Michael Chorost has an article at Slate about artificial intelligence and any dangers it might present. I find myself in complete agreement with the early portions of his piece, as he explains why an AI (artificial intelligence) would be unlikely to be dangerous in the way many fear. To value something, an entity has to be able … Continue reading Let artificial intelligence evolve? Probably fruitless, possibly dangerous.
Category: Mind and AI
The power of symbolic thought
One of the things I've pondered a few times on this blog is our ability to recognize another intelligence, such as an extraterrestrial intelligence. On the face of it, this seems straightforward. Do they form societies, use technology, manipulate their environment, and overall show signs of intelligence? Except an alien intelligence may be so different from … Continue reading The power of symbolic thought
Are rocks conscious?
Consider a rock outside somewhere. It sits there, starting off in the morning in a certain state. The sun comes out and proceeds to warm it up. Its temperature climbs through the day until the sun sets, whereupon it cools through the night. The cycle starts again the next morning. The rock is going through … Continue reading Are rocks conscious?
Panpsychism and definitions of “consciousness”
Disagreeable Me asked me to look at this interesting TED talk by Professor Mark Bishop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUNHyPFvUWc The entire talk is well worth the time (20 minutes) for anyone interested in consciousness and the computational theory of mind, but here's my very quick summation: The human mind, and hence consciousness, is a computational system. Since animal … Continue reading Panpsychism and definitions of “consciousness”
Gödel’s incompleteness theorems don’t rule out artificial intelligence
I've posted a number of times about artificial intelligence, mind uploading, and various related topics. There are a number of things that can come up in the resulting discussions, one of them being Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorems. The typical line of arguments goes something like this: Gödel implies that there are solutions that no algorithmic system can accomplish but that humans … Continue reading Gödel’s incompleteness theorems don’t rule out artificial intelligence
Books on neuroscience
Related to the last post, someone asked me where I got the information on the brain that I discussed there. After answering, it occurred to me that other people might be interested. First, let me say that the examples I gave in that post about brain module functionality were not speculative. They are well established … Continue reading Books on neuroscience
Discovering the architecture of the mind
I've written numerous times here that I tend to think that AGI (artificial general intelligence) and mind uploading are both ultimately possible. (Possibly centuries in the future, but possible.) I've also noted that we'll have to have a working understanding of the mind, how it works, how it is structured, before we can do either, … Continue reading Discovering the architecture of the mind
Why I think we will eventually have a scientific understanding of consciousness
It's a common sentiment, even among many staunch materialists, that we will never understand consciousness. It's one I held to some degree until a few years ago. But the more I've read about neuroscience, the more convinced I've become that we will eventually understand it, at least at an objective level. That's actually an important distinction to make … Continue reading Why I think we will eventually have a scientific understanding of consciousness
The feasibility of mind uploading
Neuroscientist Kenneth Miller has an interesting post at the New York Times discussing the feasibility of mind uploading: I am a theoretical neuroscientist. I study models of brain circuits, precisely the sort of models that would be needed to try to reconstruct or emulate a functioning brain from a detailed knowledge of its structure. I … Continue reading The feasibility of mind uploading
A machine in the likeness of a human mind
In the fictional far future of the classic science fiction novel, 'Dune', computers are taboo across all human cultures, the result of an ancient jihad which resulted in the religious commandment: "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind." The result of this commandment, is that computers, robots, or artificial intelligence … Continue reading A machine in the likeness of a human mind
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