Mind Matters Reporting on Natural and Artificial Intelligence

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Quantum computing concept with qubit icon 3d rendering
Type
post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 28, 2019
Categorized
Programming
Tagged
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2019 AI Hype Countdown #3: Quantum Supremacy? Less Supreme Than It Sounded

It’s possible that Google’s result can be generalized to more useful scenarios than the test case though it isn't immediately obvious how
Jonathan Bartlett
December 28, 2019

What Google really achieved was increased stability in its quantum computing platform—keeping qubits stable has been a hard problem in quantum computing for a long time. That was certainly a step forward, but advertising it as “quantum supremacy” was certainly a classic exercise in hype.

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Man trying to whistle
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 15, 2019
Categorized
Data Privacy, Ethics, Medicine and Health
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Google’s Secret Health Data Grab: The Whistleblower Talks

This is the fourth whistleblower in the last eighteen months
News
November 15, 2019

“The decision came to me slowly, creeping on me through my day-to-day work,” we are told, until it came down to “how could I say nothing?”

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Medical Research Scientist Typing Information Obtained from New Experimental Drug Trial. She Works in a Bright and Modern Laboratory.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 13, 2019
Categorized
Data Privacy, Medicine and Health
Tagged
, ,

The Nightingale Sings — About Your Health Data

The skinny from Google’s health care data grab: Your privacy may not be anywhere near as well protected as you might think
News
November 13, 2019

The biggest question coming into focus is whether traditional patient confidentiality protection really works in the age of the internet. As to what changes are needed and who will sponsor them, both US Sen. Amy Klobuchar and US Sen. Josh Hawley, on opposite sides of the aisle, are watching the file.

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Quantum computer system. Internet connection. Net system. Modern big data. Magic code. .Techno pattern. Intersect grid. Symmetry lines. Energy blocks. Kaleidoscopic shape. AI. Sci-fi
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
November 12, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind, Programming
Tagged
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Google vs. IBM?: Quantum Supremacy Isn’t the Big Fix Anyway

If human thought is a halting oracle, then even quantum computing will not allow us to replicate human intelligence
Eric Holloway
November 12, 2019

Google’s quantum supremacy claim is certainly fascinating and controversial, but even if true, it ultimately only amounts to an incremental and even inconsequential improvement in the state of AI and ML, due to the still-unmet need for a halting oracle.

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COSM-3887
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 31, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
Tagged
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Is Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity Now Nearer — or Impossible?

In response to Kurzweil’s talk at the COSM Technology Summit, panelists noted that AI achievements are revolutionary in size but limited by their nature in scope
Denyse O'Leary
October 31, 2019

George Montañez, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Harvey Mudd College, took issue with Kurzweil’s claim that AlphaGoZero needed no instructions to beat humans at the game of Go: “For a system like this to work, a human must define the incentive structure, also encoding the assumptions.” The sheer power of a computing system does not cause it to do anything at all.

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COSM-Ray-Kurzweil-screens
Ray Kurzweil presenting via teleconference at COSM 2019
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 30, 2019
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind
Tagged
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Tech pioneer Ray Kurzweil: We Will Merge with Computers by 2045

For computers, “Even the very best human is just another notch to pass,” he told the COSM Technology Summit
Denyse O'Leary
October 30, 2019

Advocates point to the success of Kurzweil’s past predictions as evidence that his Singularity is indeed Near, as his 2005 book predicts or Nearer, as his forthcoming one (June 2020) does. But questions bubbled to the surface.

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COSM-3527
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 25, 2019
Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology
Tagged
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Wall Street Journal columnist to Big Tech: You are doomed

Companies like Google and Facebook aren’t monsters, says Andy Kessler, but each nourishes the seeds of its own destruction
Denyse O'Leary
October 25, 2019

Kessler told his audience at the COSM National Technology Summit that Big Tech companies are so vulnerable that, for legal reasons, the United States is the only safe place for their headquarters.

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Cuboid with Digital Zeros and Ones
Type
post
Author
News
Date
October 16, 2019
Categorized
Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance, Technocracy
Tagged
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How Much Google Do You Really Need?

As more people are becoming concerned about Big Tech’s snooping and apparent political ambitions, practical responses are emerging
News
October 16, 2019

Getting away from constant surveillance and dangerous little bubbles of manipulated information is easier than some users may realize, tech pioneers and experts say. You can make simple changes today.

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Popping water balloon / highspeed image
Popping water balloon / highspeed image
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
September 12, 2019
Categorized
Business and Finance, Social Media, Technocracy
Tagged
, ,

Fast Facts re the Google, Facebook Anti-Trust Probes

The 48-state pile-on comes just before an election year
Denyse O'Leary
September 12, 2019

The accusations by American states of a Big Social Media stranglehold on advertising come on the heels of the European Union fining Google $billions in recent years for anti-competitive activities.

