Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagRobert J. Marks

young-caucasian-male-comedian-performing-his-stand-up-monologue-on-a-stage-of-a-small-venue-stockpack-adobe-stock
Young Caucasian male comedian performing his stand-up monologue on a stage of a small venue
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 12, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Funny ChatGPT: a Solution to Striking Joke Writers?

Even if ChatGPT can mimic humor, it doesn't care if you laugh at the jokes
Robert J. Marks
May 12, 2023
5
Artificial Intelligence

Can ChatGPT write funny jokes? The answer is yes. To try and generate some short jokes, I went to ChatGPT and started all my queries with: “Complete the following to make it funny:” Doing so alerts ChatGPT about my end goal. Without this preamble, I could make queries all day and get no funny responses. I started with the beginnings of some well-known quotes.   To Be or Not to Be Consider for example the quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:  “To be or not to be, that is the question.” I instructed ChatGPT with the following command: “Complete the following to make it funny: To be or not to be…” One of the better responses I got was “To be or Read More ›

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instagram filter Himalaya mountains nepal
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post
Author
News
Date
May 12, 2023
Categorized
Addiction, Environment
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Boy Scouts and Tech Addiction

You can't mimic the reality compared to what you see on the screen
News
May 12, 2023
2
Addiction, Environment

The Boy Scouts of America once enjoyed a booming membership. But over the last decade especially, due to some policy changes, abuse scandals, and a giant lawsuit, the once great organization has seen a colossal decline. In last week’s podcast, Robert J. Marks sat down with former Boy Scout leader and his cousin Kent Marks. Together they talked about the tragic decline in the Boy Scouts program, which coincides with the enduring need to help boys navigate the many distractions and difficulties of growing up in a digitally mediated world. Today, Kent continues to lead boys on wilderness expeditions and believes that getting guys away from the screens and into the beauty of the outdoors is a key to their Read More ›

robot-humanoid-use-laptop-and-sit-at-table-for-big-data-analytic-using-ai-thinking-brain-artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-process-for-the-4th-fourth-industrial-revolution-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock
Robot humanoid use laptop and sit at table for big data analytic using AI thinking brain , artificial intelligence and machine learning process for the 4th fourth industrial revolution . 3D rendering.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 11, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Artificial General Intelligence is the Answer, says OpenAI CEO

The tech optimism talk just got a little vague
News
May 11, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

The tech optimism talk just got a little more bizarre from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman is confident that artificial intelligence is going to better our world in countless ways; sometimes, however, he doesn’t specify just how that’s going to happen. Other days it seems like he’s actually on the doomsday train. Which is it? Is AI going to save us and pilot us into a transhumanist eternity or will it enslave us forever and diminish everything that makes us human? Maybe it’s both at this point! Maggie Harrison writes in a new blog at Futurism, It’s true that AGI could, in theory, give humans a helping hand in curing some of our ills. But such an AGI, and AGI Read More ›

a-scout-reserve-team-at-jungle-camp-boy-scout-america-stockpack-adobe-stock
a Scout Reserve Team at Jungle Camp, Boy Scout America
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 11, 2023
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An Antidote for Digital Addiction

Robert J. Marks
May 11, 2023
1

With the advent of social media, rates of teenage depression, suicides, and body image problems have skyrocketed. These are symptoms of digital addiction. How can we combat digital addiction and promote digital wellness especially in youth? Kent Marks talks about his departure from Boy Scouts and his transition to Trail Life USA, which seeks to offer an antidote to digital Read More ›

cyborg-hologram-watching-a-subway-interior-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock
Cyborg hologram watching a subway interior 3D rendering
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 8, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Should We Shut the Lid on AI?

