The Walter Bradley Center for Natural & Artifical Intelligence

Exclusive!: John Lennox Answers Our Questions About AI in 2084

_{News
June 30, 2020}

Today, Oxford mathematician John Lennox’s new book, 2084, on the problems raised by AI, hit the stands. Lennox (right) asks, “What will the year 2084 hold for you — for your friends, for your family, and for our society? Are we doomed to the grim dystopia imagined in George Orwell’s 1984?” Well, maybe not. There are good reasons for doubt. First, is it really true that computers can out-think humans? We asked Lennox some searching questions about that. His answers are not what we have heard in the sci-fi fright films: Mind Matters News: Dr. Lennox, you quote astronomer Martin Rees as saying, “Abstract thinking by biological brains has underpinned the emergence of all culture and science. But this activity Read More ›

Why is Bell’s Theorem Important for Conservation of Information?

_{Proving a negative is difficult. Demonstrating that there are no leafy green crows is hard to do without examining every crow. But there's another way.}_{Eric Holloway
June 29, 2020}

Proving a negative is difficult. Think about it. For example, demonstrating that there are no leafy green crows is hard to do without exhaustively examining every crow in existence. On the other hand, proving there are no crows naturally emblazoned with the text of the King James Bible is a bit easier to do. Proving a negative is possible if the extremes are large enough. Such as result is known as a no-go theorem. One of the most profound no-go theorems can be found in quantum physics. Physicist John Bell (1928–1990) proved — entirely from first principles — that there is a fundamental difference between how particles interact classically compared with how they interact within quantum physics. In classical physics, Read More ›

Inflation Is the Least of Our Worries!

_{Yet some fear that the inflation dragon is about to roar}_{Gary Smith
June 29, 2020}

The Federal Reserve (the Fed) can throw the economy into a recession whenever it feels that it is in our best interests to be unemployed — typically because the Fed is convinced that an unruly inflation needs to be tamed by the discipline of unemployment. For example, in 1979, as the rate of inflation peaked above 13 percent, the Fed moved to make borrowing prohibitively expensive. When Fed Chair Paul Volcker was asked if the Fed’s policies would cause a recession, he replied, “Yes, and the sooner the better.” Interest rates reached 18 percent on home mortgages and were even higher for most other bank loans. Households and businesses cut back on their borrowing and spending and the unemployment rate Read More ›

Bingecast: George Montañez on Intelligence and the Turing Test

_{George Montañez
June 25, 2020}

What do computer scientists say about the ability of machines to think? Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, tackled the question in 1950 and proposed the Turing test as an answer. Is the Turing test important today? Can a deeper undertanding of intelligence be culled for the Turing test? Robert J. Marks discusses the Turing test, artificial intelligence, Read More ›

Distracted by Virtual Reality

_{Robert J. Marks
June 18, 2020}

Experimenting with virtual reality led to the discovery of some unintended, but beneficial uses of VR. Robert J. Marks and Dr. Thomas Furness discuss applications of virtual reality — including for pain management, medical training, and vision problems. Show Notes 01:11 | Introducing Dr. Thomas Furness, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Washington 01:46 | The Read More ›

Applications Everywhere: When VR First Went Viral

_{Robert J. Marks
June 11, 2020}

Once virtual reality had been invented, new applications for it started appearing everywhere. Robert J. Marks and Dr. Thomas Furness discuss the Human Interface Technology Lab, some of the applications of virtual reality, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Show Notes 00:22 | Introducing Dr. Thomas Furness, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Washington 00:58 | Exploring other applications Read More ›

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