Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagConsciousness

robot-with-glass-laptop-stockpack-adobe-stock
robot with glass laptop
Type
post
Author
William A. Dembski
Date
September 21, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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ChatGPT is Getting More Impressive

Nonetheless, human intelligence remains qualitatively different from artificial intelligence.
William A. Dembski
September 21, 2023
12
Artificial Intelligence

A few months back I published two pieces (see here and here) where I was able to break ChatGPT4 (hereafter just ChatGPT). More recently I revisited some of the types of challenges I posed to it in the past that were able back then to break it. It handled the challenges with aplomb. The one challenge it still was unable to handle was finding patterns in numerical sequence, such as what is the next number after 2,4,6,8,… — this one is super easy, but more difficult ones that humans are well able to handle seem still beyond its capabilities, at least for now. Whether that ability can be trained into it remains to be seen, though the improvement I saw suggests that it Read More ›

luminous-person-individuality-stockpack-adobe-stock
Luminous person. Individuality
Type
podcast
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
September 21, 2023
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What Makes Humans Unique? 

Michael Egnor
September 21, 2023
1

What makes humans unique compared to the rest of the natural world? Can strict materialists answer that question? In today’s podcast episode, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor speaks with Dr. Joshua Farris on the idea that human beings are made in God’s image, the mystery of consciousness, and panpsychism. Additional Resources

COSM2022-Wed-174A9344-Peter-Thiel-George-Gilder
Type
post
Author
News
Date
September 14, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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AI: Intelligent, Conscious, or Merely Evil? 

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel addresses burning questions surrounding AI at last year's COSM conference
News
September 14, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

In today’s featured video, watch Peter Thiel from COSM 2022 speak on how we should think about artificial intelligence. Is it really intelligent and even conscious? And is it likely to be a force for good, or does it have the dangerous potential to control us? Listen in to learn more on this broad and often contentious topic. Peter Thiel is an internationally known venture capitalist and investor. (REGISTER NOW FOR COSM 2023) COSM is an exclusive national summit on the converging technologies remaking the world as we know it. From artificial intelligence to 5G and WiFi6, from tokenized time to blockchain, from cloud computing to the quantum revolution, and from biotech to the nanotech revolution, COSM brings together some Read More ›

alone-with-the-universe-stockpack-adobe-stock
Alone with the Universe
Type
post
Author
David Hsing
Date
September 8, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Artificial Consciousness Remains Impossible (Part 3)

The claim that all things are conscious (including AI) misunderstands the meaning of the term
David Hsing
September 8, 2023
5
Artificial Intelligence

Read parts one and two of the series to catch up to speed. I don’t subscribe to panpsychism, (a topic that has been popular in SA in recent years[26]), but even if panpsychism is true, the subsequent possible claim that “all things are conscious” is still false because it commits a fallacy of division. There is a difference in kind from everything to every single thing. The purported universal consciousness of panpsychism, if it exists, would not be of the same kind as the ordinary consciousness found in living entities. Some examples of such categorical differences: Johnny sings, but his kidneys don’t. Johnny sees, but his toenails don’t. Saying that a lamp is conscious in one sense of the word simply Read More ›

visualizatipon-of-human-consciousness-in-artificial-intelligence-process-of-thinking-robot-humanoid-android-on-dark-background-with-neurals-connection-created-with-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Visualizatipon of human consciousness in artificial intelligence, process of thinking robot. Humanoid android on dark background with neurals connection. Created with Generative AI
Type
post
Author
David Hsing
Date
September 6, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Artificial Consciousness Remains Impossible (Part 2)

A machine no more “does things on its own” than a catapult flings by itself.
David Hsing
September 6, 2023
11
Artificial Intelligence

Read part one of this article series here. The following segments are responses to specific categories of counterarguments against my thesis, which you can read in part one of this article HERE. Please note that these responses do not stand on their own and can only be seen as supporting my main arguments from the first part. Each response only applies to those who hold the corresponding objections. “You can’t provide proof of intentionality and qualia because they’re subjective” If your mind doesn’t possess intentionality, “the power of minds to be about, to represent, or to stand for, things, properties, and states of affairs,” then you wouldn’t be able to understand any word on this screen in front of you Read More ›

ai-machine-learning-hands-of-robot-and-human-touching-big-data-of-global-network-connection-internet-and-digital-technology-science-and-artificial-intelligence-digital-technologies-of-futuristic-stockpack-adobe-stock
AI, Machine learning, Hands of robot and human touching big data of Global network connection, Internet and digital technology, Science and artificial intelligence digital technologies of futuristic.
Type
post
Author
David Hsing
Date
September 4, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Artificial Consciousness Remains Impossible (Part 1)

The cherished fiction of conscious machines is an impossibility
David Hsing
September 4, 2023
12
Artificial Intelligence