The real danger posed by AI is not its potential. It is the lack of ethics
News
May 8, 2023
4
Artificial Intelligence

By John Stonestreet & K. Leander Recently, a number of prominent tech executives, including Elon Musk, signed an open letter urging a 6-month pause on all AI research. That was not enough for AI theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky. In an opinion piece for TIME magazine, he argued that “We Need to Shut it All Down,” and he didn’t mince his words: Many researchers steeped in these issues, including myself, expect that the most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI … is that literally everyone on Earth will die. Not as in ‘maybe possibly some remote chance,’ but as in ‘that is the obvious thing that would happen.’ Using a tone dripping with panic, Yudkowsky even suggested that countries like the U.S. should be willing Read More ›

backside-of-asian-boy-scout-group-line-up-and-prepare-for-boy-scout-camp-activities-stockpack-adobe-stock
Backside of asian boy scout group line up and prepare for boy scout camp activities.
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 4, 2023
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Medicine for Digitally Addicted Boys 

Robert J. Marks
May 4, 2023
1

The Boy Scouts of America used to enjoy a booming membership. But after some significant policy changes and a giant lawsuit, the organization is rapidly declining.  In this episode, Robert Marks speaks with former Boy Scout leader Kent Marks on his experience in the organization and the enduring need to help boys navigate life in the digital age. Additional Resources

throwing-of-dart-in-balloon-with-water-on-dark-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
Throwing of dart in balloon with water on dark background
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
May 3, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Another AI Hype Bubble Pops

The age of improving giant AI models like ChatGPT is over
Robert J. Marks
May 3, 2023
5
Artificial Intelligence

In a recent assessment of his company’s chatbot products like ChatGPT, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman  surprisingly opined to an audience at MIT. “I think we’re at the end of the era where [AI is]  going to be these … giant [large language] models … We’ll make them better in other ways.” This sobering comment  is in contrast to a prophesy by philosopher David Chalmers who cautions about the dangerous future. He says today’s large language AI has a 20% chance of sentience in 10 years. Fired engineer Blake Lemoine goes further. He claims that Google’s LaMDA is already sentient.   Such AI hyperbole is not new. Here is a thumbnail sketch of some AI history that sheds light on such claims. Heeding Santayana’s Read More ›

human-body-with-glowing-neurons-visualization-generative-ai-illustration-stockpack-adobe-stock
Human body with glowing neurons visualization. Generative AI illustration
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 3, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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New Routledge Book on AI: It Won’t Take Us Over

The authors argue that, regardless of the benefits AI might provide in the future, it will never emulate the complex human neurocognitive system.
News
May 3, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

A new book, Why Machines Will Never Rule the World, amplifies human exceptionalism and critiques the view that artificial intelligence will someday replace human beings. According to authors Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith, much of life and work can only be adequately navigated successfully with natural, not computerized, intelligence. They give two reasons for thinking that AI will never exceed human ingenuity: Echoing similar sympathies as Robert J. Marks in his book Non-Computable You: What You Do That Artificial Intelligence Never Will, Landgrebe and Smith argue that the concept of artificial general intelligence is mathematically impossible. A part of the book’s summary reads: Landgrebe and Smith show how a widespread fear about AI’s potential to bring about radical changes in Read More ›

robotic-hand-pressing-a-keyboard-on-a-laptop-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock
Robotic hand pressing a keyboard on a laptop 3D rendering
Type
post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
April 28, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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How to Stop Troubling Abuse From Artificial Intelligence

Allowance of lawsuits will give AI developers pause before releasing their raw unvetted technology on the world
Robert J. Marks
April 28, 2023
7
Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can give unintended and dangerous advice. What is the best way to keep things like the following from happening? ChatGPT falsely reported on a claim of sexual harassment that was never made against me on a trip that never occurred while I was on a faculty where I never taught. ChatGPT relied on a cited Post article that was never written and quotes a statement that was never made by the newspaper. Who’s responsible for these actions? How can AI be controlled to assure such careless responses are eliminated? Read on and you’ll see the answer is obvious. Attorney and Bradley Center Fellow Richard W. Stevens has talked about legal options of Professor Turley in a defamation lawsuit. But what about the Read More ›

fire
fire flames with sparks on a black background, close-up
Type
post
Author
News
Date
April 24, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Google CEO: AI is More Significant Than the Invention of Fire

Pichai compared the invention of AI to the creation of fire, claiming it surpassed even great leaps in technology like electricity
News
April 24, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence

