Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagSingularity

goal-to-success-for-level-up-with-person-climbing-on-route-slope-to-mountain-peakhuman-performance-limit-conceptsgrowth-mindset-and-motivationgenerative-ai-technology-stockpack-adobe-stock
Goal to success for level up with person climbing on route slope to mountain peak.human performance limit concepts.growth mindset and motivation.generative ai technology
Type
post
Author
Andrew McDiarmid
Date
October 11, 2023
Categorized
Human exceptionalism
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Are We Approaching the Singularity?

Are humans progressing morally as well as materially? What does it mean to be human in the cosmos?
Andrew McDiarmid
October 11, 2023
2
Human exceptionalism

Are humans progressing morally as well as materially? What does it mean to be human in the cosmos? On a new episode of ID the Future, we bring you the second half of a stimulating conversation between Dr. David Berlinski and host Eric Metaxas on the subject of Berlinski’s book Human Nature. In Human Nature, Berlinski argues that the utopian view that humans are progressing toward evolutionary and technological perfection is wishful thinking. Men are not about to become like gods. “I’m a strong believer in original sin,” quips Berlinski in his discussion with Metaxas. In other words, he believes not only that humans are fundamentally distinct from the rest of the biological world, but also that humans are prone to ignorance and Read More ›

social-but-not-social-stockpack-adobe-stock
Social but not social
Type
post
Author
Andrew McDiarmid
Date
May 19, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Technocracy
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Will AI Overtake Humans? Only If We Let It

We are getting too cozy with dependence on high tech to ease the burden of thinking for ourselves
Andrew McDiarmid
May 19, 2022
5
Artificial Intelligence, Technocracy

This story originally appeared at Newsmax. (May 19, 2022) As I reported last year, there’s been a lot of talk about a Singularity in the last decade. That’s the point when machine intelligence (AI) exceeds human intelligence and begins to rule humanity and eventually the entire universe. It’s a scary proposition to be sure, but we can rest easy on that front, because it’s not going to happen. The futurists assume there’s a bridge between narrow applications of AI and the general intelligence humans possess. But no such bridge exists. As Erik J. Larson explains in his book The Myth of Artificial Intelligence, we’re not even on the right road to such a bridge. You can also take George Gilder’s word for it. One Read More ›

chatbot-social-bot-mit-quellcode-und-keyboard-stockpack-adobe-stock
Chatbot / Social Bot mit Quellcode und Keyboard
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
April 25, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Why GPT-3 Can’t Understand Anything

Without long-term memory, human conversation becomes impossible
Eric Holloway
April 25, 2022
9
Artificial Intelligence

There is a mathematical reason why machine learning systems like GPT-3 are incapable of understanding. The reason comes down to the fact that machine learning has no memory. It is just probabilistic associations. If there is only a 10% chance of going off topic, then after just seven exchanges there is a greater than 50% chance the machine learning model has gone off topic. The problem is that when prediction is just based on probabilities, the likelihood of making a misprediction increases exponentially. A long-term memory is needed in order to maintain long-term coherence. GPT-3 is essentially a sophisticated Markov process. What is important about the Markov process is that the next step in the process is only dependent on Read More ›

positive-girl-resting-on-the-couch-with-robot-stockpack-adobe-stock
Positive girl resting on the couch with robot
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
April 4, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Soylent AI is…people!

OpenAI advertises itself as AI-powered, but at the end of the day, the system is human-powered
Eric Holloway
April 4, 2022
30
Artificial Intelligence

In the sci-fi movie, “Soylent Green,” the big reveal is that a food called soylent green is actually made from human beings, the catchphrase being “soylent green is people.” Likewise, as I discovered from a recent exchange with OpenAI’s GPT-3, “soylent AI is people.” GPT-3 is the product of AI company OpenAI. The company made headlines in 2019 with the claim that their AI model was too dangerous to publicly release. OpenAI is not a mere research company. While their publicly stated goal is fairly modest – “Aligning AI systems with human intent” – their CEO Sam Altman has bigger plans. He left his very successful role as president of Y Combinator, one of Silicon Valley’s most successful venture capital Read More ›

robot assistant
Girl in orange shirt standing near house robot
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 13, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind
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Silicon Valley Insider: Why Friendly Super-AI Won’t Happen

