Owl & Ibis - A Confluence Of Minds

    K udos to Fred Benoff on his July 31, 2021 Owl & Ibis presentation, "Artificial Intelligence.!" A PDF copy of the slideshow is available  here . Fred did a masterful job presenting a complex science and technology topic. In a concise manner he covered: deep fakes misinformation the connection between AI and the activity of neurons and neural networks AI biases and mistakes AI applications in medicine and transportation AI ethics the future of artificial general intelligence (human-like) and artificial super intelligence (greater than human intelligence) the use of AI in war and terrorism the possibility of humans losing control of AI  The discussion that followed was far-ranging and thought provoking. Thanks, Fred. Great job!

  © Gary Larson (1985) Fieldnotes refer to qualitative notes recorded by scientists or researchers while conducting research “out there” in the field, during or after their observation of a specific organism and its activities, or any other phenomenon they are studying. Such notes are intended to be aids to memory and as documentary evidence that supports the understandings researchers come up with about the object of their study. I have written informally in my journal and more formally in ethnographic fieldnotes for decades. After completing my anthropological training in the 1970s, I thereafter regarded everyday living among my fellow humans as an opportunity to learn something about being human, and to learn something about how to be a better human myself. Writing in a journal and recording fieldnotes helps me remember and aids my ability to study and benefit from my professional and personal experiences. I hope to benefit or gain something from doing this in terms of cultivati...

    The Rise of the Truth Industry Jem Bartholomew June 28, 2021 New Humanist The article linked above says much about the modern times we live in. The estrangement we feel from our fellows. The degree to which we are manipulated by others through mass media over which we have little to no control. The writer makes a distinction between disinformation and misinformation. Disinformation is media content that is deliberately false. Misinformation is content that is accidentally false. The truth industry is an information ecosystem that emerged in the 21st Century to combat disinformation and misinformation on social media. Fact-checking began in print media newsrooms in the early 20 th  Century. Fact-checkers now also include independent, post-media dis-/misinformation exposure efforts that began in the 2000s. Culled from the article, here is a sample of things dis-/misinformation independent fact-checkers are trying to do: document, expose and combat mis- and disinfor...