Tag Archives: AI

Recommendation: Dark Intelligence

Posted on April 17, 2017 by

I’ve been meaning to check out Neal Asher’s books for some time.  They keep coming up as recommendations on Amazon, Goodreads, and in various other venues, and they sound enticing, like the kind of fiction I’d enjoy.  Last week, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Fiction | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Why fears of an AI apocalypse are misguided

Posted on March 22, 2017 by

In this Big Think video, Steven Pinker makes a point I’ve made before, that fear of artificial intelligence comes with a deep misunderstanding about the relationship between intelligence and motivation.  Human minds come with survival instincts, programmatic goals hammered out … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , | 59 Comments

SMBC: Do humans have feelings?

Posted on May 28, 2016 by

Apropos to the previous post, albeit from a different angle. Hovertext: “This comic was posted in order to increase my social status, acquire wealth, and thus improve the reproductive fitness of my offspring.” Click through for full sized version and … Continue reading →

Posted in Zeitgeist | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Let artificial intelligence evolve? Probably fruitless, possibly dangerous.

Posted on April 21, 2016 by

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind and AI | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Panpsychism and definitions of “consciousness”

Posted on February 4, 2016 by

Disagreeable Me asked me to look at this interesting TED talk by Professor Mark Bishop. 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind and AI | Tagged , , , , , , | 116 Comments

Discovering the architecture of the mind

Posted on December 2, 2015 by

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind and AI | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

The feasibility of mind uploading

Posted on October 13, 2015 by

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind and AI | Tagged , , , , , , | 80 Comments