Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagTechnology

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Closed up image of a Female using TikTok application on a smartphone in home. 5 September, 2022. ChiangMai, Thailand.

Escaping the Dopamine Cartel

We can't even be bothered with "entertainment" anymore.
Ted Gioia investigates the impact of the "dopamine culture," our modern tendency to flit among tabs and scroll endlessly through fifteen-second-long video clips Read More ›
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Stock market diagram on LCD screen. Selective focus.

AI and Wall Street’s Hype Curve

Almost all new tech has a hype curve. Here are the stages.
Technologies that have surfed the hype curve include superconductivity, the Segway, cold fusion, information theory, Theranos, Piltdown man and string theory. Read More ›
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graduation

Artificially Smart: Artificial Intelligence and Higher Education

Understanding needs to remain the metric by which students are evaluated

Artificial Intelligence tools like Copilot and ChatGPT can increase productivity. They speed up workflows and can be used to automate freeing people to spend their time on creative tasks. Advances in artificial intelligence technologies had a significant impact on the economy in 2023. Fortune magazine attributes AI-related economic growth as having helped “saved the economy” because growth in this sector offset disappointing returns in other sectors.  But with great power comes great responsibility. The tools of AI allow freshman college students to do what a year ago would have required a decade of professional experience. Educational institutions must carefully consider where and how these tools can be used without undermining the quality of education. Otherwise, overreliance on artificial intelligence will Read More ›

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Abstract flight in retro neon hyper warp space in the tunnel 3d illustration

Alien 3 Review, Part 4

Ripley's curtain call

In the third article, Ripley woke up in an all-male prison after surviving a shuttle crash. A parasitic alien tagged along and implanted an embryo in an inmate’s dog. The embryo breaks out of the animal and begins killing people until everyone figures out what’s going on, then they hatched one of the dumbest plans I’ve ever seen in cinema. After that, Ripley begins feeling sick. She goes to her still fully intact cryobed and scans herself. She finds that the parasitic alien has also planted an embryo inside her. The fact that Ripley had an embryo in her the entire time is ridiculous for a number of reasons. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, her cryobed wasn’t broken, so Read More ›

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Rising planet

Alien 3 Review, Part 3

Aliens vs. Looney Tunes

In the previous reviews, we talked about how Ripley is once again the sole survivor. Her ship crashed because, somehow, the alien queen she killed in the second movie managed to lay an egg in the five minutes before it died. That egg hatched, attacked Ripley and the other’s cryobeds, and some of its acidic salvia melted its way into the ship’s wiring, causing the spacecraft to crash. To make the situation even more ridiculous, the escape shuttle the cryobeds were moved into crashed as well, and everyone expect Ripley was killed. Ripley wakes up in an all-male prison. Superintendent Harold Andrews is concerned for her safety, so he does his best to keep Ripley in the medical wing. Ripley Read More ›

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Community.

You Can Be Social and Still Be Very Lonely

Machines can't meet our need to be known and understood.

In recent years, much attention has been paid to the rising rates of loneliness in our culture. We hear about the declining marriage and birthrates, the loss of extended family relations, and the shocking data revealing how today’s average person rarely has more than five actual friends. You may have felt the weight of loneliness yourself in recent years, particularly given the COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation the lockdown mandates created. It became quickly apparent that human contact is not an added luxury but a human necessity. Perhaps even the most intense introverts among us (of which I’m included) can relate. We were designed for community. However, although common sense might indicate that the cure for loneliness is more human Read More ›

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Blurred crowd of unrecognizable at the street

This New Year, Resolve to Stay Human

This year, we will continue to declare that human beings are unique and exceptional.

Scholar Laura Robinson, who got her PhD from Duke, posted the following on X on the last day of 2023: I’m sure other people are getting something out of this but all my direct contact with AI has been so depressing. For example, I used to be part of a bunch of crochet groups and boards on social media and I’ve quit them all because now they are 90 percent people posting AI art that’s obviously not a photo of a real crochet project and everyone praising them for it because they can’t tell the difference. It’s so annoying. It feels like so much creativity has gone out of the world. –Dr. Laura Robinson on X The message made me Read More ›

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Pipe line oil and gas valves at gas plant pressure safety valve selective

“Ghost Work” and the Enduring Necessity of Human Labor

Contrary to popular assumptions, the greater the automation, the greater the need for human labor.
As automation increases, the need for human labor increases, and as a corollary, so does the need for humans in general. Read More ›
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young  unhappy woman suffering from depression, and stress

Is This a Moral Reckoning? 41 States Sue Meta for Knowingly Addicting Young Users

The lawsuit claims that Meta's platforms are harming its young users. The data backs it up.
The lawsuit coincides with a new article from Jean Twenge, known for researching "Gen-Z" and their painful relationship with addictive digital media. Read More ›
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hand holds a disposable film camera

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.