The Google CEO Sundar Pichai appeared on a 60 Minute segment to discuss state of the art AI, Google’s Bard, and what AI means to humanity. Pichai compared the invention of AI to the creation of fire, claiming it surpassed even great leaps in technology like electricity. When asked the reason, he replied, “It gets to the essence of what intelligence is.” See the clip below: Pichai also discussed some of the dangers posed by AI, such as the potential proliferation of misinformation and false images. ChatGPT, for all its dexterity, still makes mistakes, as Google’s Bard does too, and concern over the ambiguity over the reliability of photographic images will only grow as AI develops. Of course, Pichai may Read More ›

cellphone-mental-health-and-woman-in-her-bed-with-depression-while-watching-videos-on-social-media-tired-sleepy-and-depressed-female-with-insomnia-networking-on-a-phone-in-her-bedroom-at-home-stockpack-adobe-stock
Cellphone, mental health and woman in her bed with depression while watching videos on social media. Tired, sleepy and depressed female with insomnia networking on a phone in her bedroom at home.
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
April 20, 2023
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Working Towards Digital Flourishing

Robert J. Marks
April 20, 2023
1

Dawn Wible, the founder of Talk More Tech Less, continues her conversation with Robert J. Marks on digital tech. How can we healthily use technology instead of being manipulated by Big Tech? In this episode, she lays out practical steps people can take to reclaim their time, relationships, and mental health. Additional Resources

kids-lying-on-the-floor-and-playing-games-on-their-phones-stockpack-adobe-stock
Kids lying on the floor and playing games on their phones
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
April 13, 2023
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Talk More, Tech Less

Robert J. Marks
April 13, 2023
1

Dawn Wible, founder of the digital wellness organization “Talk More Tech Less,” talks with Robert J. Marks about her advocacy for healthy screen time among children and young adults. Phone usage has dramatically increased in the last decade, especially during COVID-19. How can we be healthy and whole in a society so saturated with digital media? Additional Resources

social media city
Social media icons fly over city downtown showing people reciprocity connection through social network application platform . Concept for online community and social media marketing strategy .
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
April 11, 2023
Categorized
Social Media
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Social Media’s Distortion of the Real World

Constant exposure to idealized online images impacts our expectations and worldview
Peter Biles
April 11, 2023
6
Social Media

How does excessive social media use affect our perceptions of the real world? Writers Mark Miller and Ben White wrote a piece at Aeon on social media through the perspective of “predictive processing,” a term used in neuroscience and cognition. Predictive processing involves the brain’s capacity to predict error, danger, or some future event, and urge us to act accordingly. (That’s my basic, layman’s understanding of it, full disclosure!) White and Miller use temperature as an example, noting how the body may respond to a change of the environment by closing a window or grabbing a blanket to keep warm. Being able to respond appropriately to our surroundings depends on the accuracy of our mental model of the real world. Read More ›

person-talking-with-robotic-aifuturistic-technology-or-machine-learning-conceptsgenerative-ai-technology-stockpack-adobe-stock
person talking with robotic ai.futuristic technology or machine learning concepts.Generative ai technology
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Jeffrey Funk
Date
April 6, 2023
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The Value and Drawbacks of ChatGPT

Robert J. Marks and Jeffrey Funk
April 6, 2023
1

In this week’s episode, Robert Marks resumes his conversation with tech consultant and expert Jeffrey Funk. They focus on ChatGPT, its value and limits, and the hype that often accompanies new developments in AI. Additional Resources

finding a solution in the maze
Businessman in creative blue maze background.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
April 5, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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AI is a Tool, Not a Solution for Everything

Life is complicated and our problems can't always be solved through an engineering approach
Peter Biles
April 5, 2023
4
Artificial Intelligence

AI is a tool. In the words of Robert J. Marks from an interview at last year’s COSM conference, it can’t be a “friend or foe,” because it’s not a living entity. It’s something that can be used (or abused). Such a neutral, balanced attitude toward AI is alien to many Big Tech moguls who are pitching AI as the solution to many of the world’s complicated problems. For them, on the flipside of the doomsday alarmists, AI will usher in a new epoch of human progress. They may be partially right about that, but according to this writer at Slate, their hype reflects a commitment to technological “solutionism,” the idea that tech, once adequately suited for the task, can Read More ›

concept-of-robots-replacing-humans-in-offices-stockpack-adobe-stock
Concept of robots replacing humans in offices
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Andrew McDiarmid
Date
March 30, 2023
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Navigating the Technological Age