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel talks about the Great Filter hypothesis: Why should we assume a superior artificial intelligence would be friendly?
News
November 13, 2021
4
Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

In a wide-ranging talk at the recent COSM 2021 conference (November 10–12), Peter Thiel (a PayPal and Facebook founder) expressed concern that people worry a great deal about artificial intelligence that thinks like people (AGI) but the real push now is for massive “dumb” surveillance AI peering into every detail of our lives, for the benefit of either government or the corporate world. He went on to say that he doubts that artificial general intelligence (AGI) — “superhuman software that can do everything that we can do” — would, in any event, be “friendly.” That is, that it “won’t kill us.” If it is intelligent enough to be independent, why should we assume so? “Friendly” is a human value, hard Read More ›

atoms
Atom Particle
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 26, 2021
Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Science
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Why Neurosurgeon Mike Egnor Stopped Being a Materialist Atheist

He found that materialism is just not working out in science
News
July 26, 2021
11
Philosophy of Mind, Religion, Science

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor did another podcast with Arjuna Das at Theology Unleashed, “where Eastern theology meets Western skepticism.” Among other things, Egnor talked about why he ceased to be an atheist as he learned more about science and its dependence on mathematics, which is not a material thing. A partial transcript follows, taking us down to 15 minutes, with notes (more in a further installment): Arjuna Das: (00:01:49) Today, I’ve got Michael Egnor on. I’m very delighted to have him on for a second time. He’s a neurosurgeon, a Christian, and he’s quite good at arguing philosophy too… W So we’ll start out with him telling a little bit of a story, how he changed his metaphysical views through things Read More ›

robot-looking-on-the-planet-earth-from-space-technology-concept-artificial-intelligence-stockpack-adobe-stock
Robot looking on the planet Earth from space. Technology concept, artificial intelligence
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 24, 2021
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Geoffrey Simmons: Human Design and Robots (Bingecast)

Robert J. Marks
June 24, 2021
2

“Machines will never fall in love with each other, they will never say a prayer in earnest and they will never comprehend their own death,” writes Dr. Geoffrey Simmons. In today’s bingecast, Dr. Robert J. Marks talks with author and retired physician Simmons about his book, Are We Here to Re-Create Ourselves?: The Convergence of Designs. The two spin off Read More ›

thumbs-up-on-bricks-wall-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Thumbs up on bricks wall
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
March 16, 2021
Categorized
Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance
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Facebook Exec Admits the Company Has Too Much Power

He worries, talking with an undercover reporter, that Zuckerberg is 36 and is “the ruler” of two billion people
Denyse O'Leary
March 16, 2021
6
Data Privacy, Social Media, Surveillance

In a video titled “KING ZUCK: Facebook Global Planning Lead Reveals Dire Need For Government Intervention In Facebook” (March 15, 2021), we hear an insider’s view from Benny Thomas, Facebook’s Global Planning Lead— who told what he knew to a Project Veritas undercover reporter. From the undercover interview: Benny Thomas: I’ll make less money but it will be a better thing for the world. Facebook and Google are too powerful and they need to be made less powerful … It needs to be broken up the way the telecom companies were broken up and the oil companies were broken up.” No king in the history of the world has been the ruler of two billion people. And he’s 36. [a Read More ›

robotic-man-cyborg-face-representing-artificial-intelligence-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Robotic man cyborg face representing artificial intelligence 3D rendering
Type
post
Author
Eric Holloway
Date
March 2, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Technocracy
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Are We Facing the Next, Very Rapid Stage of Evolution, via AI?

