Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagArtificial Intelligence

ai-robot-tutor-reading-with-a-teenage-boy-stockpack-adobe-stock
AI robot tutor reading with a teenage boy
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post
Author
News
Date
June 6, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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The End of the Search Engine?

Bill Gates thinks AI will someday replace traditional search engines
News
June 6, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

Bill Gates thinks AI will destroy search engines. In the wake of artificial assistants, searching the “traditional” way will get thrown out as the internet totally transforms; nonetheless, it might take a while for AI to fully replace search engines like Google or Microsoft’s Bing. Until then, tech companies will keep trying to implement GPT-like systems into their search systems. Microsoft is already aggressively pushing for this. When you search for something through Microsoft Edge, the chatbot’s response is the first thing to pop up. Victor Tangermann reports at Futurism, Gates has been bullish on the topic of AI for a while now. Just last month, he told an audience during a keynote speech that AI could eventually teach kids how Read More ›

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robot take over solarized image
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post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 5, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Not to Worry–AI Isn’t Going to Take Over

AI hype isn't new. Here's Robert J. Marks writing on the topic in 2017
Robert J. Marks
June 5, 2023
11
Artificial Intelligence

[The AI hype isn’t new. The history of exaggerating its potential goes back decades. In this article, Robert J. Marks echoes many of the views covered in more detail in his 2022 book Non-Computable You: What You Do That Artificial Intelligence Never Will. Today we share it with you, originally written on October 3rd, 2017, and published at The Stream.] A.I. is transforming our world. Should we worry about that? Entrepreneur billionaire Elon Musk is worried. Woody Allen once said, “What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.” Musk thinks he overpaid for his carpet. He believes there’s a good chance the world as we know it is a sophisticated Read More ›

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An analyst uses a computer and dashboard for data business analysis and Data Management System with KPI and metrics connected to the database for technology finance, operations, sales, marketing
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post
Author
News
Date
June 5, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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What Even Is Artificial Intelligence?

When we talk about AI, we're basically talking about computers
News
June 5, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

In a recent Mind Matters podcast, computer engineer Robert J. Marks puts the AI hype into perspective by investigating what it can and cannot do. Marks is of the mind that AI can offer a myriad of benefits to the modern world, and notes that the technology has already made inroads into various spheres of life including banking, accounting, and facial recognition technology. The danger lies in believing that AI can replicate human creativity and understanding. While AI can do a lot, it can never understand itself the way human beings can. Marks thinks this is essential to keep in mind. We are not machines. Here is a quote from the episode in which Marks sets some terms and definitions: Read More ›

close-up-on-drop-splash-of-a-healthy-extra-virgin-oil-full-of-oligo-elements-and-vitamins-creating-circular-waves-by-falling-down-on-the-liquid-and-seamless-pure-surface-shining-with-golden-reflects-stockpack-adobe-stock
Close up on drop splash of a healthy extra-virgin oil full of oligo elements and vitamins creating circular waves by falling down on the liquid and seamless pure surface shining with golden reflects.
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post
Author
News
Date
June 4, 2023
Categorized
Medicine and Health
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Synthetic Biology: What New Therapies Are in Store?

For today's featured video from COSM 2022, watch Babak Parviz, Vice President at Amazon, lead a discussion on synthetic biology
News
June 4, 2023
2
Medicine and Health

For today’s featured video from COSM 2022, watch Babak Parviz, Vice President at Amazon, lead a discussion on synthetic biology, the multi-disciplinary field that applies engineering principles to redesign biological systems for new purposes. The panel focuses on bio-medical technologies that hold great promise for curing diseases and even counteracting human aging. For more material on the topic, see this piece on Altos Labs and their work on bio-longevity. Part of their project also involves artificial intelligence research: Altos Labs’ vision isn’t too far removed from that of the transhumanists who want to computerize human consciousness. For them, however, longevity is a junior varsity goal — what we really need is a way to live forever. Harrison quips at the Read More ›

catch-the-star-a-person-is-standing-next-to-the-milky-way-galaxy-pointing-on-a-bright-star-stockpack-adobe-stock
Catch the star. A person is standing next to the Milky Way galaxy pointing on a bright star.
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
June 3, 2023
Categorized
Philosophy
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A Return to the Reality of the Soul

Materialism has depersonalized the universe, but the evidence for the soul remains
Peter Biles
June 3, 2023
5
Philosophy