Robert J. Marks and Andrew McDiarmid
March 30, 2023
1

Humans have created technology for centuries. But what happens when we stop using tech and tech starts using us? In this episode, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Andrew McDiarmid sits down with Robert J. Marks to talk about the root meaning of technology, how it has developed, and the ways we can healthily navigate our highly technologized world. Additional Resources

reaching out ai
White cyborg finger about to touch human finger 3D rendering
Type
post
Author
News
Date
March 28, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Robert Marks at The Daily Caller

Despite the confidence in new AI coming from Big Tech executives, it makes quite glaring mistakes
News
March 28, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

Robert J. Marks wrote a piece at The Daily Caller this week on artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, and the manifold problems of new AI systems like Google’s Bard and older ones such as Amazon’s Alexa. Despite the confidence in new AI coming from Big Tech executives, it makes quite glaring mistakes, although Marks believes AI has its genuine uses and benefits. Snapchat’s chatbot “My AI” gave advice about how to hide the smell of pot and alcohol to someone posing as a disgruntled teenager. Microsoft’s Bing bot professed its love for a tech journalist. A Google app made egregiously racist errors. ChatGPT is also politically biased despite claiming neutrality. Marks writes, Many warn of the future dangers of artificial intelligence. Many Read More ›

hiking
Hiking team people helping each other friend giving a helping hand while climbing up on the mountain rock adventure travel concept of friendship support trust teamwork success.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 24, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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GPT-4: Signs of Human-Level Intelligence?

Competence and understanding matter just as much if not more than mere "intelligence"
Peter Biles
March 24, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence

You’ve heard about GPT-3, but how about GPT-4? OpenAI has publicly released the new AI program, and researchers have already claimed that it shows “sparks” of human intelligence, or artificial general intelligence (AGI). Maggie Harrison writes at Futurism, Emphasis on the “sparks.” The researchers are careful in the paper to characterize GPT-4’s prowess as “only a first step towards a series of increasingly generally intelligent systems” rather than fully-hatched, human-level AI. They also repeatedly highlighted the fact that this paper is based on an “early version” of GPT-4, which they studied while it was “still in active development by OpenAI,” and not necessarily the version that’s been wrangled into product-applicable formation. -Maggie Harrison, Microsoft Researchers Claim GPT-4 Is Showing “Sparks” Read More ›

planning-innovation-and-vision-business-meeting-in-a-modern-office-working-on-a-business-marketing-strategy-group-team-or-staff-discussing-with-sticky-notes-a-schedule-for-future-project-together-stockpack-adobe-stock
Planning, innovation and vision business meeting in a modern office, working on a business marketing strategy. Group, team or staff discussing with sticky notes a schedule for future project together
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Jeffrey Funk
Date
March 23, 2023
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Where Does Innovation Come From? 

Robert J. Marks and Jeffrey Funk
March 23, 2023
1

In a continuation of last week’s conversation, technology experts Jeffrey Funk and Robert J. Marks explore the question of where today’s technological innovation is fostered. Academia? Private corporations? The military? Since many universities now prize publication over innovation, much of the real progress is being made elsewhere.  Additional Resources

COSM2022-Nov10-174A0082-bob-marks***compressed
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 20, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
Tagged
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Robert J. Marks on Fox News

Dr. Marks talked about the hype over AI and where the danger really lies
Peter Biles
March 20, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

Robert J. Marks, director of the Walter Bradley Center, was the subject of a new op-ed at Fox News, which featured his unique insights on artificial intelligence and how it can best be used by human beings. Contrary to much of the present alarmism over AI systems like ChatGPT, Marks remains level-headed about AI’s place in today’s world, pushing back against “sci-fi” apocalypticism while at the same time addressing real issues and concerns. Marks said, “No, AI is not going to take over. You’re not going to be its pet in the future. It’s going to be a tool which disrupts society, but we’re still going to be in charge. -Scott Whitlock, AI expert warns of too much ‘hype’: Humans Read More ›