Prof. Mark Alan Walker: “Person-engineering technologies will make it possible to accomplish in a matter of years what evolution would take thousands of millennia to achieve.”
Eric Holloway
March 2, 2021
6
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Technocracy

These are certainly heady times in the biotech world. With the new mRNA vaccine being created in just a few days in January 2020, someone can mass produce DNA in their garage for the price of a hamburger, and Alpha Fold 2 can predict proteins from DNA with accuracy, rivalling wet lab results, it seems we are on the cusp of something extraordinary. Most viral infections will cease if all we need to do to roll out a new vaccine is sequence the virus genome and mass produce the portion that binds to human cells. On the darker side, it will also likely mean a greater threat of biowarfare. Creating a new virus may just be a matter of downloading Read More ›

twisted-clock-face-time-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Twisted clock face. Time concept
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 19, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Do Time and Space Mean the Same Thing to Humans as to Computers?

Futurist George Gilder tells us, humans don’t treat physical and chemical forces or clock pulses the way computers do
News
November 19, 2020
5
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Recently, we have looked at four of the six assumptions that, according to futurist George Gilder in Gaming AI, are generally shared by those who believe that, sometime soon in a Singularity , we will merge with our machines: Four of them are: 1) The brain is a computer and Big Data is a Big Answer (here) and 2) maps are territories and reality follows our rules (here). Now here are the final two: • The Locality Assumption: Actions of human agents reflect only immediate physical forces impinging directly on them. • The Digital Time Assumption: Time is objective and measured by discrete increments. (p. 50) Gilder tells us that the Locality Assumption means that “minds respond to local inputs Read More ›

atoms-and-their-electron-clouds-quantum-mechanics-and-atomic-structure-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Atoms and their electron clouds , Quantum mechanics and atomic structure
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 14, 2020
Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science
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The Aliens Exist—But Evolved Into Virtual Reality at a Nanoscale

That’s the Transcension Hypothesis, the latest in our series on science fiction hypotheses as to why we don’t see extraterrestrials
News
November 14, 2020
10
Arts & Culture, Science

Readers will recall that we have been looking at science writer Matt Williams’s analysis of the various reasons that we do not see extraterrestrials except at the movies. Last week, we looked at the Firstborn Hypothesis: We don’t see aliens because they haven’t evolved yet. And, when they do, we must be careful not to harm their development through colonization. This week is a bit of a deeper dive: The extraterrestrials have evolved so far beyond us that perhaps we could not encounter them. … the Transcension Hypothesis ventures that an advanced civilization will become fundamentally altered by its technology. In short, it theorizes that any ETIs that predate humanity have long-since transformed into something that is not recognizable by Read More ›

robotic-man-cyborg-face-representing-artificial-intelligence-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Robotic man cyborg face representing artificial intelligence 3D rendering
Type
post
Author
News
Date
November 5, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Has the Singularity Been Called Off? Indefinitely Postponed?

If a human brain has as many connections as the whole internet, why should we merge with computers in a Singularity?
News
November 5, 2020
7
Artificial Intelligence

In this week’s podcast, “George Gilder on Superintelligent AI,” tech philosopher George Gilder and computer engineer Robert J. Marks, our Walter Bradley Center director, continued their discussion of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). This time, they focused on whether, in terms of AI, we are in an Indian summer (a warm period just before winter sets in). Or is AI advancing to a superintelligence that eclipses the intellect of humans? You can download Gilder’s new book, Gaming AI, for free here. The two earlier episodes and transcripts are linked below. And now … https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-107-George-Gilder.mp3 From the transcript: (Show Notes, Resources, and a link to the complete transcript follow.) Robert J. Marks: Why do you believe that we are on Read More ›

schematic-of-human-brain-and-communication-via-circuit-board-artificial-intelligence-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
schematic of human brain and communication via circuit-board, artificial intelligence
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
November 5, 2020
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George Gilder on Superintelligent AI

Robert J. Marks
November 5, 2020
1

George Gilder and Robert J. Marks discuss the human brain, superintelligent machines, artificial intelligence, and George Gilder’s new book Gaming AI: Why AI Can’t Think but Can Transform Jobs (which you can get for free here). Show Notes 00:29 | Introducing George Gilder 01:00 | An “Indian summer” in AI? 03:45 | Superintelligence 06:04 | The future of computing technology Read More ›

the-robot-writes-with-a-pen-and-looks-at-the-computer-monitor-artificial-intelligence-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
The robot writes with a pen and looks at the computer monitor. Artificial Intelligence
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
September 24, 2020
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Bingecast: Selmer Bringsjord on the Lovelace Test

