^TagMarvin Minsky

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
December 26, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Blaise Agüera y Arcas, Featured, Google, GPT-3, GPT-3 (Gary Smith's tests), LaMDA, Large Language Models (LLMs), Marvin Minsky, OpenAI, Timnit Gebru}

Chatbots: Still Dumb After All These Years

_{Intelligence is more than statistically appropriate responses} _{Gary Smith

December 26, 2022

7

Artificial Intelligence}

This story, by Pomona College business and investment prof Gary Smith was #6 in 2022 at Mind Matters News in terms of reader numbers. As we approach the New Year, we are rerunning the top ten Mind Matters News stories of 2022, based on reader interest. At any rate: “Chatbots: Still dumb after all these years.” (January 3, 2022) In 1970, Marvin Minsky, recipient of the Turing Award (“the Nobel Prize of Computing”), predicted that within “three to eight years we will have a machine with the general intelligence of an average human being.” Fifty-two years later, we’re still waiting. The fundamental roadblock is that, although computer algorithms are really, really good at identifying statistical patterns, they have no way of Read More ›

Abstract 3D wireframe neural cells and network

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
April 28, 2022

Tagged
Alan Turing, Albert Einstein, Artificial Intelligence, artificial neural networks, Backpropagation, Big Tech, convolutional neural networks, D-Wave, David Deutsch, Deep Learning, dynamic feedback, error backpropagation, error backpropagation algorithm, Geoffrey Hinton, hardcore Einstein realism, Hugh Everett, Joe Bordogna, John Wheeler, machine intelligence, Marvin Minsky, mind-body problem, Multiverse, National Science Foundation (NSF), Norbert Wiener, Paul Werbos, quantum annealing, quantum Turing machine, Schrödinger, Vannevar Bush}

The National Science Foundation and Advancement in Artificial Intelligence

_{Robert J. Marks

April 28, 2022

3}

Early in his career, IEEE fellow and retired National Science Foundation program director Paul Werbos developed the neural network training algorithm known as error backpropagation, which has been foundational to the vast majority of today’s advances in artificial intelligence. Listen in as he discusses his work in this area and other topics, including his tenure with the National Science Foundation, Read More ›

Words HYPE and HOPE written on blocks of wood. The word HOPE goes over the word HYPE.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 11, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI hype, Bernie Woodrow, Claques (and AI), Computational Intelligence (book), Featured, Frank Rosenblatt, Gretchen Huizinga, Lofti Zadeh, Marvin Minsky, Robert J. Marks, seductive semantics, Seymour Papert, Sophia the Robot, Winograd Schema}

Robert J. Marks: AI History — How Did All the Hype Get Started?

_{Dr. Marks and Gretchen Huizinga muse on the remarkable inventors who made AI what it is — and isn’t — today} _{News

March 11, 2022

12

Artificial Intelligence}

In the first segment of the recent podcast, “What Does It Mean to Be Human in an Age of Artificial Intelligence?”, Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks discussed what artificial intelligence can and can’t do and its ethical implications with veteran podcaster Gretchen Huizinga In this segment, they talk about the hope, the hype and the likely realities. The entire interview was originally published by Christian think tank, the Beatrice Institute (March 3, 2022) and is repeated here with their kind permission: https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Mind-Matters-Episode-176-Beatrice-Institute-Rebroadcast-rev1.mp3 Here’s a partial transcript of the second segment, with notes and links: This portion begins at 18:55 min. A partial transcript and notes, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Gretchen Huizinga: Computational intelligence is one of Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Smith
Date
January 3, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Blase Aguera y Arcas, Featured, Gary Smith and GPT-3, Google, GPT-3, LaMDA, Large Language Models (LLMs), Marvin Minsky, OpenAI}

Chatbots: Still Dumb After All These Years

_{Intelligence is more than statistically appropriate responses} _{Gary Smith

January 3, 2022

6

Artificial Intelligence}

In 1970, Marvin Minsky, recipient of the Turing Award (“the Nobel Prize of Computing”), predicted that within “three to eight years we will have a machine with the general intelligence of an average human being.” Fifty-two years later, we’re still waiting. The fundamental roadblock is that, although computer algorithms are really, really good at identifying statistical patterns, they have no way of knowing what these patterns mean because they are confined to MathWorld and never experience the real world. As Richard Feynman famously explained, there is a fundamental difference between labeling things and understanding them: [My father] taught me “See that bird? It’s a brown-throated thrush, but in Germany it’s called a halsenflugel, and in Chinese they call it a chung ling and even Read More ›

Abstract Technology Background. Web Developer. Computer Code. Programming. Coding. Hacker concept. Green and blue neon figures fall from top to bottom.

