Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryArtificial Intelligence

money-making-machine-printing-fake-counterfeit-dollar-bills-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Money making machine printing fake counterfeit dollar bills. Generative AI.

If Information Is Wealth, Are Deepfakes a Form of Counterfeiting?

The current tech media overdose on panic over deepfakes. They could be drowning out practical ways of fighting back
To whatever extent digital information is a form of wealth, its digital producers must always fight counterfeiters — just as currency issuers must do. Read More ›
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closeup ants

Ants: An Utterly Different Model of a Large Communal Society

In terms of sheer complexity of society, ants are similar to humans but they “think” very differently from us, as a British science writer finds
At one point, Southeast Asian ants invaded the sealed Biosphere II project in Arizona (intended for space exploration studies), using it as a honeydew farm. Read More ›
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Robot's hand holds up a red heart aigenerated.

Will You Be My Valentine, Chatbot?

It is a tragedy indeed when our loneliness as a culture has developed so far that many people see chatbot companions as one of the only way forward.
Recent studies indicate that members of Gen Z are dividing politically according to sex, with men leaning more conservative and women going more liberal. Read More ›
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This illustration aims to highlight the emerging threat of deepfakes in political misinformation need for vigilance in the face of advanced disinformation technology.

Will Deepfakes Be Used to “Show” Us That Computers Can Now Think?

As the deepfake technology advances, William Dembski wonders whether some AI zealots might try to “fake it till they make it,” Theranos-style
As the technology advances, companies whose customers will likely be harmed by deepfakes lag behind in strategies to counter them. Read More ›
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NFL Superbowl stadium at night.American football .

Taylor Swift and the Looming Threat of Deepfakes

According to an attorney, Swift should probably go after the AI companies themselves if she decides to sue.

The country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift has commanded headlines for well over a year now with her record-breaking “Eras Tour” as well as her romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce. Unfortunately, her image has also made the rounds in AI engines. Deepfake pornography is already an emerging problem, but its seriousness resurfaced when explicit, AI-generated images of Taylor Swift went viral in late January. Only ten states currently have laws prohibiting deepfake pornography, but legislation is underway to ban it in several others, including Swift’s home state, Tennessee. According to attorney Carrie Goldberg, if Swift were to sue anyone, it would probably have to be focused on the AI companies themselves. USA Today reports, It’s possible that the faked Read More ›

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A space alien sits on a golden throne Ai generated art

William Dembski: Destroy the AI Idol Before It Destroys Us

Design theorist Dembski points to the way that chess adapted to computers to become better than ever as a way forward in the age of AI
Dembski warns that the promoters of AI as “taking over” have a vested interest in claims that keep them at the top of society’s intellectual and social order. Read More ›
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AI Chatbot intelligent digital customer service application concept, computer mobile application uses artificial intelligence chatbots automatically respond online messages to help customers instantly

A Thoughtful Reader’s Reaction to Next Gen AI Hype

Recent hype at Wired Magazine about new personal assistant technology garnered a — perhaps unexpected — reaction
At Wired we learn that the new app will require more chatting. Reader: “I really don’t want to chat with anyone, especially if they’re a bot, or a salesperson.” Read More ›
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Futuristic AI Woman: The Evolution of AGI in a Digital World, Facial recognition, Artificial Intelligence, AI Generated Art

William Dembski: When Is Transhumanism a Form of Technobigotry?

In his further essays in the current series, he explains why AI cannot avoid collapse without the input of novel information from humans
AI systems alone go bankrupt, Dembski argues, because intelligence by nature requires novel insights and creativity, which is to say, an oracle from outside. Read More ›
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Skull Assorted Poison Bottles

Artists Strike Back!: New Tool “Poisons” Images Pirated by AI

Nightshade, developed by University of Chicago computer science prof Ben Zhao, makes the AI generator keep giving you a cat when you ask for a dog
Overall, Nightshade may prove more useful than lawsuits to artists. It is embedded in pixels, visible only to AI, not to humans. Read More ›
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Asian software developers coding at office with multiple screens. Programmer development concept. Photo generative AI

Industry Pro: No, AI Is NOT Driving the Mass Big Tech Layoffs!

“It may explain the loss of some content generation and customer support positions — but doesn’t explain the layoffs of software developers.”
Semi- but not-fully capable AI systems allow us to be lazy in some respects, but demand that we be less lazy in others. Read More ›
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Profile portrait of a child looking up at a robot with curiosity on a dark background - not based on a real person, Generative AI

When a Brilliant Man Has a Very Confused Perspective …

Astrophysicist Avi Loeb simply doesn’t seem to see that human beings are more valuable than advanced machines
Those who think that Harvard’s best and brightest should rule over us might want to invest some time to discover how some of them really think. Read More ›
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fantasy and mystical creatures loch ness monster in lake, created with generative ai

Cyber Plagiarism: When AI Systems Snatch Your Copyrighted Images

Outright copying of others’ images may put system’s owners in legal jeopardy. Let's look at U.S. legal decisions
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!” Read More ›
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Robot talking with old man machine learning reaction or ai artificial intelligence concepts.Chat bot software network.big data and block chain system.generative art images.

Human Intelligence Is Fundamentally Different From Machine Intelligence

Design theorist William Dembski discusses the problems we will encounter when we try to integrate the two when, say, sharing the road with self-driving cars
Dembski also touches on Ray Kurzweil’s quest for digital immortality and how it falls short of the original quest and its religious expressions. Read More ›
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AI robot sitting at the desk in the office and working on personal computer

Is New AI Driving the Mass Big Tech layoffs?

The jury’s out on whether that’s really what’s happening and, if so, whether it will improve profitability
The Big Tech companies may see replacing workers with AI as only natural. After all, that’s the future their executives were told from childhood to expect. Read More ›
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selective focus of robotic arm holding glass of water and person taking notes at wooden table

Japanese Novelist Who Won Prestigious Literary Award Unabashedly Used ChatGPT

Meanwhile, authors in the United States are waging war against AI for copyright violation
While stylistically, the prose AI "created" for Karan's novel might be "flawless," it lacks credibility because it lacks the human voice. Read More ›
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Integrated control system simulation and autonomous driving in smart city

Autonomous Vehicles Are Catching Up Fast

There are winners and losers. GM's Cruise was kicked out of California over safety issues but Alphabet's Waymo, which emphasizes safety, is still chugging along
Waymo wisely focused on Level 4 urban self-driving, which is an engineering problem, rather than Level 5’s total autonomy—that’s a philosophical problem. Read More ›
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Ancient city of Babylon with the tower of Babel, bible and religion. AI generated, human enhanced

Dembski: Does the Squawk Around AI Sound Like the Tower of Babel?

Well then, maybe that’s just what it is, he argues, in a new series of short essays
Dembski sees the breathless and implausible claims for computers that think like people as the modern equivalent of ancient idols. Here are some highlights. Read More ›
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Young business people in office

Business Media Report That 2023 Was a Bad Year for Tech Startups

Running a business is more about mindset than skillset and no technology can make up for fundamentally mistaken ideas about how to run a business. Read More ›
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Robot hand typing on the computer. The concept of artificial intelligence replacing a human in dealing with another human. Ai generative

Human Impersonation AI Must Be Outlawed

I didn't used to think that AI systems could threaten civilization. Now I do.
It must be declared a serious felony, akin to attempted mass murder, to produce, sell, possess, or use any AI-powered human impersonation system. Read More ›