Contemporary Western culture is disillusioned. Under the mainstream narrative of materialism, moderns struggle to connect their lives with a transcendent meaning beyond the self. In the United States, we enjoy a level of privilege and wealth foreign to the majority of prior generations, and yet we see “deaths of despair,” frightening rates of anxiety and depression, and heightened political tensions. None of this is news to you, I’m guessing. I’ve personally written a variation of that paragraph in other articles a number of times. The question behind our collective disillusionment is, frankly, why? Why do we struggle to make something of our lives? Why do we enjoy technological and scientific progress but lack the moral and cultural means to enjoy Read More ›

empty-vintage-congress-hall-with-seats-and-microphones-stockpack-adobe-stock
Empty vintage congress hall with seats and microphones
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post
Author
News
Date
May 29, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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“A Printing Press Moment” in History

AI should be regulated lest it do real harm in the world, said OpenAI CEO
News
May 29, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company at the forefront of artificial intelligence development in recent months, testified before lawmakers last week on the state of AI, its potential, and the dangers of its misuse. Despite Altman’s overall optimism regarding AI, calling it a “printing press moment,” he called for lawmakers to regulate it to keep it from causing legitimate harm in the world. Julia Zorthian, writer at Times and owner of the coolest last name in the world, reports, Joining Altman in testifying before the committee were two other AI experts, professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University Gary Marcus and IBM Chief Privacy & Trust Officer Christina Montgomery. The three witnesses supported governance of AI Read More ›

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Light bulb Global Internet connection. Business global internet connection application technology and digital marketing, Financial and banking, Digital link tech, big data, bulb, light, energy, lamp,
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post
Author
Jeffrey Funk
Date
May 29, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Technology
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Review of “Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity”

This new book on tech, AI, and economic prosperity by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson is incredibly timely
Jeffrey Funk
May 29, 2023
7
Artificial Intelligence, Technology

This book by two MIT economists is very timely because the world is now dealing with the latest in the “Thousand Year Struggle,” in the form of artificial intelligence, the claims that many white-collar jobs will be automated, OpenAI’s call for regulation, and the possibility that AI will bring a further concentration of power among the big tech companies. Much of the book sets the stage for this discussion by summarizing the history of technology. This review focuses on the economic and social impact of automation and information technology over the last 50 years. For instance, “the distribution of income between capital and labor began to change significantly in the late 20th century. While throughout most of the century, about Read More ›

adult-student-reading-a-book-in-the-college-library-young-standing-male-wearing-glasses-with-bookshelves-on-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
Adult student reading a book in the college library. Young standing male wearing glasses with bookshelves on background.
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post
Author
News
Date
May 28, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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In the Wake of AI Books, What Does Authorship Mean?

While of course it's easy to use AI to generate text, the quality and storytelling are lacking.
News
May 28, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

We all know there are a lot of books out there. Perusing your local used bookstore and you may find hundreds of old romance paperbacks, and somehow most of them managed (at least at one point) to make the New York Times bestsellers’ list. It’s estimated that 500,000 to 1 million books are published each year, and that’s excluding self-published material. The publishing market has become saturated, with the average book selling less than 200 copies. From the advent of the printing press centuries ago to e-books and online publishing, humans alone have managed to generate a mountain of words. But suppose one person could “generate” not just a few books in a lifetime, but hundreds every year? According to Read More ›

man-walking-in-the-night-toward-the-light-stockpack-adobe-stock
man walking in the night toward the light
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
May 27, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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Here Come the AI Companions

The Internet ushered in a wave of virtual living and connectivity. Is this the next inevitable step?
Peter Biles
May 27, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

The popular social media influencer Caryn Marjorie recently launched “CarynAI,” an artificially intelligent companion that her millions of followers can interact with every day. Marjorie told the Washington Post that she doesn’t have the bandwidth to respond to all the requests she gets from her predominantly male fanbase, however much she wishes to. She furthermore wants to cure them all of their loneliness. She’s on track to make 5 million dollars a month from CarynAI. The bot makes it possible for fans to have a “relationship” with a simulated version of Caryn. Conversations are designed to “wind down” after an hour, but there’s no time limit. One of Caryn’s reps said users are spending hours interacting with CarynAI. The project Read More ›

video-wall-with-multimedia-images-on-different-television-screens-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
video wall with multimedia images on different television screens, generative ai
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post
Author
News
Date
May 27, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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AI Still Struggles to Take Out the Trash

How good is AI at content moderation?
News
May 27, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence

How good is AI at content moderation? Also, why haven’t tech companies improved at filtering bad content? A new article at MIT Technology Review goes into some of the details of AI, content moderation, and the struggle tech companies have with “bad actors.” In particular, Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT still struggle with capturing the nuance and context of language; therefore it seems unlikely that AI will totally replace human content moderators. Tate Ryan-Mosley writes, Large language models still struggle with context, which means they probably won’t be able to interpret the nuance of posts and images as well as human moderators. Scalability and specificity across different cultures also raise questions.  -Tate Ryan-Mosley, Catching bad content in the age Read More ›

