's still entertaining

Ever watch a movie with a movie-talker? That’s someone who ruins a show by talking out loud over the audio. More than once, my wife has asked me, “What did he just say?” I usually have no idea because I didn’t understand either. But her question talks over the next few lines of the movie so the interval of me not hearing the audio is prolonged. I occasionally watch a movie with a good friend Lou, a former police officer. Lou’s a movie-talker, especially when we watch police movies. He’ll interrupt the movie with nit-picky comments like: “That’s not a real shotgun. A real shotgun would kick back, and the barrel would angle up after each shot. There was no Read More ›

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Business using smartphone,with wifi icon,business communication social network concept.

Will Wi-Fi 6 and LEOs Be the Real 5G?

Considering the future of mobile networks with George Gilder and Richard Vigilante

In today’s featured COSM video, Richard Vigilante and George Gilder moderate a panel exploring the future of mobile networks. Panelists include Gilad Garon, co-founder and CEO Of ASOCS, and Stephen Cohen, Chief Architect of Worldwide Enterprise Services at Microsoft. We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There you’ll find several lectures, interviews, and panels dealing with issues that range from economics, Big Tech, and artificial intelligence. Notable speakers include 2022 Kyoto Prize winner Carver Mead, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and George Gilder, co-founder of Discovery Institute and author of Life After Capitalism: The Meaning of Wealth, the Future of the Economy, and the Time Theory of Read More ›

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Launching Space Rocket From Laptop Screen. Generative AI

Creative Computers? Marks and Medved on The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

What can a computer do now and what will it be able to do in the future?

What can a computer do now and what will it be able to do in the future? A remarkable amount of confusion surrounds these questions. On a classic episode of “Great Minds” with Michael Medved, Dr. Robert Marks of Discovery Institute’s Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence casts some very helpful light on the limits of AI. Also consider purchasing Dr. Marks’s book Non-Computable You: What You Do That Artificial Intelligence Never Will. We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences and other videos related to artificial intelligence and technology. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There you’ll find several lectures, interviews, and panels dealing with issues Read More ›

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Defensive wall of the ancient holy Jerusalem

“The Chosen” Will Continue Despite Hollywood Strike

The show about the life of Jesus will get back to business

Despite the actors’ strike, which was announced last Thursday, “The Chosen” series applied for a waiver and was granted quick approval. The show, which details the historical account of Jesus Christ and his band of disciples in ancient Israel, will resume filming this week. The news comes amid massive pushback against Hollywood. Actors, producers, and stunt-performers are joining the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and critiquing the movie industry for unfair wages and for failing to duly reckon with the threat of artificial intelligence (AI). Many blockbuster TV franchises will shut down production, after already being majorly delayed from the initial WGA strike, which began in early May. The cast for “Oppenheimer” left the film’s London premiere early in apparent Read More ›

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Planet earth from space, zoom in to the middle east, Saudi Arabia, world skyline, globe

Why So Blue? Look at the Progress We’ve Made

Even though there are reasons to celebrate, the mainstream narrative hides them

We’ve cited the groundbreaking book Superabundance several times here at Mind Matters, mainly in connection to its co-author, Gale Pooley, a Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth & Poverty, and a speaker at the 2021 COSM conference, the yearly technology summit that has attracted speakers like Carver Mead, Peter Thiel, and others. Pooley’s co-author, Marian Tupy, who lectured at COSM 2022 on the book, does work on human progress at the Cato Institute, and published a post showing the many ways humanity has benefitted over the last century. He stands opposed to the mainstream approximations of doom that declare our world’s swift-approaching expiration date, writing, The chance of a person dying in a natural catastrophe — earthquake, Read More ›

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Robotic hand study for object manipulation strategy.

Jay Richards Talks Transhumanism and AI

The underlying philosophy of transhumanism should be rejected

Dr. Jay Richards, a Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and a friend of the Walter Bradley Center, which publishes Mind Matters, spoke recently at the Acton University conference, discussing both transhumanism and AI. Transhumanists, Richards notes, look at the scope of “cosmic evolution,” see a kind of increasing complexity among the human race, and speculate the next dramatic step: achieving immortality through a mixture of genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. Richards described the transhumanist ideology as “anti-human,” but cautioned against having a reactionary response to all new technologies that seem to be involved in transhumanism’s vision, noting that some of them, when analyzed specifically, could have benefits (such as AI). The underlying philosophy of transhumanism, however, should be rejected. Read More ›

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close up portrait photo of humanoid android covered in shiny white grey and black metallic skin blue eyes glowing internal parts westworld style Volumetric Lighting ultrawide shot sharp

Westworld: Episode 5 Review

Mediocre writing made bearable by talented actors

Episode Five opens with Ford talking to one of the parks older droid’s, something he has grown fond of doing over the years. He tells a story of an old Grey Hound he and his brother once had, and explains that one time, they let the dog off the leash. The dog was used to chasing a fake rabbit around the track, so when it saw a cat, it immediately went after it. But after the dog had caught the cat and killed it, he didn’t know what to do. This story obviously implies that Dr. Ford knows the droids are becoming conscious, and it seems as if he is the dog chasing the car and has finally caught it. Read More ›

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JAN 1, 2019 - Los Angeles, CA USA - Los Angeles with Hollywood Sign at sunset seen from Kenneth Hahn Park, LA, CA

Actors Join Hollywood Strike

With 160,000 actors now on strike, Hollywood will effectively shut down.

