Consciousness Club #36: Literature and the Problem of Other Minds

Speaker: Erik Hoel (Tufts University)

Abstract: What is the purpose of fictional stories? Why are humans attracted to reading about or watching events that never happened? As the mediums we use to tell stories shifts (such as from novels to TV) what do we lose, and what do we gain? Some have offered explanations to these questions by hypothesizing that forms like literature build empathy, or, as David Foster Wallace put it, are a "cure for loneliness." But what if saying the purpose of fictions is entertainment, loneliness, or even empathy training, is selling fictional stories short? Drawing from contemporary evolutionary biology, the neuroscience of dreams, and philosophy of mind, I propose an answer to these questions that reveals how irreplaceable the novel is in our culture, and how much will be lost should it lose its grip as a medium.

Entrance is free. Eventbrite registration is required. Click here to register.

Consciousness Club #35: Empiricism versus Nativism in Artificial Intelligence

Speaker: Robert Long (NYU)

Abstract: The age-old dispute between "empiricists" and "nativists" is a foundational issue in philosophy and cognitive science. Empiricists hold that knowledge is (almost) entirely learned from experience, whereas nativists hold that (many) mental capabilities are "built in" and arise independently of experience.

Historically, this has been a debate about human and animal minds. This talk expands the debate to artificial minds. Will truly intelligent AI require innate machinery, or can AI research proceed on empiricist grounds? Building on arguments advanced by Gary Marcus (team AI nativism) and Yann LeCun (team AI empiricism). I'll claim that, even though nativism about human intelligence is largely correct, there's reason to think that empiricism will prove more fruitful in artificial intelligence. However, the key challenge for AI empiricists, as for empiricists in general, is to account for how it is possible to learn abstract concepts from experience.

Entrance is free. Eventbrite registration is required. Click here to register.

Consciousness Club #34: Buddhists and the Trolley Problem—Implications for AI Ethics

Speaker: Kin Cheung (Moravian College)

Abstract: A 2017 article in The Atlantic by Alexis C. Madrigal is titled “If Buddhist Monks Trained AI.” The subheading is “Monks take on the trolley problem, a classic moral dilemma that has big implications for driverless cars.” Buddhists are outliers in their responses to the trolley problem sets because they would push the large person. I explore possible reasons for their position including the role of intention and the impact of karma. Though there are scholars who argue Buddhist ethics is most closely matched with virtue ethics, consequentialism, or even deontology, I hold the position that Buddhist ethics is interesting precisely because it does not fit neatly into one of the three main Western ethical systems. This talk investigates Buddhist stances and their implications for the development of autonomous vehicles and AI ethics in general.Entrance is free. Registration is required. Registration information coming soon.

Consciousness Club #33: Language as Bodily Gesture: From Perception and Action to Speech

Speaker: Hayden Kee (Fordham University)

Abstract: Embodied theories of the mind emphasize the centrality of action and perception in experience and cognition. A challenge for such approaches is to explain how our higher-order cognitive achievements, such as abstract thought and imagination, can be understood starting from more basic bodily abilities. The solution, I propose, may be as simple (or complex) as learning to speak. I turn to developmental studies of infant language learning for insights into the bodily foundations of language and cognition. Perhaps the 7,000 languages of the earth, for all their diversity, are all variations and elaborations of one fundamental bodily power of gestural expression.

Speaker: Stephen Burlingham, an artist and thought-leader who works on projects around the world promoting global mind change.

Abstract: Life and work exploring the tangible-intangible frontier, where the moment of truth is an infinite instant.  Mr. Burlingham discusses Whisper and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; the GATEWAY art installation project and the initial engagement with Apple; and nevohteeB {Beethoven Backwards}, a current multi-media collaborative work-in-progress. Forget everything you know.

Speaker: Dr. Katsunori Miyahara (Harvard University/Rikkyo University)

Abstract:
I plead for the introduction of the perspective of philosophical phenomenology into recent neuroscientific studies of consciousness. Since its origin in the mid-19th century, psychology developed in two diverging directions, namely, as descriptive psychology and as experimental psychology. Phenomenology as a philosophical discipline initiated by Edmund Husserl is a direct descendent of the descriptive psychology of Franz Brentano. Cognitive neuroscience is a distant offspring of the early experimental psychologists including Wilhelm Wundt. Because in part of this historical background, the perspective of phenomenology remains largely ignored (with some notable exceptions) in the burgeoning sciences of consciousness. I think this is unfortunate.

After presenting a brief overview of Husserlian phenomenology and its historical origin, in this talk, I will illustrate how the absence of the phenomenological perspective can mislead scientific investigations of consciousness by taking the experimental use of the psychological phenomenon of binocular rivalry as a central example.

Speaker: Christoph Salge, University of Hertfordshire / New York University

Abstract:

What makes a mind want to do things in the first place? AI research focuses a lot on how to achieve a given goal or optimize for a given utility function. But how are these goals acquired in the first place, and are all possible utility functions suitable to motivate an AI towards more complex an interesting behaviour? It is hard to imagine that one could build a conscious agent that has no genuine goals or essential motivations.

Speaker: Piet Hut and a Special Guest

ABSTRACT

The greatest scientific discoveries are made upon the realization that a generally accepted idea is in fact wrong.  And once the new idea is accepted, it is tempting to ask: why did it take so long to see the flaw in the old idea?  Perhaps the simple answer is: when we grow up with a set of ideas, forming a coherent worldview, we get so habituated to them that we grow increasingly unwilling to question any specific idea, afraid that it will threaten the comfort zone of our life as we know it...

With Dr. Ryota Kanai (Araya, Inc., Tokyo)
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 With Prof. Brian Cantwell Smith (University of Toronto)
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With Dr. Thomas Doctor (Rangjung Yeshe Institute/Kathmandu University)
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With Dr. Erik P. Hoel (Columbia University)

WeWork Park South, New York, NY
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With Dr. Irina Rish (AI Foundations Lab, IBM T.J. Watson Research) and GoodAI

WeWork Park South, New York, NY
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With Dr. Ken Perlin (Future Reality Lab, New York University)

WeWork Park South, New York, NY
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With Dr. Julian Togelius (Game Innovation Lab, New York University) and GoodAI
WeWork Park South, New York, NY
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With Dr. Liza Solomonova (Dream and Nightmare Laboratory, University of Montreal)

With Dr. John Horgan (Center for Science Writings at Stevens Institute of Technology)
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With Dr. Tomas Mikolov (Facebook) and GoodAI
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With Dr. Eran Agmon (Columbia University)
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With Dr. Caleb Scharf (Director of Astrobiology, Columbia University)
City Crab Shack

With Dr. Michael Solomon (RWJ Barnabas University Hospital & Medical Society of New Jersey Bioethics Committee)
City Crab Shack

With Dr. William Chang (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)
City Crab Shack

First Event of the “Mind’s Eye” Art-Science Series, in partnership with SciArt Center
Featuring two artists and a scientist, with a panel discussion moderated by Nadja Oertelt
61 Local

With Dr. Donato Giovanelli (ELSI/Rutgers)
Bernheim & Schwartz

With Dr. Seth D. Baum
VBar St. Marks