Toggle light / dark theme

Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience

If you’re interested in mind uploading, I have a book that I highly recommend. Rethinking Consciousness is a book by Michael S. A. Graziano, who is a Princeton University professor of psychology and neuroscience.

Early in his book Graziano writes a short summary:

“This book, however, is written entirely for the general reader. In it, I attempt to spell out, as simply and clearly as possible, a promising scientific theory of consciousness — one that can apply equally to biological brains and artificial machines.”

The theory is Attention Schema Theory.

I found this work compelling because one of the main issues in mind uploading is how do you make an inanimate object (like a robot or a computer) conscious? Graziano’s Attention Schema Theory provides a methodology.

After reading the book, be sure to read the Appendix, in which he writes:

“First, it serves as a tutorial on the attention schema theory. The underlying logic of the theory will be described in its simplest form. Second, I hope that the exercise will show engineers a general path forward for artificial consciousness.”

Hearing through lip-reading

“Brain activity synchronizes with sound waves, even without audible sound, through lip-reading, according to new research published in JNeurosci.”

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_re…/2020–01/sfn-htl010220.php

For more news on neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and psychology, please like and follow our Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=502518503709832&id=383136302314720


Copyright © 2020 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Samsung Tweets Cryptic Plans to Unveil an “Artificial Human”

“Finally, Artifical [sic] Intelligence that will make you wonder which one of you is real,” reads one of Kapur’s recent tweets, with another urging CES visitors to stop by the NEON corner to learn more about “an Artificial Intelligence being as your best friend.”

Not Bixby

One thing Samsung will say about NEON is that it is not related to the company’s AI-powered digital assistant Bixby.

Boeing’s Autonomous Fighter Jet Will Fly Over the Australian Outback

If you drive along the main northern road through South Australia with a good set of binoculars, you may soon be able to catch a glimpse of a strange, windowless jet, one that is about to embark on its maiden flight. It’s a prototype of the next big thing in aerial combat: a self-piloted warplane designed to work together with human-piloted aircraft.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Boeing Australia are building this fighterlike plane for possible operational use in the mid-2020s. Trials are set to start this year, and although the RAAF won’t confirm the exact location, the quiet electromagnetic environment, size, and remoteness of the Woomera Prohibited Area make it a likely candidate. Named for ancient Aboriginal spear throwers, Woomera spans an area bigger than North Korea, making it the largest weapons-testing range on the planet.

The autonomous plane, formally called the Airpower Teaming System but often known as “Loyal Wingman,” is 11 meters (38 feet) long and clean cut, with sharp angles offset by soft curves. The look is quietly aggressive.

Agility Robotics 2019 Year in Review

Happy New Year! 2019 has seen a number of milestones for Agility, including the final deliveries of Cassie and the launch of Digit. To celebrate, we’ve compiled a supercut of (mostly) never-before-seen testing footage. Here’s hoping 2020 is as robotastic as its predecessor — a big thanks to all of our employees for their hard work.

PostHuman — What does it mean?

We often hear this word used in Transhumanist (H+) discussions, but what is meant by it? After all, if H+ is about using scitech to enhance Human capabilities via internal modifications what does it mean to go beyond these? In the following I intend to delineate possible stages of enhancement from what exists today to what could exist as an endpoint of this process in centuries to come.

Although I have tried to put it in what I believe to be a plausible chronological order a great deal depends on major unknowns, most especially the rapidity with which Artificial Intelligence (AI) develops over the next few decades. Although AI and biotech are at present evolving separately and in parallel I would expect at some point fairly soon for there to be a massive crossover. Exactly how or when that might happen is again a moot question. There is also a somewhat artificial distinction between machines and biology, which exists because our current machines are so primitive. Once we have a fully functioning nanotechnology, just like Nature’s existing nanotech (life), that distinction will disappear completely.

Bosch: Will its lidar tech turn a corner for autonomous driving?

Lidar can be the third eye and an essential component for safe driving in your automated car’s future. That is the word from Bosch. They want the world to know that two is not ideal company; three is better company. Cameras and radar alone don’t cut it.

CES is just around the corner and Bosch wants to make some noise at the event about its new lidar system which will make its debut there. The Bosch entry is described as a long-range lidar sensor suitable for car use.

The company is posing a question that makes it difficult to refuse: Do you want safety or do you want the highest level of safety? Two things Bosch wants you to know: it can work in both highway and city driving scenarios, as said in the company release, that “Bosch sensor will cover both long and close ranges—on highways and in the city” and it will work in concert with cameras and radar.

/* */