This article is an attempt to explain why the cherished fiction of conscious machines is an impossibility. The very act of hardware and software design is a transmission of impetus as an extension of the designers and not an infusion of conscious will. The latter half of the article is dedicated to addressing counterarguments. Lastly, some implications of the title thesis are listed. Intelligence vs. Consciousness Intelligence is the ability of an entity to perform tasks, while consciousness refers to the presence of a subjective phenomenon. Intelligence[1]: “…the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment” Consciousness[2]: “When I am in a conscious mental state, there is something it is like for me to be in that state from the Read More ›

feuer-und-eis-adam-und-gott-stockpack-adobe-stock
Feuer und Eis Adam und Gott
Type
post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
August 26, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction
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Westworld Episode 10 Review (Part Two)

Welcome to the dark end of the journey
Gary Varner
August 26, 2023
7
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Last time, Teddy had just finished saving Dolores from the Man in Black, who turned out to be William all along. He takes her to the coast because that was where he promised to take her when they were performing their pre-programmed loop. However, the coast is apparently not very far because as Dolores dies in his arms, Teddy starts reciting a campy monologue, and then shuts down while the board applauds the speech. Even when they’re trying to escape their loop, the robots still, somehow, find themselves trapped in yet another one of Dr. Ford’s narratives. Dr. Ford appears, addresses the crowd, then orders for Teddy to be cleaned up, and for Dolores to be taken to a nearby Read More ›

human-hand-shakes-artificial-intelligence-robotic-hand-concept-of-union-between-human-being-and-artificial-intelligence-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Human hand shakes artificial intelligence robotic hand, concept of union between human being and artificial intelligence, Generative AI
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
August 19, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality
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Artificial Intelligence: The Final Stage of Disembodiment?

The Internet invites a disembodied existence. Is AI the next step?
Peter Biles
August 19, 2023
6
Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality

Dr. Read Schuchardt, professor of communications at Wheaton College (IL), identifies five primary ways digital technology can erode our lives and relationships, or produce what he calls “vices of the virtual life”: Speaking of disembodiment, which he regards as perhaps the primary negative effect of virtual life, Schuchardt writes, On the phone, on the web, on the TV, you are simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. This creates a mind-body separation that both mimics death and parodies angels, eliminates the possibility of natural law, and allows you to become pure ‘information,’ simply wearing the corporate body as your own. -Read Schuchardt, Media, Journalism, and Communication, p. 56. I’ve found this to be true in my own experience; time online produces an inner Read More ›

travelers-together-around-the-campfire-enjoying-the-fresh-air-near-the-tent-under-the-milky-way-in-the-evening-silhouettes-of-two-adventurous-people-camping-in-the-mountains-under-the-starry-sky-stockpack-adobe-stock
Travelers together around the campfire, enjoying the fresh air near the tent under the Milky Way in the evening. Silhouettes of two adventurous people camping in the mountains under the starry sky.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
August 13, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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Literature and Personal Consciousness: Why AI Can’t Speak to You

AI can never intend meaning like a human author can
Peter Biles
August 13, 2023
7
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

One of the biggest contentions in the current debate over OpenAI’s new Large Language Model (LLM) ChatGPT is its purported ability to create a story, to speak and communicate narrative like a human storyteller. If you ask ChatGPT to write an Edgar Allen Poe-esque story, it will generate something spooky, gothic, and darkly poetic. Ask it to write a Shakespearean sonnet, and out comes a fourteen-lined poem about nature and romance. Need a horror thriller like The Shining or It by Stephen King? You got it. For all its scary impressiveness, and the guarantee that the technology will only get better, the chatbot extraordinaire fails and will always fail to tell a story. In fact, it can’t be expected to generate meaningful art and literature Read More ›

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Atom
Type
post
Author
News
Date
August 9, 2023
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
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Does Consciousness Defeat Materialism?

There is a re-emerging interest in consciousness and the mind
News
August 9, 2023
2
Philosophy of Mind

What would it take for “consciousness,” undoubtedly a nebulous and broad term, to defeat the idea that the mind is no more than the brain? For Dean Radin, a parapsychology researcher who was featured on the Closer to Truth program this month, it depends on what you mean by matter. “If you just look through history about the nature of matter, how has it changed historically, it has become more and more ephemeral. And I will imagine it will continue to become more ephemeral,” he said. For Radin, then, matter is complicated, and if you look closely enough, ends up being “mostly nothing.” If you’ve seen the new Oppenheimer movie, directed by Christopher Nolan, perhaps you’ll remember the scene in Read More ›

cyber-security-ai-mind-network-management-modern-data-center-cloud-networking-ai-generated-art-stockpack-adobe-stock
Cyber security, AI Mind, Network Management, Modern Data Center, Cloud Networking, AI Generated Art
Type
post
Author
News
Date
August 8, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Evaluating Yuval Harari’s Dystopian Views on AI

Does AI spell the doom of democracy?
News
August 8, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence

Will infotech and biotech erode human agency, subvert human desires, and render free-market economics obsolete? At first glance, there looks to be a wide gap between the future of AI and the destruction of democracy. Some futurists claim to have jumped that chasm. In a cheery little column published by The Atlantic, Yuval Noah Harari posits AI will ultimately destroy democracy and favor Digital Dictatorships. He notes that liberal democracies have been anomalies and that history tends to favor authoritarian governance. What is his argument and does it hold water? We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences and other videos. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There Read More ›

a-low-angle-view-of-a-statue-of-rene-descartes-against-the-historic-building-exterior-showcasing-its-intricate-architecture-and-craftsmanship-stockpack-adobe-stock
A low angle view of a statue of Rene Descartes against the historic building exterior, showcasing its intricate architecture and craftsmanship.
Type
podcast
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
August 3, 2023
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Discussing the Cartesian Error

Michael Egnor
August 3, 2023
1

What impact did the ideas of the philosopher René Descartes have on our modern conception of the mind/body problem? In today’s episode, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor digs deeper into his conversation with Dr. Joshua Farris, discussing Thomistic dualism, materialistic explanations for consciousness, and the inevitability of metaphysics.  Additional Resources

doctor-with-virtual-reality-in-operation-room-in-hospitalsurgeon-analyzing-patient-heart-testing-result-and-human-anatomy-on-technological-digital-futuristic-virtual-interfacedigital-holographic-stockpack-adobe-stock
Doctor with virtual reality in operation room in hospital.Surgeon analyzing patient heart testing result and human anatomy on technological digital futuristic virtual interface,digital holographic
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post
Author
News
Date
August 2, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Can AI Customize and Individualize Healthcare?

Mundie thinks some aspects of biology are too complex for humans. Could AI help?
News
August 2, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

Craig Mundie says that his dream is to make artificial intelligence one day rival human intellect. While many worry about more dystopian outcomes as result of that, Mundie sees AI as dual use. In his opinion, it can be used for good or ill just like any other technology. Jay Richards interviews Craig Mundie, President of Mundie & Associates and former Microsoft Chief Research Officer about emerging trends in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), especially for human systems and healthcare. Craig Mundie: “Well, I think the problem is, you need to model all of human biology. In my opinion, human biology is too complicated for humans. It’s just too complicated. So the question is, is it possible that a Read More ›

lazy-office-worker-with-feet-and-socks-on-table-useless-and-relaxing-man-doing-nothing-or-taking-break-from-work-in-workstation-businessman-resting-during-workday-laziness-and-relax-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Lazy office worker with feet and socks on table. Useless and relaxing man doing nothing or taking break from work in workstation. Businessman resting during workday. Laziness and relax concept.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
July 30, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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ChatGPT: The Perfect Gadget for a Culture in Decline?

ChatGPT is an impersonal machine and can't generate meaning
Peter Biles
July 30, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Jeffrey Bilbro, professor of English at Grove City College and an editor at The Front Porch Republic, wrote an article for Plough on what he regards as the primary weakness of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. Bilbro comes to the issue from a literary background, which means he values the human element in language as a mode of communication. Literature is a “conversation,” requiring sentient minds. He sees ChatGPT as a soulless mechanism that will atrophy our ability to write and diminish our appreciation for good writing. Bilbro writes, LLMs are a technology suited to a decadent culture, one that chases easy profits rather than tackles the real challenges we face. It’s easier to make money rearranging words Read More ›

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銀河
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
July 28, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality
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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
Peter Biles
July 28, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality

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 ›

ai-writer-chat-gpt-computer-stockpack-adobe-stock
AI Writer Chat GPT Computer
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 26, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Do AI Developers Really Not Know What They’re Making?

A speech-and-language AI researcher counterclaims the doomsdayers
News
July 26, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

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 ›

milky-way-in-utah-over-the-green-river-from-swaseys-beach-stockpack-adobe-stock
Milky way in Utah over the Green River from Swasey's Beach.
Type
post
Author
Gary Varner
Date
July 22, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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Westworld: Episode 6 Review

Maeve and the audience get some answers
Gary Varner
July 22, 2023
7
Arts & Culture

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 ›

the-tower-of-babel-stockpack-adobe-stock
The Tower of Babel
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 20, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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“The Bigger the Toy, the Smarter You Ought to Be to Use It”

With great technological power comes great moral responsibility, said Peterson
News
July 20, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence

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 ›

launching-space-rocket-from-laptop-screen-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Launching Space Rocket From Laptop Screen. Generative AI
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 18, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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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?
News
July 18, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence

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 ›

frozen-section-of-grocery-store-stockpack-adobe-stock
Frozen Section of Grocery Store
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 18, 2023
Categorized
Economics
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More Gale Pooley and More Population Growth

We're living in a time-price revolution
News
July 18, 2023
1
Economics

Countering the prevailing narrative of doom, economist Dr. Gale Pooley shows how the incredible power of learning curves has instead brought about an era of unprecedented abundance. Based on his research into time prices (the money price divided by one’s hourly income), Pooley demonstrates that virtually every commodity is substantially cheaper today than it was decades or centuries ago. We are truly in a time-price revolution. 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 Read More ›