Robert J. Marks
September 24, 2020
3

The Turing test, developed by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour indistinguishable from a human. Many think that Turing’s proposal for intelligence, especially creativity, has been proven inadequate. Is the Lovelace test a better alternative? What are the capabilities and limitations of AI? Robert J. Marks and Dr. Selmer Bringsjord discuss Read More ›

robot-make-a-relationships-with-human-it-use-for-match-and-make-satisfaction-for-love-buddy-by-pair-the-personality-data-with-algorithms-technology-combine-deep-machine-learning-digital-twin-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
robot make a relationships with human, it use for match and make satisfaction for love buddy by pair the personality data with algorithms technology combine deep, machine learning, digital twin
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
September 17, 2020
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Are We Here to Re-Create Ourselves?

Robert J. Marks
September 17, 2020
2

What are the capacities of human-like robots? Will they ever replace humans? Dr. Geoffrey Simmons and Dr. Robert J. Marks discuss artificial intelligence, outer space, consciousness, and Dr. Simmons’ book Are We Here to Re-Create Ourselves?: The Convergence of Designs. Show Notes 00:24 | Introducing Dr. Geoffrey Simmons 02:07 | Are we here to re-create ourselves? 04:11 | A purpose Read More ›

constructed face and skeleton.jpg
Skin flaking off face, reveals skull, robotic head. 3d render
Type
post
Author
News
Date
August 14, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Technocracy
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Is Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity Nearer or Still Impossible?

AI might help us unlock our potential, a panel concludes, but it won’t take over
News
August 14, 2020
6
Artificial Intelligence, Global Technology, Technocracy
A panel of experts wrestle with Ray Kurzweil's prediction at the COSM 2019 Technology Summit that we will merge with our computers by 2045 — The Singularity. Read More ›
robot-with-artificial-intelligence-observing-human-skull-in-evolved-cybernetic-organism-world-3d-rendered-image-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Robot with Artificial Intelligence observing human skull in Evolved Cybernetic organism world. 3d rendered image
Type
post
Author
News
Date
July 18, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Science
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Could Super Artificial Intelligence Be, in Some Sense, Alive?

An AI theorist makes the case to a technical writer…
News
July 18, 2020
11
Artificial Intelligence, Science

Tech writer Ben Dickson poses the question: Should you feel bad about pulling the plug on a robot or switch off an artificial intelligence algorithm? Not for the moment. But how about when our computers become as smart—or smarter—than us? Ben Dickson, “What will happen when we reach the AI singularity?” at TheNextWeb, July 7, 2020 Philosopher Borna Jalšenjak (above right) of the Luxembourg School of Business has been thinking about that. He has a chapter, “The Artificial Intelligence Singularity: What It Is and What It Is Not,” in Guide to Deep Learning Basics: Logical, Historical and Philosophical Perspectives, in which he explores the case for “thinking machines” being alive, even if they are machines. The book as a whole Read More ›

thought-catalog-505eectW54k-unsplash
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
April 2, 2020
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The Turing Test is Dead. Long Live The Lovelace Test

Robert J. Marks
April 2, 2020
1

The Turing test, developed by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour indistinguishable from a human. Many think that Turing’s proposal for intelligence, especially creativity, has been proven inadequate. Is the Lovelace test a better alternative? Robert J. Marks and Dr. Selmer Bringsjord discuss the Turing test, the Lovelace test, and machine Read More ›

COSM-3887
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 31, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning
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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
4
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

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.

Read More ›
lennox-london-2
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
October 31, 2019
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Bingecast: John Lennox on the Promise and Threat of AI

Robert J. Marks
October 31, 2019
1

Natural and artificial intelligence can be discussed from a number of viewpoints, including philosophically, technically and theologically. Robert J. Marks and Dr. John Lennox address AI from all of these points of view today on Mind Matters. Show Notes 01:10 | Introducing Dr. John Lennox 03:33 | Bacon and Erdős numbers 05:38 | Should we fear artificial intelligence? 06:10 | Read More ›