Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagArtificial Intelligence

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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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The editor is editing the video at the computer

How Can Content Creators Avoid AI Theft?

The world of AI appears to be shaping up much like the world of social media.

Whither AI and copyright? Two significant battles working their way through the United States court system will define the relationship between human creators and AI systems. If you are a creator, you need to pay attention. First, can content created by AI be copyrighted? While it seems evident that content created by a user prompt should not be copyrightable by the user, what about the designer and operator of the AI system? It might seem reasonable to infer the humans who create a system that, in turn, creates new “works” should be able to copyright those works. In August of 2023, however, a United States District Court Judge ruled that AI-generated content cannot be copyrighted because “human authorship is a Read More ›

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AI risk and artificial intelligence technology as a human and machine concept with advanced tech or robots taking over humanity and people merging with a cyborg as an existential risk

Megan Review, Part 2

Happy Halloween! A killer doll breaks protocol.

Last time, we talked about how Gemma gave Cady, her niece, a robotic doll, Megan, to help her raise the child after Cady’s parents were killed. At first, things go smoothly enough, but then Megan is attacked by a dog. The writers seem to have given us two potential theories about what’s happening. The first is that the robot is going through some sort of awakening right at the beginning. Megan has overridden the various safety protocols put in place to keep the robot from hurting people, and it’s only pretending to be protective of Cady. The second option is that during this dog attack, the fail safes malfunction, and this enables the robot to go on its murderous rampage. Read More ›

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illustration of a technological eye, close up, future concept, generative ai

Megan Review, Part 1

An AI doll that does more than just play.

Since it’s nearing Halloween, I figured now would be a good time to review some Sci-Fi movies that dabble in the horror genre. Megan came out in 2022 and has been referred to as Chucky for Zoomers. The premise is the same as the horror movie, Child’s Play, from 1988: a child gets a doll. Doll turns psychotic and kills people. It’s pretty straightforward. However, Megan differs by adding a technological twist, calling back to the creepy Furbies, which came out in 1998. Really, those awful toys should’ve had a horror movie of their own. There are many a tale of the mechanical monsters waking up under the bed in the dead of night six months after the poor child Read More ›

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Checklist Writing Notice Remember Planning Concept,home office desk background,hand holding pen and writing note on wood table.

Lawsuit Champions Human Creativity Over AI Mimicry

Copyright laws can protect against sophisticated plagiarism.
ChatGPT is specifically taught to read authors’ works so that a human can request ChatGPT to mimic the original authors’ content and style. Read More ›
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Doubtful young man thinking

Why Are We Obsessed With How Smart AI Is?

The people with the most specific knowledge should be assessing applications for AI and their risks.
The biggest lesson from giving university exams to ChatGPT is that students should be tested in other ways. Read More ›
cursive writing
closeup of old handwriting; vintage paper background

Authors Guild Sues OpenAI For Unlawful Copying of Creative Works

Did ChatGPT make physical copies of copyrighted books and articles?
It appears the Authors Guild has adequately alleged OpenAI, et al., made and used unlawful copies of copyright-protected written works. 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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Walking to new better world. Hope and bright future

So AI is “Slightly Conscious” Now?

The AI optimists can't get away from the problem of consciousness.

The idea that artificial intelligence could ever become actually “intelligent” is a minority view, but it’s espoused by some brilliant minds, including Jason Lemoine, an ex-Google employee who claimed the company’s developing AI system was sentient. Lemoine isn’t alone. According to Futurism, OpenAI’s top researcher, Ilya Sutskever, claimed in a Tweet this week that “large neural networks are slightly conscious.” Noor Al-Sibai writes, He’s long been preoccupied with artificial general intelligence, or AGI, which would refer to AI that operates at a human or superhuman level. During his appearance in the AI documentary “iHuman,” for instance, he even declared that that AGIs will “solve all the problems that we have today” before warning that they will also present “the potential to create Read More ›

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The Captivating Robotic Woman of Innovation

New Poll Says Most People Don’t Want “Super AI”

Not all problems can be solved through tech

Despite tech companies’ search to create an artificial “super-intelligence,” a recent poll suggests ordinary citizens want no such thing to be set loose into the world. Sigal Samuel, writing for Vox, talks about technological “solutionism, ” the idea that all the world’s problems, moral or otherwise, can be solved through mere technological progress. This ideology, he notes, extends to the current craze and hype surrounding AI. Sigal writes, AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) enthusiasts promise that the coming superintelligence will bring radical improvements. It could develop everything from cures for diseases to better clean energy technologies. It could turbocharge productivity, leading to windfall profits that may alleviate global poverty. And getting to it first could help the US maintain an edge over China; Read More ›

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demostrator with megaphone and notebook protesting

The Strike is Over

After almost five months, the Writers Guild of America's (WGA) strike against Hollywood has ended.