In a historic moment, over 160,000 TV and movie actors are joining scriptwriters in a Hollywood walkout, per the New York Times. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) initiated a strike in early May, demanding higher pay while expressing concern over the increasing role of artificial intelligence in TV writing. Now, actors are joining in with similar dissent. Brooke Barnes reports, The eyes of the world and, particularly, the eyes of labor are upon us,” Fran Drescher, the president of SAG-AFTRA, said. “What happens to us is important. What’s happening to us is happening across all fields of labor. When employers make Wall Street and greed their priority and they forget about the essential contributors who make the machine run, Read More ›

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Accounting.

OpenAI is Now Under Investigation

The Federal Trade Commission wants to know how OpenAI gets their data and how much harm ChatGPT could have

The Federal Trade Commission (F.T.C.) sent a letter to OpenAI, the San Fransisco company responsible for creating ChatGPT, the Large Language Model that captured the world’s imagination in November of 2022. Per the New York Times, the F.T.C. is investigating the AI company’s methods of data acquisition and also plans on measuring the potential harms of AI on society, citing concerns over false information and job replacement. Cecilia Kang and Cade Metz report: In a 20-page letter sent to the San Francisco company this week, the agency said it was also looking into OpenAI’s security practices. The F.T.C. asked the company dozens of questions in its letter, including how the start-up trains its A.I. models and treats personal data. The Read More ›

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software code in whiteboard

Does ChatGPT Pass the Creativity Test?

What does ChatGPT have to do in order to be considered creative?

What is creativity? Where does it come from? Why are some things humans do considered creative, while other things mundane? Can AI be creative? To answer these questions, let’s come up with a definition. Creativity at least means something new has been done. No work that copies what has come before is considered creative.  A Creativity Criteria Just doing something new is not enough either. If it were, then I can easily be creative by flipping a coin 100 times. That specific sequence of coin flips will only occur once in the entire history of humanity. But no one would say I was creative when I flipped a coin. This means creativity has to generate a new insight. However, these two criteria are not adequate, Read More ›

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Futuristic rendering of a human face. Concept of artificial intelligence. 3D render.

AI 2041: Ten Visions of Our Future

What will our world look like in 20 years?

Former president of Google China, Kai-Fu Lee, imagines our world in 2041 and how it will be shaped by AI. By gazing toward a not-so-distant horizon, Lee offers urgent insights into our collective future — while reminding readers that, ultimately, humankind remains the author of its destiny. This video is taken from COSM 2021 conference. You can find much more similar content at the Center for Intelligence YouTube page.

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ai, analysis, artificial intelligence, automation, big data, brain, business, cg, cloud computing, communication, computer graphics, concept, creative, cyber, deep learning, digital transformation, ed

Lemoine and Marks: A Friendly Discussion on AI’s Capacities

Marks and Lemoine disagree on whether AI can be sentient

Today’s featured video from the 2022 COSM conference features a distinguished panel of artificial intelligence (AI) experts, include Blake Lemoine and Robert J. Marks. They debate the meaning of artificial intelligence, what the future holds for its application (both positive and negative), and how far AI can be taken in terms of mimicking and even exceeding human capabilities. Lemoine is famous for his claims on AI’s “sentience” and his work at Google on the Large Language Model system “LaMDA.” Marks, on the other hand, appreciates Lemoine’s view but strongly maintains that creativity is a uniquely human capacity, and that machines will never attain consciousness. For more on Marks’s views, consider purchasing his 2022 book Non-Computable You: What You Do That Read More ›

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Diverse friends in movie theater.

Maybe Hollywood Had it Coming?

When TV production becomes this mechanical and impersonal, why shouldn't studios opt for AI?

The writers’ strike in Hollywood continues. In May, the Writers Guild of America started protesting low wages and the potential threat of artificially generated scripts. Large Language Models (LLMs) have only improved in generating text, raising concerns among writers. However, according to an insightful article from Auguste Meyrat of the Acton Institute, Hollywood has been developing a culture that welcomes AI-generated content with its tendency to pressure writers to fit a formulaic narrative structure instead of encouraging them to pursue real creativity and collaboration. Meyrat writes, All this virtually guarantees the use of AI-generated screenplays. After all, if producing a movie is now effectively the same as producing a widget on an assembly line, the human element can be dispensed Read More ›

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social network connection concept, community generativce ai illustration

Marks Interviewed for a Fortune Article

The engineering professor and Mind Matters podcast host said we need to play down the AI hype

The insightful contributions of Walter Bradley Center’s Robert J. Marks continue to gain traction and attention. Marks was interviewed by Fortune magazine on artificial intelligence and its current hype. Marks told Fortune that we’re currently on a “hype curve,” saying: “We’ve always had this hype around A.I.,” Marks told Fortune, referencing the Perceptron. The professor said part of the reason investors and consumers are so caught up in the trend is generative A.I.’s ability to replicate humans. “There’s a lot of psychological aspects to the hype around artificial intelligence,” he noted. Systems like ChatGPT and Bard’s use “seductive optics” and eerie mimicry to appear more intelligent than they really are, said Marks, who is also director of the Walter Bradley Center for Read More ›