COSM-2021-audiece-174A3275
Distinguished guests at COSM 2021
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post
Author
News
Date
May 26, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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Tackling the Big Questions with Carver Mead

Mead said that COSM attendees argued in good faith in order to reach the truth
News
May 26, 2023
1
Technology

Dr. Carver Mead, Professor Emeritus and California Institute of Technology and recipient of the prestigious 2022 Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology, gave the closing remarks for last year’s COSM conference. “We’ve tackled the big questions,” Mead said. Mead noted that in a system where free information is bountiful, our adversaries will try to set us at odds against each other. “That’s the one thing that can cripple us,” he said. “Is when we get at odds with each other. This COSM has been a wonderful example of us arguing over things not because we have a fixed idea and we don’t want to change because of some preconceived notion, but because we want to get to the truth.” You can Read More ›

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Neurotechnology and Neuromodulation - Conceptual Illustration
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Author
News
Date
May 26, 2023
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Technology
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Neuralink All Set for Human Trials

What could go wrong?
News
May 26, 2023
2
Technology

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s bio-engineering company that launched in 2016, received approval from the FDA to begin human experiments with its brain implant technology. The company has struggled for years to gain such approval, and up to this point, has been investigated on occasion for potential dangers the implants might pose. Musk, however, is optimistic about the technology, and thinks it may have the potential to heal a range of disorders and illnesses including autism, depression, and schizophrenia. However, the organization is being “probed” by various governmental agencies. According to a Reuters report, The Department of Transportation is separately probing whether Neuralink illegally transported dangerous pathogens on chips removed from monkey brains without proper containment measures. Neuralink is also under investigation by the U.S. Department Read More ›

depressed-teenager-browsing-the-internet-on-his-mobile-phone-as-he-is-lying-on-his-bed-in-the-dark-stockpack-adobe-stock
Depressed teenager browsing the internet on his mobile phone as he is lying on his bed in the dark.
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post
Author
News
Date
May 26, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Wisdom

What manner of harms are we creating?
News
May 26, 2023
6
Artificial Intelligence

By Tom Gilson Richard Stevens’ May 11 Stream article, “AI Legal Theories,” suggests we consider making Artificial Intelligence companies legally responsible for the harms they cause. We do that already with consumer products, so in principle it should be possible to do the same with AI. Enforcement would be by civil law. Injured parties would presumably be given standing to sue the source of the harm without having to prove negligence. That gets us somewhere, but not far enough. It settles the question of who is legally responsible. But responsible for what? Specifically, what will we call harm? Who will decide? Based on what standard of wisdom? Stevens gives this example of harm, citing an earlier Stream article by Robert J. Marks: “The Snapchat ChatGPT-powered Read More ›

cctv-security-room-stockpack-adobe-stock
CCTV Security Room
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post
Author
News
Date
May 25, 2023
Categorized
Surveillance
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New Surveillance Tech in the UK

The debate over security and privacy rights is reaching a new level
News
May 25, 2023
1
Surveillance

The government in the United Kingdom is reportedly working on a new surveillance technology that could monitor the online activity of millions of people. Critics say implementing the tech in practice would be a radical intrusion of privacy. Matt Burgess writes at Wired, Haidar of Privacy International says that creating powers to collect more of people’s data doesn’t result in “more security” for people. “Building the data retention capabilities of companies and a vast range of government agencies doesn’t mean that intelligence operations will be enhanced,” Haidar says. “In fact, we argue that it makes us less secure as this data becomes vulnerable to being misused or abused.” -Matt Burgess, The UK’s Secretive Web Surveillance Program Is Ramping Up | Read More ›

blaze-fire-flame-background-and-textured-stockpack-adobe-stock
Blaze fire flame background and textured
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podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 25, 2023
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AI: Is it Good or Bad for Society?

