Hope

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Time is an illusion. A concept. There is only “now.” Memories happen in the now… the future can only be imagined in the now. A common view in Eastern spiritual traditions, philosophy, and science. Anxious and worried thoughts are usually about a future that exists only in the mind. So here’s my question…

What about hope? The hope we experience in the now is inherently future-based. If we’re hoping for a different/better future, are we missing the now? I put the question to ChatGPT: Continue reading →

The AI-powered browser

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OpenAI is reportedly planning to launch its own AI-powered browser in the coming weeks. How, I wondered, would it differ from traditional browsers? As I so often do these days, I went to ChatGPT for an answer. You can read the full thread here but let me see if I can hit a few of the high points.

You’ll be able to chat directly with the browser, much like using ChatGPT. Ask a question or give a command and it interacts on your behalf—summarizing information, fetching answers, and even completing tasks—all within the chat interface. Filling forms, booking flights or making reservations, for example. Continue reading →

Force-Feeding AI on an Unwilling Public

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From Ted Gioia’s The Honest Broker blog

Has there ever been a major innovation that helped society, but only 8% of the public would pay for it? That’s never happened before in human history. Everybody wanted electricity in their homes. Everybody wanted a radio. Everybody wanted a phone. Everybody wanted a refrigerator. Everybody wanted a TV set. Everybody wanted the Internet. They wanted it. They paid for it. They enjoyed it.

Gioia says most people won’t pay for AI voluntarily—just 8% according to a recent survey. So they need to bundle it with some other essential product.

Thanks to Steve Schuller for sharing this story.

Why is the coffee cup always empty?

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I can’t remember ever having seen a scene in a TV or a movie where one of the characters is drinking from a coffee cup that it isn’t completely obvious that that cup is empty wondering why the producers directors the people making this series or movie wouldn’t wanna have something in the cup  Once again, ChatGPT has the answer.

ChatGPT: That’s one of those little things that, once you notice it, you can’t unsee it — the infamous empty coffee cup acting. There are a few reasons it happens, even though it definitely breaks the illusion: Continue reading →

The Program Called Mind

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I’ve long been interested in the nature of awareness, consciousness, thoughts and the self. And, more recently, artificial intelligence. Specifically, the ways in which the human mind is similar to –and different from– an AI. The essay (?) below suggests the way artificial intelligence works can actually mirror how the human mind functions. (Source: SnakeSpeak)

Kennett, MO: Early Days

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My friend John Robison has been going through old documents and newspaper clippings that have been gathering dust in the First Methodist Church in Kennett, Missouri (our home town). Below are two accounts of the early days of Kennett. This first one appears to have been written in 1976. Original typescript (page 1, page 2) The second account was written in 1966 Typescript (page 1, page 2) Continue reading →