Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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3d-abstract-render-of-blue-glass-cubes-in-grid-forming-data-trend-stockpack-adobe-stock
3d abstract render of blue glass cubes in grid forming data trend
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
November 20, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Sam Altman Out at OpenAI, Microsoft Picks Him Up

Will Microsoft become the prime leader in the AI movement, and what will be the future of OpenAI?
Peter Biles
November 20, 2023
3
Artificial Intelligence

The CEO and founder of OpenAI, the tech company responsible for creating ChatGPT, was fired by the company’s board last week in a surprising turn of events. The former executive’s dramatic firing was followed by rumors of his potential rejoining OpenAI, but that’s a false hope. Microsoft hired Altman after his failed attempt to retake control of OpenAI over the weekend. Altman will reportedly head up artificial intelligence efforts at Microsoft, according to CNN. Krystal Hur reports, Microsoft stock reached a record high on Monday after the company said that Sam Altman, former chief executive of OpenAI, will join the company to head its artificial intelligence innovation leg. Shares of the tech behemoth hit $377.10 on Monday morning before retreating slightly. The Read More ›

hand-holds-a-disposable-film-camera-stockpack-adobe-stock
hand holds a disposable film camera
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
October 21, 2023
Categorized
Social Media
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Trying to Solve Social Media’s Problems Through…More Social Media

Alternative social media apps still have to figure out ways to keep you scrolling.
Peter Biles
October 21, 2023
3
Social Media

Last month a friend invited me to download a new photography app called “Lapse.” Perhaps you’ve already heard of it and downloaded it yourself. I decided to try it and see what all the fuss was about. The app’s opening screen was dramatic, with captions about the failures of previous social media apps to truly “capture” the present moment. The business model of social media apps, the Lapsers rightly contend, revolves around “likes” and gaining “friends.” What happened to taking pictures of real, human moments without minding the social reward they might reap? Photo-taking was about holding on to moments that mattered. It wasn’t about filters, validation, or identity. Lapse promises to be different. It’s a disposable camera on your Read More ›

armed-robbery-stockpack-adobe-stock
ARMED ROBBERY
Type
post
Author
Russ White
Date
October 18, 2023
Categorized
Social Media
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The Great Trust Heist

When social media companies are mining data, trust is naturally undermined.
Russ White
October 18, 2023
5
Social Media

As the train lurches to a stop, bandits dismount from their horses and climb aboard. While some rifle through the mail and packages for valuables, others press through the aisles of the passenger carriages repeating the time-worn “your money or your life!” The mythos of the great train robbery, shrouded in guns and steam, captures our imaginations in ways few other events can. While the obvious losses from a great train heist are the physical items that have been stolen, and the lives damaged or ruined, there is another loss we do not often think about: trust. Railroad robberies cause passengers to lose trust in the railroad company, shippers to lose trust in the shipping company, and the public to Read More ›

trader-with-laptop-looking-at-financial-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-crypto-graph-data-trade-created-with-generative-ai-tools-stockpack-adobe-stock
Trader with laptop looking at financial bitcoin cryptocurrency crypto graph data trade. Created with Generative AI tools
Type
post
Author
News
Date
August 16, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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SPACs, IPOs, and Direct Listings

What are the new tools to unlock capital markets?
News
August 16, 2023
1
Technology

Matt McIlwain, Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group, moderates a panel on exciting new investment tools: SPACs, IPOs, and Direct Listings. Panelists include Kristin Zimmerman, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, Michael Nordtvedt, Partner at Wilson Sonsini, and Byran Mistele, CEO of INRIX. 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 that range from economics, Big Tech, and artificial intelligence. Notable speakers include 2022 Kyoto Prize winner Carver Mead, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and George Gilder, co-founder of Discovery Institute and author of Life After Capitalism: The Meaning of Read More ›

high-internet-speed-stockpack-adobe-stock
High internet speed
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post
Author
News
Date
August 11, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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What is the Future of the Internet?

Jay Richards interviews University of Texas Professor of Innovation Bob Metcalfe regarding the future of the internet
News
August 11, 2023
2
Technology

In today’s featured video from a past COSM conference, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Jay Richards interviews University of Texas Professor of Innovation Bob Metcalfe regarding the future of the internet. Be sure to register now for the COSM 2023 conference, which will be held in November in Bellevue, Washington. COSM is an exclusive national summit on the technologies remaking the world as we know it. The mission of the conference is to stimulate debate and deliberation amongst industry leaders, illuminating the synergy between Seattle and the world and providing a scene of civilized conversation and exchange. 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 Read More ›

COSM-2021-audiece-174A3275
Distinguished guests at COSM 2021
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post
Author
News
Date
May 26, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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Tackling the Big Questions with Carver Mead

Mead said that COSM attendees argued in good faith in order to reach the truth
News
May 26, 2023
1
Technology

Dr. Carver Mead, Professor Emeritus and California Institute of Technology and recipient of the prestigious 2022 Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology, gave the closing remarks for last year’s COSM conference. “We’ve tackled the big questions,” Mead said. Mead noted that in a system where free information is bountiful, our adversaries will try to set us at odds against each other. “That’s the one thing that can cripple us,” he said. “Is when we get at odds with each other. This COSM has been a wonderful example of us arguing over things not because we have a fixed idea and we don’t want to change because of some preconceived notion, but because we want to get to the truth.” You can Read More ›

tv-news-studio-recording-and-broadcasting-media-in-a-modern-set-design-with-blue-background-for-journalists-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
TV News studio - recording and broadcasting media in a modern set design with blue background for journalists. Generative AI
Type
post
Author
News
Date
May 2, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Media and Tech Companies Continue to Struggle