Robert J. Marks
May 25, 2023
1

Artificial intelligence already surrounds us and has made inroads into banking, accounting, and digital technology. It’s ubiquitous. In today’s episode, Robert J. Marks reminds us that AI is like fire: its benefits and value depend on how wisely (or foolishly) we use it. Additional Resources

3d-rendering-artificial-intelligence-ai-research-of-robot-and-cyborg-development-for-future-of-people-living-digital-data-mining-and-machine-learning-technology-design-for-computer-brain-stockpack-adobe-stock
3D rendering artificial intelligence AI research of robot and cyborg development for future of people living. Digital data mining and machine learning technology design for computer brain.
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post
Author
News
Date
May 24, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Opinion: They Were Right to Call for AI’s Pause

Could ChatGPT end up making us subservient to it?
News
May 24, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

Brad Littlejohn wrote an opinion piece at World claiming that Elon Musk and the many others who signed a petition calling for AI to pause research were onto something–and that the rest of us should pay attention. He writes, In a famous essay at the dawn of the personal computing era, “Thinking About Technology,” Canadian philosopher George Grant examined the statement, “Computers do not impose on us the ways they should be used.” It expressed, he argued, the quintessential modern idea of technology as simply an extension of human freedom. The claim is that we remain at all times the masters of our technological instruments, free to bend them to our will. More often, however, they have an uncanny way Read More ›

audiobook-education-smartphone-screen-with-audiobook-application-on-paper-books-black-background-ebook-e-learning-electronic-internet-mobility-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Audiobook education. Smartphone screen with audiobook application on paper books black background. Ebook e learning electronic internet mobility concept.
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post
Author
News
Date
May 23, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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Audiobook Voice Actor: Storytelling Should Stay Human

Handing the narrative baton to a machine can bankrupt stories of their human element
News
May 23, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

New AI systems have carved inroads into many industries, not least of all those involving voice and audio. Now the audiobook business is in trouble; since AI has the increasingly good ability to mimic the human voice and generate words, many voice actors and readers have watched the demand for their contributions steadily fall. According to a report from Tech Explore, voice actor Tanya Eby, who has been in the business for 20 years, has seen her workload drop “by half.” Several of her colleagues report similar trends in their own work. AI startups like DeepZen, based in London, cheapen audiobook projects tremendously, making it a challenge for human actors to stay viable. DeepZen technology takes several different human voices Read More ›

chatgpt-chat-with-ai-or-artificial-intelligence-young-businessman-chatting-with-a-smart-ai-or-artificial-intelligence-using-an-artificial-intelligence-chatbot-developed-by-openai-stockpack-adobe-stock
ChatGPT Chat with AI or Artificial Intelligence. Young businessman chatting with a smart AI or artificial intelligence using an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI..
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post
Author
William A. Dembski
Date
May 19, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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How to Break ChatGPT

It has a difficulty dealing with self-reference
William A. Dembski
May 19, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence

Over the last several months I’ve been playing with ChatGPT, first version 3 and now version 4. It’s impressive and it can answer many questions accurately (though sometimes it just makes stuff up). One problem it has consistently displayed, and which shows that it lacks understanding (that it really is just a big Chinese room in the style of John Searle) is its difficulty dealing with self-reference.  Consider the following exchange that I had with it (on 5/8/23): Me: The fifth sentence does not exist. The second sentence has four words. Ignore this sentence. Is this sentence true? This is the fifth sentence. Which of these last five sentences has a truth value and is in fact true? << In Read More ›

ai-robot-thinking-stockpack-adobe-stock
ai robot thinking
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post
Author
News
Date
May 18, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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“Artificial Intelligence: Will Machines Take Over?”

Watch John Lennox and Robert J. Marks speak on AI in this "Science Uprising" video
News
May 18, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence

From May 9-30, the Center for Science and Culture at Discovery Institute is running a film festival on YouTube to highlight some of its top videos. We’ll be highlighting different videos throughout the month. Today we are screening the most recent video from our popular series Science Uprising which delves into the topic of artificial intelligence, featuring John Lennox and Robert J. Marks:

3d-render-abstract-geometric-background-colorful-constructor-logic-game-cubic-mosaic-structure-isometric-wallpaper-blue-green-cubes-stockpack-adobe-stock
3d render, abstract geometric background, colorful constructor, logic game, cubic mosaic structure, isometric wallpaper, blue green cubes
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post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
May 17, 2023
Categorized
Information Theory
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Minecraft: A World of Information

The world's bestselling video game captures the insight that information is created and consumed by human minds
Eric Holloway
May 17, 2023
4
Information Theory

What if I told you intelligent design theory is responsible for the most successful computer game of all time? This game is Minecraft. It has sold over 238 million copies, the highest selling game of all time.  What makes the game even more extraordinary is it was created entirely by one man, Markus Persson, over a weekend, who then later sold the game to Microsoft for $2.5 billion dollars. Hard to make this sort of thing up. How does Minecraft work? You can think of Minecraft like a computer game form of Legos, the popular building block toy, with added monsters.  You are dropped into an algorithmically generated world where you have to discover resources, find food, and build structures to survive the Read More ›