Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagTechnology

jinx from arcane
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 30, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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The Moral Genius of Arcane

The show reveals how pursuing knowledge for the sake of greater manipulation, power, and control can open the floodgates of chaos
Peter Biles
March 30, 2023
4
Arts & Culture

The 2021 show Arcane, based on the video game League of Legends, is fantastic. The animation style, writing, and world-building all merit its 100 percent scored rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Apart from its entertainment value, which is formidable, Arcane explores the pertinent themes of power, progress, and the promises and pitfalls of technological advancement. It does this without heavy-handedness, “instructing by delighting,” in the words of C.S. Lewis. A Powerful Civilization and a Chaotic Underworld The story takes place in the utopian city of Piltover, which prides itself on its innovations in science, technology, and infrastructure. On the lower edges of the city lies the unruly Zaun, an oppressed underworld overrun with crime and an addictive drug called “Shimmer.” The 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

surface of venus
The surface of Venus, the irregularities of the planet. Elements of this image furnished by NASA
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 23, 2023
Categorized
Arts & Culture
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C.S. Lewis and Science Fiction

Sci-fi can reveal that you don't necessarily need to visit Mars to find the bizarre and beautiful
Peter Biles
March 23, 2023
4
Arts & Culture

The 20th-century intellectual, novelist, poet, and popular theologian C.S. Lewis was a rare bird. He spent most of his life embedded in the academic world, to which he contributed greatly, but was also a lover of fairy tales and the dystopian. His long-held affection for fantasy and science fiction led him to write some of the most popular fictional works in recent memory, most notably The Chronicles of Narnia and what’s commonly known as the “space trilogy,” though Lewis himself objected to the term “space” as an adequate descriptor of what he viewed as a vibrant and meaningful cosmos. In a more obscure Lewis title, Of Other Worlds, Lewis writes of his appreciation for science fiction and what makes the 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

bulb brain
Creative Idea with Brain and Light Bulb Illustration, with Generative AI Technology
Type
post
Author
News
Date
March 21, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Dear Silicon Valley: You’re Over-Hyping ChatGPT

The abilities of these new chatbots are grossly overstated
News
March 21, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence

Gary Smith and Jeffrey Funk, frequent Mind Matters contributors, co-wrote a piece at Salon on the over-exaggerated dreams big tech has for AI. They write, Silicon Valley’s pre-eminent leaders love prematurely predicting that their products will completely upend the world as we know it. The latest case study comes from Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT AI chatbot that has gone viral for its convincing imitations of human writing. Two years ago, Altman wrote a manifesto, “Moore’s Law for Everything,” in which he forecast that artificial intelligence would make huge swaths of both white collar and blue collar jobs obsolete. -Smith & Funk, Don’t believe the hype: why ChatGPT is not the “holy grail” of AI research | Read More ›

looking at art
Rear view of a guy in his 30s looking at an art exhibition
Type
post
Author
News
Date
March 21, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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Artists and Writers Unite Against AI

New Guardian article highlights the artists and writers pushing back against AI
News
March 21, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

A new article from The Guardian covers the struggle of artists, writers, and other “creatives” who are pushing back against AI systems like Midjourney and ChatGPT, which they purport is starting to replace their viability. Betsy Reed writes, Poetry may still be a hard nut for AI to crack convincingly, but among the first to face a genuine threat to their livelihoods are photographers and designers. Generative software can produce images at the touch of the button, while sites like the popular NightCafe make “original”, data-derived artwork in response to a few simple verbal prompts. The first line of defence is a growing movement of visual artists and image agencies who are now “opting out” of allowing their work to Read More ›

COSM2022-Nov10-174A0082-bob-marks***compressed
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
March 20, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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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 ›

world of cyber
Cyber ​​relationships on the Internet. Connected people. People and microchips. Cybernetic society. Alone in the net.
Type
post
Author
News
Date
March 2, 2023
Categorized
Technology
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The Technological Society We Live In

In today's world, we think we can solve everything through technique. How's that going for us?
News
March 2, 2023
2
Technology

In a blog post this week from Salvo, Joshua Pauling cites the influential thinker Jacques Ellul on the development of a “technological society” in Western culture. Pauling writes, Even in the mid-20th century, Ellul, a French philosopher and theologian, saw technique and efficiency coming to consume every aspect of life and society. As he defined it in The Technological Society (originally entitled La Technique in French), technique is the “totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency in every field of human activity” (xxv). Just as the factories of the industrial world were optimized according to new standards of efficiency, now everything is measured, recorded, analyzed through a lens of efficiency, and then submitted to a technique to maximize outcomes according to Read More ›

dissolving metaverse
introduction to the metaverse universe. Man wearing augmented reality glasses for future technology. transition to the virtual world.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 25, 2023
Categorized
Virtual Reality
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More Bad News for the Metaverse

Virtual reality projects are losing steam across the tech industry in the wake of layoffs and investor skepticism
Peter Biles
January 25, 2023
2
Virtual Reality