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
December 30, 2021

Tagged
A Mathematician's Apology, Active Information in Metabiology, Alan Turing, Andrew Wiles, Automacoin, Bitcoim, But Bang. Ls nascita della filosofia digitale, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Chris Calude, Claude Shannon, Collatz Conjecture, Consciousness and information classical quantum or algorithmic, Dangerous Knowledge, David J. Chalmers, Elements of Information Theory, Elon Musk, Fermat's Last Tango, Fermat's Last Tango (musical), G.H Hardy, George Cantor, Geroge Gilder, Goldbach Conjecture, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Gregory Chaitin, Guilio Tononi, Hector Zenil, Jack Schwartz, Karl Popper, Kurt Gödel, Legendre's Conjecture, Leonard Euler, Lofti Zadeh, Marvin Minsky, Mathematica, Meta Math The quest for the Omega, Neuralink, ON the length of programs for computing finite binary sequences, Paul Erdős, Proving Darwin Making biology mathematical, Ray Solomonoff, Robert J. Marks, Roger Penrose, Selmer Bringsjord, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Stephen Hawking, Stephen Wolfram, The Conscious Mind, The Emperor's New Mind, The Unknowable, Twin Prime Conjecture, Unravelling Complexity The Life and Works of Gregory Chaitin, William Sealy Gosset, WolframAlpha}

Randomness, Information Theory, and the Unknowable

_{Robert J. Marks

December 30, 2021

4}

In the 1960s, mathematician and computer scientist Gregory Chaitin published a landmark paper in the field of algorithmic information theory in the Journal of the ACM – and he was only a teenager. Since then he’s explored mathematics, computer science, and even gotten a mathematical constant named after him. Robert J. Marks leads the discussion with Professor Gregory Chaitin on Read More ›

Beautiful Young Woman Looking Through Binoculars At The Sea On A Bright Sunny Day

^{Type
post

Author
Caitlin Cory
Date
August 5, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Science

Tagged
Conversations with the Future (book), Futurism, Marvin Minsky, Nikola Danaylov, Noam Chomsky, Ray Kurzweil, Singularity Weblog, The Singularity Is Near (book)}

Peering Into the Future with Nikola Danaylov

_{In a new online series, futurist Danaylov shares both wisdom and folly about future expectations for science and technology} _{Caitlin Cory

August 5, 2021

3

Artificial Intelligence, Science}

Is our future determined? And if so, what is it determined by? These are the questions Nikola Danaylov is discussing at Singularity Weblog, an online format the futurist author and podcaster uses for addressing topics of science, technology, humanity, and the future. In his latest series, Danaylov – who playfully addresses himself as “Socrates” – posits that humanity’s future is, indeed, determined – determined by the stories we tell ourselves. Before we jump into his fascinating analyses, let’s take a look at Danaylov himself to understand the worldview from which he writes. Danaylov is a futurist author and speaker based in Toronto, Canada. As a futurist, Danaylov is optimistic about the future of technology and the possibility of an age Read More ›

Cute little happy child girl playing piano in a light room. Selective focus, noise effect

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
July 8, 2021

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, Creative freedom, Jay Richards, Martin Ford, Marvin Minsky, Rise of the Robots, Robots, The Human Advantage}

Jay Richards: Creative Freedom, Not Robots, Is The Future Of Work

_{Robert J. Marks

July 8, 2021

1}

In an information economy with the rise of artificial intelligence and robots, are humans being pushed to the margins of the workforce? Are we to look forward to a hopeful future, or a dark one? Listen in to hear Jay Richards provide his own insight on the development of technology and its role in the workplace, and how he envisions Read More ›

