I will be unable to attend tomorrow morning since I still have no voice, but I have uploaded the presentation that I would have used if I were there. Feel free to view it, use it, discuss it as you like. I will be glad to answer any questions you have about it. You can… Continue reading Presentation for Sunday, April 15, 2018
This Sunday (April 8) Charles Coble will lead us in a discussion of science fiction as authentic fictional literature. Here are some things to think about in anticipation of the discussion: What does fiction do for us as a society and as individuals within that society? What does it contribute? What value might science fiction… Continue reading This Sunday and Next: Science Fiction
Imagination is a part of daily life. We use it successfully every day to avoid disaster, even with very minor actions. Imagining what can go wrong, we choose safer options. Of course some of us are better at this than others, but you get the point, don’t you? Imagination is essential to rationality. DeepMind is… Continue reading Machines with Imagination
Over the past few months we have focused on the coming changes that AI and bio-technology will likely bring in the decades ahead. In this post, I would like to focus on something a bit more immediate: the effect that AI and social media are already having on our daily lives and the democracy in… Continue reading Mass Manipulation
A great deal of what Artificial Intelligence can do right now is accomplished in a vastly different way from the one used for that same task in the human brain. Deep-Learning, while it has brought great advances to AI, is still very different from the way a brain learns. A discussion of this issue can… Continue reading AI and Brain Research
In November, The Verge published an article entitled “Automation threatens 800 million jobs, but technology could still save us, says report“. The report in question is from McKinsey Global Institute and includes data from over 45 countries with in-depth analysis of the US, China, Germany, Japan, India, and Mexico. What will be the real effect of… Continue reading Automation and Vocation
I have uploaded the presentation I will use on Sunday, March 11, 2018. I hope you find it useful. You can access the presentation here.
Thank you, Paul Lindsay, for sharing this article with me. I am adding it to our Resources page. The article by Fei-Fei Li raises questions about the rapidly developing field of AI and proposes three goals for making Artificial Intelligence human-centered. First, A.I. needs to reflect more of the depth that characterizes our own intelligence.… Continue reading NY Times article: “How to Make A.I. That’s Good for People”
We now understand far more about the process of aging than even a decade ago. Advances in genetics (especially around the role of telomeres) offer a pathway toward dramatically reducing the speed of aging in the decades to come. The phrase “eternal life” appears over forty times in the New Testament, but it clearly does… Continue reading Aging, Genetics, and Eternal Life
I would like to thank Emily Brewer for a very well run session this morning on Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and it’s implications for views of science. Her overview of the novel set the stage for a lively discussion of hopes and fears about scientific advancement and the ethical questions raised by the rapidly advancing field… Continue reading Thank you, Emily Brewer
