Why the Idea That the Human Mind Is an Illusion Doesn’t Work
Sitting in a room with me are some smart people listening to a podcast of neuroscientist Sam Harris. They nod solemnly as Harris tells them that their thoughts are all illusions. No one has free will...
View ArticleThe Infinity Mirror Trap: Part 2: The Thought Determinism Paradox
In Part 1 of this series, we saw how the belief that “every human thought is an illusion” proves empty and powerless when trying to account for the infinity mirror experience. Part 2 here puts another...
View ArticleRandom Evolution Doesn’t Produce Algorithmic Functions in Animals
In a recent article “Evolution and artificial intelligence face the same basic problem,” Eric Holloway addressed the conundrum faced by artificial intelligence theorists: How can “a random process with...
View ArticleWhy Software Cannot Just Evolve — a Demonstration
A Michigan State University publication headlined a media release declaring: “Evolution of learning is key to better artificial intelligence” (September 19, 2019). Reportedly, researchers used the...
View ArticleArtificial Intelligence Slams on the Brakes
Having just donated your well-worn 1994 Toyota Camry to charity, you’re driving a brand new 2020 Honda sedan on a major street, enjoying air-conditioned comfort on a sunny day, with the satellite radio...
View ArticleCan a Robot be Arrested and Prosecuted?
The title, “Can a Robot Be Arrested? Hold a Patent? Pay Income Taxes?”, is bound to attract clicks and attention. Posted on the IEEE Spectrum site, a podcast transcript by that name reports Steven...
View ArticleCan a Robot Hold a Patent?
Since the late 1800s, people have been intrigued by robots. There’s something strange, wonderful, but sometimes scary about walking, talking, thinking machines, especially when in human form. Talking...
View ArticleShould Robots Pay Taxes?
In June 2021, we started considering the provocatively titled podcast transcript, “Can a Robot Be Arrested? Hold a Patent? Pay Income Taxes?”, posted on the IEEE Spectrum site. Steven Cherry...
View ArticleWhy AI Cannot Successfully Run the Economy
Optimists talk about artificial intelligence (AI) as magnificent tools and ultimately a source of world salvation. Pessimists warn that AI can produce the implements of tyranny and ultimately soulless...
View ArticleAsilomar AI Principles: Ethics to Guide a Top-Down Control Regime
Get 1,200 artificial intelligence (AI) researchers and 2,500 other businesspeople and academics, such as Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Ray Kurzweil, and David Chalmers, to all endorse one document about...
View ArticleThe Intelligence Birds and Bees Naturally Have — and We Don’t
You’re aiming to find your childhood friend’s home in a new city. A map helps; GPS is better. Accessing all that previously-acquired mapmakers’ knowledge, employing all of that satellite, radio and...
View ArticleFor Ants, Building a Bridge Is No “Simple” Task
Researching for my previous Mind Matters article about bird and bee biological software, I came across a short piece at Quanta Magazine entitled “The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges.”...
View Article“Do You Hear What I Hear?” Christmas Music is All in Your Mind
What better time than the Christmas season to explore immaterial realities of the human mind? A perfect example to consider is Christmas music. It’s everywhere during the holiday season. But what...
View ArticleUS Federal court rules: Machines do not “invent” things
Check out this headline from lawandcrime.com: Federal Appellate Court Rules AI Systems Cannot Be “Inventors” Because They Are Not Human. Notice the angle: framing a battle between machines and homo...
View ArticleCan You Trust Wikipedia to Decide Your Courtroom Fate?
Wired recently ran an article entitled “Wikipedia Articles Sway Some Legal Judgments.” The subtitle declared: “An experiment shows that overworked judges turn to the crowdsourced encyclopedia for...
View ArticleThe Courts: May Social Media Censor Speech and Ban Users?
May Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube censor your posts and ban you from using their social media platforms? May a state government require large social media platforms to allow users and posts to present...
View ArticleDid the Court Really Say Bees Are Fish?
See headlines like: “Great Day” For Bumblebees as Californian Court Rules That They Are Fish and: Bees are fish, California court rules You’d believe, on reading them, that a California court recently...
View ArticleHawaiʻi’s Indefinite COVID Lockdown: How Would an AI Rule?
Some people say artificial intelligence (AI) systems can become more intelligent, more intellectually capable, than humankind. After all, they say the AI “AlphaZero has taught itself chess from scratch...
View ArticleDesigned to Dine: Humans are Computers of Flavor
Whether you’re a professional gourmet, a self-styled “foodie,” or an everyday North American who likes to eat, you probably look forward to celebration dinners. At any feast on Thanksgiving, Christmas,...
View ArticleDesigned to Dine, Part 2: How, Exactly, We Compute Flavor
Since Part 1 of this article was served up, have you experienced food and drink with greater awareness of flavor? Part 1 laid out the elements of flavor, including the smell, taste, texture, and mouth...
View ArticleWhy Don’t Robots Have Rights? A Lawyer’s Response
“Free the Robots!” “Equal Rights for Robots!” Or maybe: “Set Us Robots Free!” Such future protest signs might well pop up in social media, to judge from “Why don’t robots have rights?” (Big Think,...
View ArticleLaw: Doe vs. GitHub Is a Non-Crisis
Headline at The Verge: “The lawsuit that could rewrite the rules of AI copyright.” Wired similarly declares: “This Copyright Lawsuit Could Shape the Future of Generative AI.” The subtitle warns:...
View ArticleYou’ve Got a Robot Lawyer in Your Pocket (Really?)
The Gutfeld! program on Fox News on January 6, 2023, recently had fun discussing robots replacing lawyers to practice law. In faux serious rhyme, Greg Gutfeld intoned: “Can a computer that’s self...