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 ›

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Hands of a male photographer holding a digital camera taking pictures of a idyllic landscape with a lake and mountains while the picture shows at the display

Two Notable Reads: Children and Tech and the Illusions of Photography

How much should kids be online? And is taking pictures taking us out of real life?
Teenagers' mental health has been on the decline over the last decade, particularly among teen girls. Idealized images can be fodder for the social comparison game. Read More ›
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Old black telephone

The Wisdom of Elders for Navigating Modern Life

If you feel overwhelmed and frustrated about life in the digital age, here's a tip: talk to your elders.
Tech critic Andrew McDiarmid speaks of his friendship with Dorothy, a wise elderly woman he befriended who espoused a sound view of technology. Read More ›
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Modern glass elevator and escalator in a shopping mall. Empty mall.

Zero K: A Novel About Escaping the World Through Technology

Zero K by novelist Don DeLillo is a frightening but prophetic tale of transhumanism and the temptation to evade suffering at all costs.
The book is prophetic, merging two pertinent issues into one speculative tale: euthanasia and transhumanism. Read More ›
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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

Are We Approaching the Singularity?

Are humans progressing morally as well as materially? What does it mean to be human in the cosmos?

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 ›

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Group of students using laptops and other devices in classroom.

The Kids Aren’t Taking Notes

Colleges have become too dependent on digital methods of learning and communication.
Visit a typical classroom in the United States and you’re bound to see just about every student “taking notes” behind a computer screen as the professor lectures at the helm. Read More ›
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AGV (Automated guided vehicle) in warehouse logistic and transport.

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Sues Amazon

The lawsuit convicts Amazon of suppressing competition and stifling innovation from potential rivals

In a long-awaited lawsuit, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Amazon for seeking to monopolize the online market, according to Reuters. The lawsuit convicts Amazon of suppressing competition and stifling innovation from potential rivals, arriving after years of complaints. From the Reuters article: he lawsuit, which was joined by 17 state attorneys general, follows a four-year investigation and federal lawsuits filed against Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms’ Facebook. “The FTC and its state partners say Amazon’s actions allow it to stop rivals and sellers from lowering prices, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, stifle innovation, and prevent rivals from fairly competing against Amazon,” the agency said in a statement. The FTC said that it was asking the court Read More ›

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Telecommunications tower, antenna and satellite dish and city at night as background

The Future of 5G

Feutsch says that one of the great benefits of 5G will not only be faster speeds, but much lower latency

In today’s featured video from a past COSM conference, Jay Richards interviews Andre Fuetsch, President of AT&T Labs and Chief Technical Officer at AT&T, about the future of 5G communications. Feutsch says that one of the great benefits of 5G will not only be faster speeds, but much lower latency. This will be a “game changer” for latency-sensitive applications such as autonomous vehicles, drones, and online gaming that require real time information. Andre Feutsch oversees the global technology direction for AT&T. This includes network planning, the company’s innovation road map, AT&T Labs, AT&T Foundry, and the intellectual property organization. His responsibilities include spearheading the design of the company’s next-generation 5G wireless infrastructure and software-defined networking (SDN) initiative. (REGISTER NOW FOR Read More ›

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Parking electric cars. Charging stations, fast charging cars. 3d illustration

The Benefits of Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Technology

Innovation has always created more opportunity, not less

In today’s featured video from a past COSM conference, Jay Richards interviews Tom Alberg, Founder, Madrona Venture Group and Co-chair of the ACES Northwest Network, about ACES’ efforts to bring Automated, Connected, Electric, and Shared vehicle technologies to the Puget Sound region. Alberg dismisses the idea that these new technologies will lead to job loss because innovation has always created more opportunity, not less. (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 of the greatest minds Read More ›

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Julie Love at COSM 2021 interviewed by Jay Richards

Microsoft’s Julie Love on Quantum Computing

How might quantum computing change the technology in the future?

In today’s featured video from a past COSM conference, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Jay Richards interviews Julie Love, Director of Quantum Computing Business Development at Microsoft, about how quantum computing differs from classical computing and what the future holds for this technology. (REGISTER NOW FOR COSM 2023) 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. (REGISTER NOW FOR COSM 2023) We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences. This video is just one of many you can find at Read More ›