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by William G. Lycan Abstracted from ‘Qualitative experience in machines,’ The Digital Phoenix: How computers are changing philosophy. 1. Many people, perhaps most people, have the idea that, however problematic qualitative experience is for the case of human beings, it is a lot more so for that of machines constructed by human beings. Few philosophers doubt that Continue reading Qualitative Experience in Machines by: Timothy Lenoir Most researchers agree that there is no reason in principle why we will not eventually develop conscious machines that rival or surpass human intelligence. If we are crossing to a new era of the posthuman, how have we gotten here? And how should we understand the process? Cultural theorists have addressed the topic Continue reading Contemplating Singularity by Joseph Tabbi In a panel discussion at the 1998 “Bookends” conference at SUNY Albany, Jacques Derrida spoke of Internet initiatives under way by his younger colleagues in France at the time. The first thing they would do, he said, is set up editorial boards, appoint in-house grant writers, and establish closed review processes – effectively Continue reading On Reading 300 Works of Electronic Literature: Preliminary Reflections by Paul Rabinow Whatever the terms “biopower” and “biopolitics” might mean, and they are being used in a growing number of simplistic ways, most of which bear scant relation to how Michel Foucault deployed them. Foucault’s genealogical elaboration of these terms had been conceptual, historical and non-totalizing. Above all, Foucault deployed concepts like “biopower” or “governmentality” Continue reading Biopower, Dignity, Synthetic Anthropos by N. Katherine Hayles Fifteen years ago, John Searle posed a challenge to “strong” artificial intelligence (the program to create in an artificial medium intelligence comparable to that of humans). He confidently proclaimed his challenge would withstand the test of time, including any possible advances in computer speed, memory, and robotic appliances. His challenge, the so-called Continue reading Distributing/Disturbing the Chinese Room by Willard McCarty In Terrence’s Self-Tormentor the old man Chremes proclaims, “I am a human being. I consider nothing human alien to me” (homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto) – a proclamation of magnanimity that lept out of this 2nd-century B.C. play and took on a proud, expansive life of its own. But alongside Continue reading Who am I computing? Babybot’s software mimics biological neural networks, adjusting the strength of links between the computer program’s artificial neurons to perfect learned tasks. Is the program training its arm to pick up the rubber ducky in a way analogous to the way Junior trains his arm? Read more. In January, the Washington Post reports on a crash survivor seeking a bionic eye to replace her otherwise inert glass eye. You used to need hubris, millions of dollars and the support of a great research university to imagine building a replacement for the human eye. Now it’s become dream and quest material for artists and tinkerers. Read Continue reading Eye of a Dream Beheld (Washington Post) |
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