Artificial intelligence, connections and nucleus in concept of interconnected neurons. Abstract background with binary numbers, neural network and cloud computing.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 4, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, artificial neural networks, error backpropagation algorithm, Marvin Minsky, Paul Werbos}

How Marvin Minsky Inspired Artificial Neural Networks

_{And what Minsky said when a scientist seeking to further develop the field finally met him} _{News

June 4, 2021

6

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning}

Dr. Paul Werbos calls it “a soap opera you wouldn’t believe”: the story of how a young Werbos was inspired by the pioneering computer scientist to pursue the development of artificial neural networks, and how Minsky later could not support the effort for disbelief that there was a solution to its many problems. In this week’s podcast, Dr. Robert J. Marks interviewed Dr. Paul Werbos, famous for his 1974 dissertation which proposed training artificial neural networks through the use of a backpropagation of errors. The two discuss Werbos’s journey in the development of artificial neural networks and the role Marvin Minsky played throughout. This portion begins at 04:25. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Robert J. Marks: Read More ›

Artificial neuron in concept of artificial intelligence. Wall-shaped binary codes make transmission lines of pulses and/or information in an analogy to a microchip.

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
June 3, 2021

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, artificial neural networks, dynamic feedback, error backpropagation, error backpropagation algorithm, Marvin Minsky}

Paul Werbos: The Evolution of Artificial Neural Networks

_{Robert J. Marks

June 3, 2021

2}

The applications of artificial neural networks are legion. Today, Robert J. Marks talks with Dr. Paul Werbos, the man who invented the method used for over four decades to train artificial neural networks. The two discuss Werbos’s mathematical journey, the error backpropagation algorithm, and the slog of “making it” in scientific academic research. Show Notes Additional Resources

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 16, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Science

Tagged
Benjamin Haibe-Kains, Breast cancer (AI diagnosis), Erik J. Larson, John Horgan, Marvin Minsky, Myth of Artificial Intelligence (book), Non-recurrent engineering}

Why Did a Prominent Science Writer Come To Doubt the AI Takeover?

_{John Horgan’s endorsement of Erik J. Larson’s new book critiquing AI claims stems from considerable experience covering the industry for science publications} _{News

April 16, 2021

5

Artificial Intelligence, Medicine and Health, Science}

At first, science writer John Horgan (pictured), author of a number of books including The End of Science (1996), accepted the conventional AI story: When I started writing about science decades ago, artificial intelligence seemed ascendant. IEEE Spectrum, the technology magazine for which I worked, produced a special issue on how AI would transform the world. I edited an article in which computer scientist Frederick Hayes-Roth predicted that AI would soon replace experts in law, medicine, finance and other professions. John Horgan, “Will Artificial Intelligence Ever Live Up to Its Hype?” at Scientific American (December 4, 2020) But that year, 1984, ushered in an AI winter, in which innovation stalled and funding dried up. By 1998, problems like non-recurrent engineering Read More ›

Making business plan. Businessperson drawing diagrams. Many graphs and hand drawn diagrams.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 6, 2021

Categorized
Mathematics, Philosophy

Tagged
Automacoin, bitcoin, Featured, G. H. Hardy (1877-1947), George Gilder, Gregory Chaitin, Hector McNeil, Innovation, Marvin Minsky, Omega number, Philosophy (as practical), Robert J. Marks, Srinivasa Ramanujan}

Why Impractical Things Like Philosophy Are Actually Quite Useful

_{Chaitin argues that the human spirit is capable of doing both practical things and impractical things which may have practical consequences later} _{News

April 6, 2021

13

Mathematics, Philosophy}

In last week’s podcast,, “The Chaitin Interview V: Chaitin’s Number,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks continued his conversation with mathematician Gregory Chaitin, best known for Chaitin’s unknowable number. Last time, they looked at how Chaitin’s unknowable number relates to computer pioneer Alan Turing’s vexing halting problem in computer science. This time, they look at the way pure mathematics has a way of being highly practical: It creates a basis for new understanding, leading to technical breakthroughs: This portion begins at 09:50 min. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Gregory Chaitin: There are always going to be a few of us who like to do practical things. That’s part of my personality too, but there’s also, Read More ›

Abstract virtual binary code illustration on blurry modern office building background. Big data and coding concept. Multiexposure