Big tech companies across the spectrum, including Meta, Microsoft, and Apple, are scaling back on virtual reality research and development. The technological demands of the metaverse are more advanced than CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg have anticipated, and employees are feeling the impact. Microsoft recently laid off 10,000 workers, cutting funding from the lab responsible for the production of its mixed-reality “HoloLens.” The army was originally in the works to use the Microsoft lens for aids in combat and training, but the technology has since been labeled as “dangerous and poorly designed.” Meta laid off 11,000 employees last November and continues to struggle to gain interest and traction for its ambitious metaverse project. A report from Insider notes that a combination Read More ›

google on ipad
Bangkok, Thailand 25 AUG 2020. Men hand using digital tablet for search information on Google. Wireless Smartphone technology with intelligence search engine.
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post
Author
News
Date
January 25, 2023
Categorized
Law, Media
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U.S. Department of Justice Sues Google (Again)

The DOJ claims the tech giant is unlawfully monopolizing the digital advertising market
News
January 25, 2023
2
Law, Media

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing Google, claiming the technology company has monopolized the digital advertising market. This marks the second federal anti-trust suit against Google. Google has led the digital advertising market for years, although companies like TikTok and Amazon are becoming more viable competitors. Despite the competition, Google still raked in $209B in advertising in 2021, per a briefing from 1440 News, and its 2022 financial report is expected to disclose similar numbers. The official complaint notes the benefit and importance of a “vibrant internet” in American life but emphasizes the centrality of economic diversity and competition. Section 4 of the complaint claims “the ad tech space is broken,” further explaining,   One industry behemoth, Google, Read More ›

abstract-ai-generated-illustration-of-a-colored-floating-liquid-in-the-trend-colors-pink-orange-blue-and-violet-stockpack-adobe-stock
abstract ai generated illustration of a colored floating liquid in the trend colors pink, orange, blue and violet
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 17, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Law
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Three Artists Launch Lawsuit Against Stable Diffusion

Content creators claim new AI tools violate copyright and intellectual property
Peter Biles
January 17, 2023
2
Artificial Intelligence, Law

Three artists, Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan and Karla Ortiz are filing a lawsuit against the AI image generators Midjourney, Stability AI, and DeviantArt. They claim the AI tools commit copyright violation and infringement of intellectual property. The lawsuit appears amid growing concerns among content creators over the increasing popularity and use of new AI image and text generators like DALL-E and ChatGPT. According to a report from Techspot,  The trio have launched a class action on behalf of all artists affected and are “seeking compensation for damages caused by Stability AI, DeviantArt, and Midjourney, and an injunction to prevent future harms.” The lawsuit alleges direct copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement related to forgeries, violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Read More ›

top-mark-on-essay-stockpack-adobe-stock
Top mark on essay
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 4, 2023
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Students Depend on ChatGPT for Final Exams

The new bot will only get better from here, but it won’t help students become better thinkers
Peter Biles
January 4, 2023
4
Artificial Intelligence

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s new artificial intelligence chatbot, has made headlines for over a month now, and for good reason. It’s an advanced bot designed to problem solve. It can “converse” with people on a range of topics. A problem for us to solve now is how to deal with ChatGPT’s invasion into the sphere of education. Students report using ChatGPT on final exams and papers according to a recent write-up from The College Fix. One College of Staten Island student used the bot on both final exams and “got As on both.” He commented that “half the kids in my class used it.” The student also noted that he used the chatbot to complete a multiple-choice exam, on which he got Read More ›

a-man-on-the-background-of-a-gloomy-city-stockpack-adobe-stock
A man on the background of a gloomy city
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
December 29, 2022
Categorized
Technocracy
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Science, Safety, & Slavery to the State

Revisiting a 2022 conversation between Paul Kingsnorth and Jonathan Pageau
Peter Biles
December 29, 2022
4
Technocracy

Paul Kingsnorth is a writer and novelist living in Ireland who operates a Substack account called the Abbey of Misrule. For years his work has focused on the many forms of civilizational control that human beings seek to exert over their fellow man and how such power, whether it be technological, governmental, or corporate, diminishes our humanity and freedom. He is also a newly converted Christian, and he wrote his conversion story for First Things last summer, which you can find here. In April, Kingsnorth joined Jonathan Pageau on his YouTube channel. Pageau is an Eastern Orthodox iconographer from Canada. In their discussion, Kingsnorth uses the word “Machine” to describe the massive technological control that’s now not so subtly creeping up on many western countries. From Read More ›

meta with human hand
Hand touch metaverse infinite loop unlimited technology futuristic digital connection background of virtual reality cyberpunk world or internet game innovation cyber network and hologram experience.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
November 20, 2022
Categorized
Social Media
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Big Layoffs Ahead for Zuckerberg’s Meta

Employee downsizing at the social media giant casts doubt on its relevancy and future
Peter Biles
November 20, 2022
4
Social Media

