Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagConsciousness

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Brain activity

MIT Study Associates ChatGPT Use with Cognitive Trouble

The ChatGPT users in the study lost major ground in creativity, memory, and deep thinking

A new study from MIT links excessive use of ChatGPT to a decline in critical thinking skills. Instead of making users more productive, the study finds that dependence on ChatGPT is associated with loss of memory and cognitive decline. In short, the AI tool isn’t making us smarter. It’s doing quite the opposite to us. The researchers divided participants into three groups: the LLM group, the search engine group, and the brain-only group. Here is a section of the abstract from the study, Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM users displayed the weakest connectivity. Cognitive activity scaled down in relation to external tool use. In session 4, LLM-to-Brain participants showed Read More ›

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The eye of big brother over a burning crowd of people. A metaphor of dictatorship, totalitarian regime and propaganda. Raster illustration.

Did Orwell’s 1984 Predict the Rise of AI?

A simple act like writing a diary entry emblemizes the struggle to stay human

Three books stand at the top of the dystopian genre, even several decades after their publication: Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley; Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury; and perhaps supremely, 1984, by George Orwell. Each novel features versions of a futuristic society in which freedom is restricted (through different means) and foresees a bleak existence governed by the basest impulses in the human race. While Orwell’s masterpiece is typically hailed as a warning of the surveillance state, where individuality is erased in favor of group identity, it is also about the rise of technologies that replace human thought. Novelist Walter Kirn points this out in a recent episode of America This Week: 1984 is the story of the extinguishing, the Read More ›

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A cute robot holding a notepad with a pencil, set against a teal background, symbolizing creativity and technology.

AI Still Can’t Think

It can only create the appearance of thought
AI, as a tool, can have a lot of benefits and uses, but as we’ve witnessed time and time again, it often makes mistakes. Read More ›
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Big data and artificial intelligence concept. Human brain glowing from processor, symbolizing the fusion of human intelligence and machine learning capabilities. Evolution of technology of data.

Bill Dembski: The Power of Information and the Limits of AI

If you’re going to binge anyone, it might as well be Bill Dembski. On this episode of Mind Matters News, get your fill of insight and wisdom from Dr. Dembski, a senior fellow at Discovery Institute and a Distinguished Fellow with the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. Here, he is interviewed by neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor. The Read More ›

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Concept of artificial intelligence for industrial revolution and automation robots

AI: The New Industrial Revolution?

Experts try to guess where AI is heading over the next few years
Perhaps the human conversation alone is argument enough on why AI can never replace us. Read More ›
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Why Our Minds Are More Than “Meat Computers”

Some scientists and philosophers hold the view that our brains are basically brains made of meat. Today, Dr. Eric Holloway and Dr. Robert J. Marks explain what’s wrong with this idea in the concluding segment of their conversation with guest host Patrick Flynn. For starters, the computational theory of mind may be incompatible with materialism or physicalism, as formal, abstract Read More ›

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the symbolic ship of thesus , wooden big ship ,old ancient ship with a repairing module and parts etc in a big ancient royal sunroofed hall

The Ship of Theseus and the Philosophy of Identity

Host Robert J. Marks welcomes back Walter Myers to discuss the philosophical concept of the Ship of Theseus, a paradox about whether an object remains the same after all of its original components have been gradually replaced. Myers explains the history and origins of the paradox and explores how it relates to questions of personal identity, the mind-body problem, and Read More ›

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Experience the eerie charm of Battlefield House Museum at night in Hamilton

A Novelist Posts on the Paranormal

Accounting for experiences of the supernatural
Lin notes that scientists and online outlets like Wikipedia, entrenched in a materialistic perspective, tend to simply dismiss them. Read More ›
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Intelligence artificielle

Podcast Guest Claims He Won’t Die, Says We’re Creating God With AI

Got immortality? This man says he has the secret.
Johnson’s views on AI sound crazy, but they reflect a burgeoning hope that computerized superintelligence will somehow solve all the enigmas of existence. Read More ›
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Responsive Mirror neurons Side profiles of a couple with puzzle pieces forming their brains symbolizing the challenge of fitting together thoughts and ideas in a relationship

