Lifeboat Foundation

Yes, the world has some serious problems, but if we did not have problems, we would never be forced to find new solutions. Problems push progress forward. Let’s embrace our ultimate existential challenges and come together to solve them. It is time to forget our differences and think of ourselves only as humans, engaged in a common biological and moral struggle. If the cosmic perspective, and the philosophy of poetic meta-naturalism, or some similar world-view of evolution and emergence, can build a bridge between the reductionist worldview and the religions of the world, then we can be optimistic that a new level of order and functionality will emerge from the current sea of chaos.

Knowledge is enlightenment, knowledge is transcendence, and knowledge is power. The tendency toward disorder described by the second law requires that life acquire knowledge forever, giving us all an individual and collective purpose by creating the constraint that forces us to create. By becoming aware of our emergent purpose, we can live more meaningful lives, in harmony with one another and with the aspirations of nature. You are not a cosmic accident. You are a cosmic imperative.

Get your helmet on and be ready for the fallout from an emerging battle royale in AI. Here’s the deal. In one corner stands Microsoft with their business partner OpenAI and ChatGPT. Leering anxiously in the other corner is Google, which has announced that they will be making available a similar type of AI, based on their long-standing insider AI app known as Lambda sounds kind of techie, which is a stark contrast to “ChatGPT” (seems kind of light and airy). Google, perhaps realizing that a name embellishment was needed, has opted to put forth its variant of Lambda and anointed it with a new name “Bard”.

I’ll say more about Bard in a moment, hang in there.

Google has announced they will be releasing a generative AI app called Bard, based on their Lambda AI app. Microsoft is going to incorporate OpenAI ChatGPT into Bing. The AI wars are getting avidly underway. Here’s the scoop.

Continue reading “AI Battle Royale Erupts With Google Bard Versus Microsoft OpenAI ChatGPT, Stoking AI Ethics And AI Law Concerns” »

Connor Leahy from Conjecture joins the podcast for a lightning round on a variety of topics ranging from aliens to education. Learn more about Connor’s work at https://conjecture.dev.

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We are living in an age of rapid technological advancement, and with this growth comes a digital divide. Professor Luciano Floridi of the Oxford Internet Institute / Oxford University believes that this divide not only affects our understanding of the implications of this new age, but also the organization of a fair society.

Continue reading “Prof. LUCIANO FLORIDI — ChatGPT, Superintelligence, Ethics, Philosophy of Information” »

Do we make conscious decisions? Or are all of our actions predetermined? And if we don’t have free will, are we responsible for what we do? Modern neurotechnology is now allowing scientists to study brain activity neuron by neuron to try to determine how and when our brains decide to act. In this program, experts probe the latest research and explore the question of just how much agency we have in the world, and how the answer impacts our ethics, our behavior, and our society.

This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Continue reading “The Question of Free Will” »

Now you see your data, now you don’t.

Meanwhile, your precious data has become part of the collective, as it were.

I’m referring to an aspect that might be quite surprising to those of you that are eagerly and earnestly making use of the latest in Artificial Intelligence (AI). The data that you enter into an AI app is potentially not at all entirely private to you and you alone. It could be that your data is going to be utilized by the AI maker to presumably seek to improve their AI services or might be used by them and/or even their allied partners for a variety of purposes.

Continue reading “Generative AI ChatGPT Can Disturbingly Gobble Up Your Private And Confidential Data, Forewarns AI Ethics And AI Law” »

While many have claimed to fix politics, very few even came close. Centuries have come and gone with their empires and ideals. Despite the many attempts to reform and improve the political landscape, the issues at hand remain largely unchanged. Corruption, inequality, and moral decay continue to plague governments around the world. It is clear that simply implementing new systems or electing the same leaders is not enough to address these longstanding issues. To truly reform and reverse the decay we see will need more. It will take a multifaceted approach that involves both systemic changes and individual actions, and some radical new ideas.

Many people find themselves today in countries that are repeating history. Inflation that only taxes the working class. Scandals from politicians that care not for the country nor the people they claim to represent. Lies of taxing the wealthy while continuing to burden all others with the shackles of debt. Fear and alarm echoed through every channel of state media that does nothing but leave the public despondent and hopeless about their future. Constant pandering and pilfering by people who see the nation they reside in as nothing but a sinking ship to be looted and left.

Fixing political systems has been a problem prominent in my mind for a long time. With the current order and systems of governance collapsing globally many have begun to ponder this as well. Unfortunately for the simple-minded, I foresee the rise of autocracy, be it communism, socialism, republicanism, or fascism. Such a thing cannot be averted and in fact, many people I doubt would even want it to be. The world has cried out far too long for order, and sooner or later every society will heed that call. Proof enough of this observation would be the nationalist movements that have gained widespread traction in 2022. While I won’t name them such parties and movements have spawned in virtually every western nation. The reason for this is painfully simple: democracy has failed in many people’s lives. It has failed to increase wages or lower housing costs, or even provide reasonable public services.

Release the Kraken! You are undoubtedly familiar with that famous catchphrase as especially uttered by actor Liam Neeson in The Clash of the Titans.

Perhaps the same sentiment can be applied these days to Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Generative AI ChatGPT is already in the news and will likely garner added attention once the API portal access is opened, leading to either a boon in new uses or a bust in terms of adverse consequences. Here’s the scoop.

Continue reading “Generative AI ChatGPT Is Going To Be Everywhere Once The API Portal Gets Soon Opened, Stupefying AI Ethics And AI Law” »

Anders Sandberg is “not technically a philosopher,” he tells IEEE Spectrum, although it is his job to think deeply about technological utopias and dystopias, the future of AI, and the possible consequences of human enhancement via genetic tweaks or implanted devices. In fact, he has a PhD in computational neuroscience. So who better to consult regarding the ethics of neurotech and brain enhancement?

Sandberg works as a senior research fellow at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute (which is helmed by Nick Bostrom, a leading AI scholar and author of the book Superintelligence that explores the AI threat). In a wide-ranging phone interview with Spectrum, Sandberg discussed today’s state-of-the-art neurotech, whether it will ever see widespread adoption, and how it could reshape society.