Edge.org
December 11, 2014
http://www.edge.org
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THE THIRD CULTURE
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FORMULATING SCIENCE IN TERMS OF POSSIBLE AND IMPOSSIBLE TASKS
A Conversation with Chiara Marletto
"It turns out that in the constructor theoretic view, humans, as knowledge creating systems, are quite central to fundamental physics in an objective, non-anthropocentric, way. This is a very deep change in perspective. One of the ideas that will be dropped if constructor theory turns out to be effective is that the only fundamental entities in physics are laws of motion and initial conditions. In order for physics to accommodate more of physical reality, there needs to be a switch to this new mode of explanation, which accepts that scientific explanation is more than just predictions. Predictions will be supplemented with statements about what tasks are possible, what are impossible and why."
EDGE Video
[32:58]
CHIARA MARLETTO is a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College and Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Materials Department, University of Oxford; Currently working with David Deutsch.
Chiara Marletto's Edge Bio Page
FORMULATING SCIENCE IN TERMS OF POSSIBLE AND IMPOSSIBLE TASKS
I've been thinking about constructor theory a lot in the past few years. Constructor theory is this theory that David Deutsch proposed—a proposal for a new fundamental theory to formulate science in a completely different way from the prevailing conception of fundamental physics. It has the potential to change the way we formulate science because it's a new mode of explanation.
When you think about physics, you usually describe things in terms of initial conditions and laws of motion; so what you say is, for example, where a comet goes given that it started in a certain place and time. In constructor theory, what you say is what transformations are possible, what are impossible, and why. The idea is that you can formulate the whole of fundamental physics this way; so, not only do you say where the comet goes, you say where it can go. This incorporates a lot more than what it is possible to incorporate now in fundamental physics. ...[Continue]
Permalink: http://edge.org/conversation/formulating-science-in-terms-of-possible-and-impossible-tasks
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KAI KRAUSE RESPONDS TO JARON LANIER'S "THE MYTH OF AI"
http://edge.org/conversation/the-myth-of-ai
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Kai Krause
Software Pioneer; Philosopher; Author, A REALTIME LITERATURE EXPLORER
A.I.
You are staring at a couple, kissing. A passionate wild moment. She is all over him. Moaning sounds. And then you realize...as you focus closer on the details... ...that there is a pane of glass between them!
It only looks like the real thing...—but frankly, "kissing through a pane of glass".. ...is simply a million miles away from the real thing. Could anyone possibly disagree with that?
The glass is such a tiny separation, it may only be a tenth of an inch of transparent material, and from the right angle you can absolutely not even see it, but... ... the kiss as such—simply is not real. It is merely 'a faint shadow of the actual concept'.
And there you have it, in a nutshell. A.I. is... like kissing through a pane of glass. It may look like the real thing...but...
Sure, IBM's Watson spitting out Jeopardy answers 'before the humans can even reach for the buzzer' may seem like genius at work, but does it have anything to do with actual intelligence? Are we near A.I. ?
Here I would actually like to vacillate between both sides, because there is a fascinating duality here: ...[Continue]
Permalink: http://edge.org/conversation/the-myth-of-ai#26019
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