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daniel-watson-IEtUye-b28A-unsplash
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 24, 2019
Categorized
Social Media, Technocracy
Tagged
, , , , ,

Prof: Google Must Not Choose the Next President

Robert Epstein, a Clinton supporter in 2016, thinks Big Tech meddling is a risk. And, he says, he isn’t planning on suicide
Denyse O'Leary
August 24, 2019

He doesn’t want Silicon Valley to use its near-monopoly power over search engines and social media to manipulate the information available to the lone voter in the booth.

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Superior Artificial Intelligence Wining Chess Concept
Type
post
Author
News
Date
August 22, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Data Privacy, Ethics, Technocracy
Tagged
, ,

Confirmed: DeepMind’s Deepest Mind Is on Leave

The chess champ computer system just never made money
News
August 22, 2019
Co-founder Mustafa Suleyman is a philosopher and social justice activist who hoped to use the technology for fundamental transformations. But his AI ethics board lasted about seven days at Google. Read More ›
jessica-ruscello--GUyf8ZCTHM-unsplash
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 16, 2019
Categorized
Social Media, Technocracy
Tagged
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A Closer Look at Google’s Search Engine Bias

If Google’s CEO honestly believes that there is no political bias, that is, in itself, a big part of the problem
Denyse O'Leary
August 16, 2019
If Sundar Pichai thinks that there is no bias in Google's algorithms, he is arguing against the nature of writing algorithms itself—not a good position for a computer guy to be in. Read More ›
rajshri-bharath-ks-789231-unsplash
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 15, 2019
Categorized
Business and Finance, Technocracy
Tagged
, , , ,

What Others Are Saying About the New Google Insider’s Revelations

The documents' authenticity is not in dispute. What to do about them is another matter
Denyse O'Leary
August 15, 2019
Perhaps we cannot have a realistic discussion of the problems Google.gov creates unless we start with a willingness to pay for search engine services. That allows us to bargain as equals with respect to terms. Read More ›
Machine Learning object detection and artificial intelligence concept. Application detect object in picture. (Blur human face)
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 14, 2019
Categorized
Technocracy, Work
Tagged
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Whistleblower: Google Told Cops To Do a “Wellness Check” on Him

He can be seen doing a sort of perp walk on the video; some portions transcribed here
Denyse O'Leary
August 14, 2019

In the documents Vorhies unearthed,  Google seemed to be "intending to scope the information landscape so that they could create their own version of what was objectively true."

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Photo by Daniel Olah
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
August 14, 2019
Categorized
Business and Finance, Religion, Technocracy, Work
Tagged
, , ,

Is Google a Cult? Or Does It Just Act That Way?

Project Veritas announces that a new rebel Googler has sent nearly 1000 documents on algorithm bias to the DOJ
Denyse O'Leary
August 14, 2019

While we prepare a news story on Zach Vorhies' revelations, it may be worth asking why one of the world’s largest companies has developed what appears to be the atmosphere of a political cult.

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Photo by Erik Mclean
Supreme money gun
Type
post
Author
News
Date
August 9, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance
Tagged
, ,

Why Is DeepMind In Deep Water Financially?

Market analysts are wondering if the money is as smart as the machine
News
August 9, 2019

In an all-out botwar with the other tech Bigs, DeepMind could simply be paying top minds not to work for the competition while readying AI tools that pay better than winning at board games. Maybe.

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gud
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
August 1, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Education, Work
Tagged
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Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene: How to Spell Gud

Also, Google and Apple ditching college degree requirements is not really that new
Robert J. Marks
August 1, 2019

Twenty years or so ago, when I worked in Seattle, Microsoft was famous for the testing coding skills of their applicants and asking Mensa-like questions. Degrees were secondary.

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joey-nicotra-1092263-unsplash
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 20, 2019
Categorized
Social Factors, Technocracy, Work
Tagged
,

Google’s “Civil War” Is a First For the Big Tech Industry

Not the sort of first to rejoice market analysts’ hearts
News
May 20, 2019

If a recent longform article at Fortune is any guide, tech philosopher George Gilder was onto something when he told Steve Forbes recently that the whole Google culture is “kind of self-defeating and wrong.”

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franck-v-628397-unsplash
Room of aspiring startups
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 16, 2019
Tagged
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Advice for Budding Inventors and Entrepreneurs: Hal Philipp Shares His Experience

Robert J. Marks
May 16, 2019

If you used a touchscreen, an automated door opener or automated faucet today, it is probably based on the technology of inventor and entrepreneur Hal Philipp. We continue our conversation with Hal on the Mind Matters podcast, revisiting his ambivalent relationship with Apple. Show Notes 01:20 | Advice to budding entrepreneurs 03:30 | Don’t Do This At Home 06:35 | Read More ›

George-Gilder-Jay-Richards-Book-Party-57-of-99
George Gilder seated before speech at book launch
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 16, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Technocracy, Work
Tagged
, , ,

George Gilder: Why Does Google Seem To Be Having a Corporate Nervous Breakdown?

Gilder tells Forbes that its whole culture is “kind of self-defeating and wrong.”
News
May 16, 2019

"This whole business of aggregating people by giving them free stuff—in order to collect data to provide guidance for advertisers—it’s just a circuitous means of a business plan that I don’t think will finally prevail."

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