Vice reportedly is opting for bankruptcy, while Meta's metaverse flounders
News
May 2, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

According to a report from The New York Times, Vice Media Group, the entertainment outlet, is expected to file for bankruptcy. The news arrives amid considerable downsizing in the once leading media giant. Vice has long been known for its outreach to younger audiences and popularizing itself on social media platforms. Buzzfeed also recently announced the closure of its news division. After years of edgy and “irreverant” reporting, it seems the act is over. Other major technology companies are cutting expenses and laying off employees. With Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the woes seem to amount to the failed metaverse project, which was apparently was supposed to be so groundbreaking that it merited a makeover of the company name. With its vague Read More ›

clock
Business times concept people walking overlay with time clock
Type
post
Author
News
Date
March 29, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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It’s About Time

The cliche phrase "time is money" needs to be subverted by better metaphors, according to Odell
News
March 29, 2023
2
Technology

Artist and writer Jenny Odell, author of the new book Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, was recently interviewed by Wired. Odell’s 2019 book is called How to Do Nothing. In the interview, Odell discussed how the invention of the clock has altered the way people think about time, labor, and productivity. The cliche phrase “time is money” needs to be subverted by better metaphors, according to Odell, ones that emphasize meaning instead of mere activity. When she was asked how she avoided productivity “burnout” in her own writing life, Odell responded, If you’re not thinking of time as money, the other thing that you could be trying to find is meaning. That’s ultimately what I want out Read More ›

retro-wave-80s-computer-all-in-one-illuminated-by-neon-light-isolated-on-black-stockpack-adobe-stock
Retro wave 80s computer all-in-one illuminated by neon light isolated on black
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post
Author
News
Date
March 17, 2023
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AI is Old News, Says Tech Consultant

AI actually dates back to the 1950s. It is not new, says Funk
News
March 17, 2023
1

This week, Robert J. Marks sat down with technology consultant and retired professor Jeffrey Funk, who contributes often to Mind Matters, usually in tandem with Gary Smith. Marks and Funk talked about tech startups, where the industry is headed, and the exaggerated hype that currently attends the discourse over AI. Funk talked about the various stages of AI development. “AI is not new,” he said. AI is 70 years old. ChatGPT and other generative AI models are based on neural networks, which have become economical through Moore’s Law, through this incredible increase in computing power that has been going on since the 1950s. But it’s slowed dramatically. -Jeffrey Funk, Jeffrey Funk on AI, Startups, and Big Tech | Mind Matters Read More ›

Screenshot 2023-02-24 133413 Robert Marks take 2
Type
post
Author
News
Date
February 24, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Robert J. Marks Appears On “The Agenda”

Watch Dr. Marks engage with two leading artificial intelligence thinkers on "The Agenda"
News
February 24, 2023
1
Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Robert J. Marks, director of the Walter Bradley Center, appeared on a segment of “The Agenda” recently to speak on the topic of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT. He was joined with Melanie Mitchell of the Sante Fe Institute and MIT’s Max Tegmark. Hosted by Steve Paikin, the three discussed the benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence and what it means to be human in a technological age, as well as the perennial question of consciousness. You can watch the entire conversation on YouTube: Dr. Marks had the opportunity to discuss some of the key themes he discusses in his book Non-Computable You: What You Do That Artificial Intelligence Never Will, contending that AI, while it has benefits, does not Read More ›

living forever
Sci-fi fantasy futuristic background art scifi artwork tech technology Architecture digital illustration art wallpaper future concept dystopia cyberpunk
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
February 15, 2023
Categorized
Transhumanism
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Humans Have Limits. Transhumanists Want to Overcome Them

The prophetic words of C.S. Lewis still strike home today
Peter Biles
February 15, 2023
4
Transhumanism

This article originally appeared as a blog post at Salvo on May 13th, 2022. C.S. Lewis wrote an apt and prophetic line in his book The Abolition of Man that feels even more prescient today: “There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the wisdom of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men.” I think it’s safe to say that today, the world’s elites in government, tech, media, and education embody precisely the opposite of Lewis’s understanding Read More ›

surveillance
Video camera lens
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 31, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, China
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China Leads the World in Face Recognition Exports

The global power is exporting the AI to weak and autocratic countries, according to a report from Brookings Institute
Peter Biles
January 31, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence, China

China is the world’s leading exporter of facial recognition technology, according to a study conducted by researchers from Harvard and MIT. The study aimed to elucidate the ramifications of the AI revolution and what it means for such technology to be exported from a global power like China. They found that China is more likely than other countries to export AI technology to other countries. China also focuses on exporting facial recognition to countries with weak democracies that are experiencing social unrest and upheaval. Political motivation might be driving such trades. The authors write, The Chinese government’s demand for surveillance and political control translates into more exports of AI. Moreover, our finding that autocrats and would-be autocrats abroad demand surveillance Read More ›

monk praying in forest
Monk figure praying in the forest
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 20, 2023
Categorized
Social Media, Spirituality
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Do You Struggle to Focus? Medieval Monks Did Too

New book shows how ancient monks fought distraction and what they can teach us today
Peter Biles
January 20, 2023
4
Social Media, Spirituality

While the battle against constant distraction might seem like a new problem posed by our diffuse technologies, a new book from Jamie Kreiner argues that the struggle is perennial. The book is The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction. Kreiner takes the problem of distraction and puts it into the hands of the religious recluses of late antiquity. It turns out they had a lot to say. Like us, they struggled to maintain vigorous work routines. They courted the opinions of other monks and writers on what a modern-day LinkedIn guru would call “workflow” or “hustle.” In short, they were not so different from us. In his review of the book for Wired, Matt Reynolds writes, Early Read More ›