After almost five months, the Writers Guild of America’s (WGA) strike against Hollywood has ended. WGA and Hollywood came to an agreement that includes higher employee wages and limitations in the ways artificial intelligence (AI) can be employed. AI has been at the forefront of the moviemaking conversation for the past few months, and for good reason. TV and movie writers are concerned with how the technology might take away their jobs or otherwise cheapen the quality of TV scripts. Ryan Faughnder writes for the Los Angeles Times, The new WGA contract includes language that regulates the studio’s use of AI but also provides flexibility to the guild’s members. Companies must disclose to writers if any material given to a Read More ›

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illustration of future education classroom with robotic tech teacher . AI

If ChatGPT Had Children, Would They Be Geniuses or Blubbering Idiots?

It would seem that when AI begets more AI, the result is nonsense.
Blubbering idiocy can be avoided in LLMs by transfusion of fresh information from the creative minds of humans. Read More ›
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illustration of blue water surface with rough wave with glitter glow light, theme of

When ChatGPT Talks Science

Can AI ever transcend its trained biases?
Left to its own devices, ChatGPT is heavily biased toward methodological naturalism and will not say that intelligent design is a theory of biological origins Read More ›
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modern full wall full-length bookshelf filled with colorful paper books, smart book background, generative ai

Novelists Against AI

17 authors are suing OpenAI for copyright infringement

17 prominent authors including George R.R. Martin and John Grisham are suing OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT, for copyright infringement and “theft,” according to the Associated Press (AP). The authors are among many in the creative field who are expressing concern over the ethics of AI use. A spokesperson for the Authors Guild said that it’s imperative to stop AI’s theft to preserve America’s “incredible literary culture,” according to the AP. Hillel Italie reports, The lawsuit cites specific ChatGPT searches for each author, such as one for Martin that alleges the program generated “an infringing, unauthorized, and detailed outline for a prequel” to “A Game of Thrones” that was titled “A Dawn of Direwolves” and used “the same characters Read More ›

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Wooden chess pawn with king shadow

Inferring the Best Explanation Using Artificial Intelligence

With its wealth of information at hand, how well can AI make accurate inferences?
Perhaps ChatGPT’s prowess at IBE is, in some way, no more impressive than the prowess of Stockfish, the world’s best current chess program. Read More ›
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robot with glass laptop

ChatGPT is Getting More Impressive

Nonetheless, human intelligence remains qualitatively different from artificial intelligence.
I continue to maintain that human intelligence is qualitatively different from artificial intelligence. Read More ›
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AI: Intelligent, Conscious, or Merely Evil? 

Venture capitalist Peter Thiel addresses burning questions surrounding AI at last year's COSM conference

In today’s featured video, watch Peter Thiel from COSM 2022 speak on how we should think about artificial intelligence. Is it really intelligent and even conscious? And is it likely to be a force for good, or does it have the dangerous potential to control us? Listen in to learn more on this broad and often contentious topic. Peter Thiel is an internationally known venture capitalist and investor. (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 Read More ›

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Revisiting Marks, Lemoine, on AI and Consciousness

What is AI? In what sense can it be said to be "intelligent"? Could it ever be sentient, or conscious?
AI experts differ on the capabilities of artificial intelligence, and where this technology is headed. Read More ›
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Hand of businessman using smartphone chatting with chat bot,  Chat with AI or Artificial Intelligence technology.

ChatGPT is Losing Momentum

Is the "hype curve" starting to flatten out?

ChatGPT’s traffic has declined for the third month in a row, according to Reuters. The Large Language Model (LLM) AI tool took the world by storm in November of 2022 when it was released by OpenAI, posing questions of academic integrity, and urging a host of tech giants to incorporate LLMs into their own platforms and search engines. Anna Tong writes, Worldwide desktop and mobile website visits to the ChatGPT website decreased by 3.2% to 1.43 billion in August, following approximately 10% drops from each of the previous two months. The amount of time visitors spent on the website has also been declining monthly since March, from an average of 8.7 minutes on site to 7 minutes on site in Read More ›

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Alone with the Universe

Artificial Consciousness Remains Impossible (Part 3)

The claim that all things are conscious (including AI) misunderstands the meaning of the term
Even if panpsychism is true, the subsequent possible claim that “all things are conscious” is still false because it commits a fallacy of division. Read More ›