View ArticleUtopia’s Brainiac? ChatGPT Gives Biased Views, Not Neutral Truth
Do you trust your pocket calculator? Why? Maybe you’re using the calculator app on your phone. Enter: 2 + 2. You get an answer: 4. But you knew that already. Now enter 111 x 111. Do you get 12,321? Is...
View ArticleChatGPT: Beware the Self-Serving AI Editor
My article, Utopia’s Braniac (short title), reported results from experiments showing that for one, ChatGPT actually lies, and secondly, it gives results plainly biased to favor certain political...
View ArticleLove Thy Robot as Thyself
Riffing on the popular fascination with AI (artificial intelligence) systems ChatGPT and Bing Chat, two authors in the Los Angeles Times recently declared: We are approaching an era of legitimate...
View ArticleAI in the Courtroom: How to Program a Hot Mess
Imagine we’re assigned to design the artificial intelligence (AI) software to carry out legal analysis of cases like a human judge. Our project is “CourtGPT,” a system that receives a factual and legal...
View ArticleCan Professor Turley Sue ChatGPT for Libel?
Isn’t there a law against falsely accusing people of serious crimes or misconduct and then publishing damaging lies to the world? Yes. For centuries in English-speaking countries, the victim of such...
View Article20 Ways AI Enables Criminals
As reported recently and relayed in this publication, a mom in Arizona described how criminals called her to say they were holding her daughter for ransom and used artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic...
View ArticlePanic Propaganda Pushes Surrender to AI-Enhanced Power
Can you believe it? USA Today, the national news outlet, on May 4, 2023, declared (italics added): It’s the end of the world as we know it: ‘Godfather of AI’ warns nation of trouble ahead. Before...
View ArticleLet’s Apply Existing Laws to Regulate AI
In a recent article, Professor Robert J. Marks reported how artificial intelligence (AI) systems had made false reports or gave dangerous advice: Prof. Marks suggested that instead of having government...
View ArticleLawyer Hammered for Using ChatGPT
New York Times reporters watched the hearing in federal district court in New York on June 8, 2023, which they then described: In a cringe-inducing court hearing, a lawyer who relied on A.I. to craft a...
View ArticleMaking Sense of the Warhol v. Goldsmith Supreme Court Case
Here is an excerpt of the transcript from a recent Mind Matters podcast episode, which you can listen to in full here. Lawyer and Walter Bradley Center Fellow Richard W. Stevens sat down with Robert J....
View ArticlePostmodernism’s Steady Deconstruction of Reality
Sometimes, you just have to try using college professors’ ideas in the real world. One such idea is “postmodernism.” Applied to communications, postmodernism teaches that whenever we read a written...
View ArticleHow a Toddler in a Toy Store Refutes Materialism
I’m a magnet for materialists. I often get into discussions with people who tell me that the universe is nothing but matter and energy. These folks believe in materialism. They say I’m nutty and wrong...
View ArticleInside the Mind of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Drummer
Real drumming means non-stop, real-time, dynamic decisions and actions using complex information deployed via physical sticks and targets. Source
View ArticleAuthors Guild Sues OpenAI For Unlawful Copying of Creative Works
It appears the Authors Guild has adequately alleged OpenAI, et al., made and used unlawful copies of copyright-protected written works. Source
View ArticleLawsuit Champions Human Creativity Over AI Mimicry
ChatGPT is specifically taught to read authors’ works so that a human can request ChatGPT to mimic the original authors’ content and style. Source
View ArticleCongress Boosts AI-Enabled Automobile “Kill Switch” Technology to Control...
Next thing you know, you’ll be sitting in the driver’s seat, when Siri or Alexa informs you: “Sorry, you may not drive. This vehicle is temporarily disabled. Please try again later.” There is no...
View ArticleNight Shift: The Brain’s Extraordinary Work While Asleep
What is consciousness? “Consciousness is what allows you to think, remember, and feel things.” It includes awareness of yourself. Descartes’ famous line. “I think, therefore I am,” declared his...
View ArticleYou Can’t Always Be Happy
Humans cannot achieve permanent happiness. Earthly pleasures do not ultimately satisfy us. The Bible said it. The neuroscientists have proved it. A non-stop pleasure-filled life is not possible. Death...
View ArticleFacebook and Instagram Allegedly Hook Youngsters with Dopamine Triggering...
“Social media use can negatively affect teens, distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people’s lives and peer pressure,”...
View ArticleHuman Impersonation AI Must Be Outlawed
(Previous version first appeared at theepochtimes.com on 1/12/2024) In 15 minutes of techno-evolutionary time, artificial intelligence-powered systems will threaten our civilization. Yesterday, I...
View ArticleCyber Plagiarism: When AI Systems Snatch Your Copyrighted Images
The AI companies offering the image-creating services need Robot from Lost in Space in their legal departments waving its arms, crying out: “Warning! Danger!” Source
View ArticleEU’s Massive New AI Law Won’t Stop Worst-Case Systems
At minimum, the AI Act serves humanity by identifying the many ways AI endangers fundamental human rights as well as human peace and prosperity. Source
View ArticleAre Chatbots Biased? The Research Results Are In
People have noticed political biases in artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot systems like ChatGPT, but researcher David Rozado studied 24 large language model (LLM) chatbots to find out. Rozado’s...
View ArticleDeep Fake Videos Can Upgrade Political Humiliation and Rule by Fear
When propaganda is easily generated, millions fully embrace their inability to know the truth. They can’t so it doesn’t matter and never will. Source
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