With recent headlines highlighting Elon Musk’s Twitter, Meta’s ongoing troubles have escaped some of the limelight, but are significant, nonetheless. This past week, Mark Zuckerberg announced over 11,000 layoffs across his company, focusing on recruiting and business, according to a memo. The layoffs will affect some 13 percent of the tech giant’s 87,000 employees. Meta, due in large part to its optimistic investment in the metaverse, plummeted in value this past year, and workers are feeling the consequences.   While the tech industry is seeing high personnel cuts this year, Zuckerberg did not have to hire as many people as he did, and clearly depended too much on the metaverse project for profit, which looks like it won’t be nearly Read More ›

robot army
Military artificial intelligence arms race to produce an AI enabled army with autonomous robot soldiers and weapon systems, conceptual illustration
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
October 27, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence
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Robots, Drones, and Modern Warfare

Robots might not take over the world like the sci-fi movies depict, but AI in modern warfare threatens much destruction
Peter Biles
October 27, 2022
4
Artificial Intelligence

You might remember the blockbuster movie I, Robot (2004) starring Will Smith, who plays a tough-minded homicide detective named Del Spooner in Chicago in the year 2035. Humanoid robots serve humanity and have become incorporated into society. Still, ever since a robot saved Del at the expense of a little girl, he hates them and thinks they will eventually overrun the world. I, Robot imagines a society in which AI could physically overtake humanity. The technology we’ve created for our own use ends up using us, unto our own destruction. Movies like I, Robot, Terminator, and others envision sentient, human-like robots that threaten to jeopardize the meaning of being human. But is that the real danger of AI, or does Read More ›

fantasy v
NFT virtual land is an own-able area of digital land on a metaverse platform, NFT real estate is parcels of virtual land minted on the blockchain, conceptual illustration
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
October 12, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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The Danger of Deepfakes (and Deepcake)

In a metaverse world dominated by AI, life and art is in danger of being eclipsed
Peter Biles
October 12, 2022
4
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other optimistic futurists think the metaverse is our collective future. We will exist in virtual nonexistence. We will eat, shop, worship, communicate, and marry in the metaverse. This is where progress is taking us. So, we’d best go along for the ride if we don’t want to get left behind. But “living” in a metaverse may be much more complicated than you might think. The question of identity, and who has the power to distribute identities at will, haunts the metaverse project, and there doesn’t seem to be an easy solution. In September, a Russian deepfake company called “Deepcake” (the name strangely makes me hungry for dessert) pasted the face of Bruce Willis on a Read More ›

futuristid dystopian city
Dystopian futuristic cyberpunk city at night in a neon haze. Blue and purple glowing neon lights. Urban wallpaper. 3D illustration.
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
September 22, 2022
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture
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AI Art Tool Can Generate Both Beauty and Horror

Making AI image generators mainstream might offer people an interesting new frontier to explore. But the tech has a serious dark side
Peter Biles
September 22, 2022
4
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

The capacities of AI art generators have grown much in the past couple of years. Through complex algorithms, AI scans the internet and manages to make artistic composites, some sublime, others grotesque. Today, AI art generators have incredible potential, but their capacities can also be easily abused. According to a Wired article from September 21, Science fiction novelist Elle Simpson-Edin wanted to generate artwork for her newest book. So, she tried AI tools. Her novel unabashedly depicts gore and sex, but most of the AI tools she discovered included “guardrails” that sanctioned explicit content. That is until she found Unstable Diffusion, “a Discord community for people using unrestricted versions of a recently released, open source AI image tool called Stable Diffusion.” Read More ›

toraja-indonesia-weaving-stockpack-unsplash
Toraja Indonesia Weaving
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Andrew McDiarmid
Date
July 14, 2022
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Weaving the Technology of Our Lives

Robert J. Marks and Andrew McDiarmid
July 14, 2022
1

We have the ability to choose how to weave technology into our lives. How can we use technology in a healthy way? What are the consequences of being always connected and having everything available instantaneously? Andrew McDiarmid discusses technology, digital wellness, and freedom with Robert J. Marks. Additional Resources Andrew McDiarmid’s website Andrew McDiarmid at Discovery.org How to Glorify God Read More ›

Hacker Cyborg. Combination of robot and artificial intelligence
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 30, 2022
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AI: The Potential and the Problems

Robert J. Marks
June 30, 2022
2

Despite the hype regarding the seemingly infinite possibilities surrounding AI technology, artificial intelligence still has a number of humbling hurtles to overcome. Justin Bui and Samuel Haug join Robert J. Marks to discuss the latest developments in artificial intelligence.  Show Notes 00:00:56 | The Homunculus 00:04:09 | Introducing Justin Bui 00:06:54 | Fast AI 00:13:45 | Deepfake Technology 00:21:40 | Read More ›

moment-of-creation-stockpack-adobe-stock
Moment of creation
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
March 3, 2022
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What Does It Mean to Be Human in an Age of Artificial Intelligence?

Robert J. Marks
March 3, 2022
1

What makes mankind special? And what does it mean to flourish on the frontier of a technological future? Robert J. Marks discusses new technology, what artificial intelligence can and can’t do, and the ethical implications of artificial intelligence with Gretchen Huizinga. This interview was originally published by the Beatrice Institute and is repeated here with their permission. Show Notes 01:32 Read More ›