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
April 1, 2021

Tagged
Automacoin, bitcoin, Chaitin's Constant, Chaitin's number, Chris Calude, Collatz Conjecture, Elon Musk, G.H. Hardy, Georg Cantor, George Gilder, Goldbach Conjecture, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Gregory Chaitin, Halting Probability Omega, Hector Zenil, Legendre's Conjecture, Marvin Minsky, Omega, Philosophy, Ray Solomonoff, Stephen Wolfram, Twin Prime Conjecture}

The Chaitin Interview V: Chaitin’s Number

_{Robert J. Marks

April 1, 2021

2}

Listen in as Robert J. Marks picks the mind of Professor Gregory Chaitin about Chaitin’s number – a number that has been called “mystical and magical”. How does this number work? Why do some people call it “Chaitin’s constant”? What is the usefulness of philosophizing in mathematics? Show Notes Additional Resources

Real Php code developing screen. Programing workflow abstract algorithm concept. Lines of Php code visible under magnifying lens.

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 15, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Programming

Tagged
Compression (of information), Featured, Gregory Chaitin, Hector Zenil, Kolmogorov complexity, Marvin Minsky, Paul Vitanyi, Randomness, Ray Solomonoff, Robert J. Marks}

How did Ray Solomonoff Kickstart Algorithmic Information Theory?

_{He started off the long pursuit of the shortest effective string of information that describes an object} _{News

March 15, 2021

10

Artificial Intelligence, Programming}

In last week’s podcast,, “The Chaitin Interview II: Defining Randomness,” Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviewed mathematician and computer scientist Gregory Chaitin on how best to describe true randomness but also on what he recalls of Ray Solomonoff (1926–2009), described in his obit as the “Founding Father of algorithmic information theory.” https://episodes.castos.com/mindmatters/Mind-Matters-125-Gregory-Chaitin.mp3 This portion begins at 10:30 min. A partial transcript, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Gregory Chaitin (pictured): Ray Solomonoff was interested in prediction but I was more interested in looking at a given string of bits and asking, does it have structure or not, and the incompleteness results regarding this question. For example, most strings of bits have no structure, according to this definition. They Read More ›

Futuristic design of an elevator cabin with mirrors with neon illumination and metal panels. Modern elevator design. Reflection to infinity.

^{Type
post

Author
Richard W. Stevens
Date
January 24, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Daniel Dennett, Infinity Mirror, Infinity mirror experiment, Kenneth R. Miller, Marvin Minsky, Materialism, Thought determinism}

The Infinity Mirror Trap: Part 2: The Thought Determinism Paradox

_{The infinity mirror experience shows that thought determinism cannot explain all human thoughts} _{Richard W. Stevens

January 24, 2021

8

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

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 held widely by science-trained people, materialism, to the same mirror test. Materialism is the view that everything we observe results from the interplay of matter and energy. Under materialism, each human’s every thought is produced by electrochemical events in the brain. As Marvin Minsky, an artificial intelligence pioneer, wrote in Society of Mind (1988), “Everything, including that which happens in our brains, depends on these and only on these: A set of fixed, deterministic laws and a purely random set of accidents.” Philosopher Read More ›

Artificial intelligence and future technologies. Mixed media

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
December 22, 2020

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
Eric Holloway, Featured, hype, John Horgan, Marvin Minsky, Replication, Robert J. Marks}

#10: Big AI Claims Fail To Work Outside Lab

_{A recent article in Scientific American makes clear that grand claims are often not followed up with great achievements} _{News

December 22, 2020

7

Artificial Intelligence}

As the year winds down, our Walter Bradley Center director Robert J. Marks interviews fellow computer nerds (our Brain Trust) Jonathan Bartlett and Eric Holloway about 12 overhyped AI concepts of the past year. Hey, as we like to say, great stuff happened in AI this year. But well, lots of “stuff” happened too and it’s time to have some fun! So here’s #10: Replication problems tarnish the image of rapid AI progress: #10 starts at about 12:44 A partial transcript and Show Notes follow, along with Additional Resources and the entire transcript. Robert J. Marks: # 10, Will artificial intelligence ever live up to its hype? The subtitle to the article with that name in this month’s Scientific American Read More ›