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Mission

The mission of the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute is to explore the benefits as well as the challenges raised by artificial intelligence (AI) in light of the enduring truth of human exceptionalism. People know at a fundamental level that they are not machines. But faulty thinking can cause people to assent to views that in their heart of hearts they know to be untrue. The Bradley Center seeks to help individuals—and our society at large—to realize that we are not machines while at the same time helping to put machines (especially computers and AI) in proper perspective. Learn More

Walter Bradley

About Walter Bradley

Walter Bradley is my hero because the impact of his life will be celebrated in perpetuity. I want a heritage like that. But ironically such a goal cannot be achieved by making it a goal. ⋮ Read More …

Articles & Podcasts

Did Big Social Media Kill Traditional Media?

Denyse O'Leary
June 17, 2019
The former editor-in-chief of USA Today considers it a “bloodbath”: Why the disconnect? Look no further than a new study by the News Media Alliance, which found that in 2018, Google made $4.7 billion off of news content — almost as much as every news organization in America combined made …

AI Is No Match for Ambiguity

Robert J. Marks
June 17, 2019
Groucho Marx (1890–1977) used to start one of his quips with “I once shot an elephant in my pajamas.” That seems clear enough but then he follows up with “How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know.” The punch line depends on the ambiguity of the question. At first, we interpret …
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Gary Smith: The AI Delusion

Robert J. Marks
June 13, 2019
Pablo Picasso said “Computers Are Useless. They Can Only Give You Answers.”  Picasso didn’t go far enough. The answers that computers give must themselves be questioned. This is especially true of AI. Questioning AI is the topic today on Mind Matters. Show Notes 01:27 | …

How Tongue Stimulation Accelerates Brain Healing

Robert J. Marks
June 6, 2019
The human brain can both adapt and heal itself. Can this healing be accelerated without brain surgery? Using stimulation, of all places, to the tongue can result in incredible changes to brain functions. Can this technology help rewire the brain of those with disorders like Multiple Sclerosis and …

Bingecast: Yuval Harari’s Silly Dystopian Ideas

Robert J. Marks
May 30, 2019
Will infotech and biotech erode human agency, subvert human desires, and render free-market economics obsolete?  At first glance, there looks to be a wide gap between the future of AI and the destruction of democracy. Some futurists claim to have jumped that chasm. In a cheery little column …
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