The Significance of Mirror Neurons: More With Dr. Mihretu Guta

On this episode, host Dr. Robert J. Marks continues his chat with Dr. Mihretu Guta about exploring the philosophical challenges surrounding the neuroscientific research on mirror neurons. What the heck is a mirror neuron you ask? As described in Part 1, it’s a type of brain cell that fires when a person observes an action being performed, as well as Read More ›

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Profile of a young man with mental activity

Consciousness, Materialism, and the Limits of Reductionism

On this episode, host Pat Flynn concludes a three-part conversation with Dr. Selmer Bringsjord about all things related to AI, consciousness, and rationality. In Part 3, Flynn and Bringsjord summarize their points about integrated information theory and an alternative view, cognitive consciousness. The discussion explores the challenges of explaining consciousness from a materialist or physicalist perspective, noting the apparent qualitative Read More ›

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Futuristic meeting between humans and a robot at a glowing digital table symbolizing the collaboration between humanity and technology in decision making

John Stuart Mill: Humans Are Not Automatons

Making rational decisions takes a lot of thought and hard work, says Mill.
Mill uses a beautiful contrast in metaphor to show how human nature is qualitatively different from machines. Read More ›
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man using laptop for searching of technology smart open AI or artificial intelligence using an artificial intelligence chatbot developed.

Exploring the Capabilities and Limitations of AI with Dr. Selmer Bringsjord

On this episode, host Pat Flynn begins a three-part conversation with Dr. Selmer Bringsjord about all things related to AI, consciousness, and rationality. Dr. Bringsjord has been studying and debating issues related to AI and the nature of consciousness for decades, and he shares his predictions about the capabilities and limitations of AI systems. He believes that while AI systems Read More ›

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Dynamic cyber big data flow: blockchain networks intersecting with ai technology and digital communication. Vibrant 3d illustration of music waves and science research

Hinton and Hopfield Win Nobel Prize in Physics

Hinton warns against neglecting AI safety

Geoffrey E. Hinton, a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence responsible for helping develop “neural networks,” has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize alongside John J. Hopfield. The two scientists won the award for their groundbreaking work in machine intelligence, paving the way for a revolutionary new way to use computers. Hinton attracted attention just last year when he departed from Google and started warning the public about the potential dangers of new AI systems. He likened the AI revolution to the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century, only this time, it won’t be our physical capacities that get trumped by the machine, but our intellects. The New York Times reports, “It will be comparable with the Industrial Revolution,” Read More ›

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image that represents the concept of expanded psychedelic consciousness

The Unique Relationship Between Consciousness and Its Bearer

What kind of being must exist for consciousness to exist? On this episode, hosts Robert J. Marks and Angus Menuge conclude their discussion with Dr. Mihretu Guta about his contribution to the recent volume Minding the Brain. The first half of this conversation centered on the amazing nature of consciousness and how it really doesn’t reduce to anything physical. In Part Read More ›

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Glowing human soul is illuminated with warm ethereal light against dark backdrop. Ethereal essence of person on abstract background. Spiritual body silhouette

In What Sense is Consciousness a Property?

On this episode, hosts Robert J. Marks and Angus Menuge welcome Dr. Mihretu Guta to discuss his contribution to the recent volume Minding the Brain. Dr. Guta discusses the nature of consciousness and the challenges in understanding it from a philosophical perspective. He argues that consciousness is a unique property that is deeply subjective and personal, making it difficult to study Read More ›

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Man reading in the park

Sam Altman Was on My Favorite Writing Podcast. His View on Storytelling Surprised Me.

When we read, we want to hear from a human about what it means to be human.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has garnered a fair share of criticism from the writing crowd for creating ChatGPT, a tool that on the surface seems to banish the need for human writers at all. However, Altman recently appeared on David Perell’s prominent writing podcast “How I Write” to talk about his own writing process, AI, and what he uses ChatGPT for. Altman and Perell talk about the importance of language for human communication, with Altman noting how he can’t imagine human life without language. AI, Altman says, is supposed to make language and the writing process “better.” In his view, that’s what computers have also sought to do: Create opportunities for humans to expand and deepen their capacities. But Read More ›