Synthetic Future(s)

The Isolated Society... #syncube #syntunes

"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm." ~ Aldous Huxley Died on this day, in 1963

This episode encapsulates a clash of philosophical cultures. Also entirely characteristic that it was a junior researcher at Oxford who had the gumption to point out the contradiction. What matters is the quality of the point being made, not the status of the person making it.

An AI named Cicero can beat humans in Diplomacy, a complex alliance-building game. Here’s why that’s a big deal #philosophy #tech #AI theconversation.com/an-ai-named-ci…

AI technology and the justice system: Lords committee report #philosophy #tech #AI lordslibrary.parliament.uk/ai-technology-…

AI will shift power towards the autocrats Democracy thrives on spreading wealth and ideas, two key qualities threatened by technology #philosophy #tech #AI thetimes.co.uk/article/ai-wil…

The case for American Psycho: why this controversial book (sold here in shrink wrap) still matters theconversation.com/the-case-for-a…

“The philosopher is not a citizen of any community of ideas, that is what makes him a philosopher.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

#AI Killed the Hollywood Star? Artificial intelligence means anyone can cast Hollywood stars in their own films Free AI software is primed to strip away the control of studios and actors who appears in films #philosophy #tech #deepfake qz.com/artificial-int…

AI Ethics And AI Law Fretting Over Worker Burnout In The Ardent Pursuit Of Responsible AI #philosophy #tech #AI forbes.com/sites/lanceeli…

“Too easy”—Midjourney tests dramatic new version of its AI image generator Version 4 offers greater detail and better compositions from simple prompts. #philosophy #tech #AI #art arstechnica.com/information-te…

“A beautifully fastidious writer, utterly original,” said the hard-to-please James Wood. “Vonnegut looked the world straight in the eye and never flinched,” wrote J.G. Ballard, who should know.  thecritic.co.uk/issues/novembe…

Herzog and Žižek become uncanny #AI bots trapped in endless conversation New site provides all the finest points of nonsense philosophy, verbalized forever #philosophy #tech #deepfake arstechnica.com/information-te…

Machine-learning systems are problematic. That’s why tech bosses call them ‘AI’ Pretending that opaque, error-prone ML is part of the grand, romantic quest to find artificial intelligence is an attempt to distract us from the truth #philosophy #tech #AI theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Haruki Murakami: ‘Ego is a burden’ For decades the Norwegian Wood novelist rejected fame. In a rare interview he reveals why he has quit the quiet life and answers accusations of misogyny in his writing thetimes.co.uk/article/haruki…

For an aspiring writer, writing “something that simple” may not be so simple. It’s easy enough to think and talk about ridding your mind of unnecessary things, but actually doing it is hard. theguardian.com/books/2022/nov…

A deepfake video of Joe Biden singing the children’s song Baby Shark isn’t funny – it is deeply worrying #philosophy #tech #deepfake theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Could AI help you to write your next paper? Large language models can draft abstracts or suggest research directions, but these artificial-intelligence tools are a work in progress. #philosophy #tech #AI nature.com/articles/d4158…

Biotech begins human trials with drug discovered using #AI Verge says ALS therapy is one of the first to be developed by a tech-enabled platform #bioethics #tech ft.com/content/0006ae…

Biotechnology is creating ethical worries—and we’ve been here before A new book explores 3 capabilities that are here now, whether we're ready or not #bioethics #tech #genetics arstechnica.com/science/2022/1…

The Philosophy of Modern Song Bob Dylan tackles pop, polygamy and PC culture with wicked wit The Nobel Prize-winning songwriter ducks and dives through these brilliant, surprising essays on 66 of his favourite songs telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-…