As my regular readers well know, I don’t think we will ever have human-like robots who can interact with us as though they are not machines. This article from Nautilus presents recent advances in what is known as subsymbolic approaches to AI, “Trying to get computers to behave intelligently without worrying about whether the code … Read more
Via UCTV and the University of California at Berkeley, this video talk by Michel Maharbiz (faculty webpage) takes a look at the future of cyborg technology, especially in insects. His work is in developing electronic interfaces to cells, to organisms, and to brains. Professor Maharbiz (personal webpage) is: Associate professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer … Read more
Recently, I shared an article from George Dvorsky called “You Might Never Upload Your Brain Into a Computer,” in which he outlined a series of reasons for his position: 1. Brain functions are not computable2. We’ll never solve the hard problem of consciousness 3. We’ll never solve the binding problem 4. Panpsychism is true 5. … Read more
I think we need to drop the “might” from that headline and replace it with “will.” Still, George Dvorsky gets a big AMEN from me on this piece from io9 (even if it is a year old). For the record, however, I feel compelled to lodge my disagreement with point #5, that “mind-body dualism” is … Read more