Peter Biles

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The Two Visions of AI Technology

_{Competing views of AI's potential comprise a new struggle in Silicon Valley.}_{Peter Biles
December 23, 2023}

Perhaps the doomers have a dystopian and exaggerated fear of AI, but a discussion about the new technology’s potential harms still needs to be had.

Substack Gets It. AI Can’t Replace Human Writers

_{It was encouraging to see the up-and-coming writing platform boldly herald the uniqueness of human creativity.}_{Peter Biles
December 16, 2023}

So long as there are human beings around, there will always be a need for human writers.

New Report: Parents, Don’t Give Your Kids Smartphones

_{This has become a national health crisis.}_{Peter Biles
December 13, 2023}

Haidt writes in The Atlantic that smartphones ought to be banned from schools because "they impede learning, stunt relationships, and lessen belonging."

Why AI Can’t Create Genuine Beauty

_{AI, though a helpful tool in certain contexts, cannot replace the intentionality and creativity of the human person.}_{Peter Biles
December 5, 2023}

If our experiences are all just brain chemicals responding to different gradations of light, it would seem nigh impossible to defend beauty.

Sports Illustrated Used AI-Generated Authors

_{Human authors for a human audience, please.}_{Peter Biles
November 29, 2023}

Maybe some people like to read articles written by Dave the algorithm who lives and writes from Fiji, but I am not among them.

Okay, Never Mind. Sam Altman Returns to OpenAI

_{The OpenAI CEO is back after a brief absence.}_{Peter Biles
November 27, 2023}

OpenAI is creating technology that, in Altman's view, apparently needs to be fairly tightly regulated. And yet...he's responsible for creating it.

Beauty is Non-Computable

_{Taking some time to reflect on the beautiful things in the world can lead to genuine thanksgiving.}_{Peter Biles
November 23, 2023}

Gratitude expert Robert Emmons writes that it’s impossible to be grateful to oneself.

Sam Altman Out at OpenAI, Microsoft Picks Him Up

_{Will Microsoft become the prime leader in the AI movement, and what will be the future of OpenAI?}_{Peter Biles
November 20, 2023}

According to the Wall Street Journal, Altman was "shocked" that he was ousted at OpenAI. But, he also fostered a close connection with Microsoft.

Planet of the Apes and Human Exceptionalism

_{This movie franchise makes us wonder what makes human beings unique.}_{Peter Biles
November 12, 2023}

One semi-random movie franchise I’ve been a massive fan of is the newest iteration of The Planet of the Apes. The original trilogy, directed by Matt Reeves (The Batman) concluded in 2017, but a “fourth” film is set to release on Memorial Day of 2024, and a trailer for it dropped this week. I’m starting to become somewhat “anti-trailer” given that more often than not they tend to either distort the hype of the film or give away the story entirely. But in the cases of movies I’m most excited about, I confess that generally I give the trailer a quick view. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set years after Caesar, the founder of the ape colony in the original trilogy, has died, and the remaining human beings on Earth are a minority. …

Jacques Maritain on the Human Person

_{A philosopher on two competing views of human beings: are we mere bodies or embodied souls?}_{Peter Biles
November 7, 2023}

At the end of the day, a lot of the AI enthusiasm among the technological “futurists” like Ray Kurzweil is based on certain assumptions of what a human being fundamentally is. Casey Luskin reported on Kurzweil’s lecture at the recent COSM 2023 conference, noting how he is convinced that AI is humanity’s destiny, and will serve as our functional “God figure,” all-knowing, self-determining, sentient. Kurzweil sees the human person in purely scientific terms: if we can achieve a certain level of technological advancement, we will transcend our limits and take the next step of human evolution. Technology will be our religion, the means to our immortality. Jacques Maritain, a French philosopher, shared helpful thoughts about the human person in his …

Reading in the Digital Age

_{Writer Joseph Epstein argues compellingly on behalf of the novel.}_{Peter Biles
November 1, 2023}

Reading isn't instantly gratifying the way these dopamine-inducing technologies are, but the rewards are worth it.

Is This a Moral Reckoning? 41 States Sue Meta for Knowingly Addicting Young Users

_{The lawsuit claims that Meta's platforms are harming its young users. The data backs it up.}_{Peter Biles
October 24, 2023}

The lawsuit coincides with a new article from Jean Twenge, known for researching "Gen-Z" and their painful relationship with addictive digital media.

Homogeneity via Instagram and the Internet

_{Spending too much time online shapes our personality and outlook perhaps more than we'd like to admit.}_{Peter Biles
October 22, 2023}

Unplugging from the matrix may bring us back to a sense of individual identity and purpose.

Trying to Solve Social Media’s Problems Through…More Social Media

_{Alternative social media apps still have to figure out ways to keep you scrolling.}_{Peter Biles
October 21, 2023}

Last month a friend invited me to download a new photography app called “Lapse.” Perhaps you’ve already heard of it and downloaded it yourself. I decided to try it and see what all the fuss was about. The app’s opening screen was dramatic, with captions about the failures of previous social media apps to truly “capture” the present moment. The business model of social media apps, the Lapsers rightly contend, revolves around “likes” and gaining “friends.” What happened to taking pictures of real, human moments without minding the social reward they might reap? Photo-taking was about holding on to moments that mattered. It wasn’t about filters, validation, or identity. Lapse promises to be different. It’s a disposable camera on your iPhone. The pictures you take …

Two Notable Reads: Children and Tech and the Illusions of Photography

_{How much should kids be online? And is taking pictures taking us out of real life?}_{Peter Biles
October 16, 2023}

Teenagers' mental health has been on the decline over the last decade, particularly among teen girls. Idealized images can be fodder for the social comparison game.

Zero K: A Novel About Escaping the World Through Technology

_{Zero K by novelist Don DeLillo is a frightening but prophetic tale of transhumanism and the temptation to evade suffering at all costs.}_{Peter Biles
October 14, 2023}

The book is prophetic, merging two pertinent issues into one speculative tale: euthanasia and transhumanism.

The Kids Aren’t Taking Notes

_{Colleges have become too dependent on digital methods of learning and communication.}_{Peter Biles
October 8, 2023}

Visit a typical classroom in the United States and you’re bound to see just about every student “taking notes” behind a computer screen as the professor lectures at the helm.

So AI is “Slightly Conscious” Now?

_{The AI optimists can't get away from the problem of consciousness.}_{Peter Biles
October 8, 2023}

The idea that artificial intelligence could ever become actually “intelligent” is a minority view, but it’s espoused by some brilliant minds, including Jason Lemoine, an ex-Google employee who claimed the company’s developing AI system was sentient. Lemoine isn’t alone. According to Futurism, OpenAI’s top researcher, Ilya Sutskever, claimed in a Tweet this week that “large neural networks are slightly conscious.” Noor Al-Sibai writes, He’s long been preoccupied with artificial general intelligence, or AGI, which would refer to AI that operates at a human or superhuman level. During his appearance in the AI documentary “iHuman,” for instance, he even declared that that AGIs will “solve all the problems that …

New Poll Says Most People Don’t Want “Super AI”

_{Not all problems can be solved through tech}_{Peter Biles
October 7, 2023}

Despite tech companies’ search to create an artificial “super-intelligence,” a recent poll suggests ordinary citizens want no such thing to be set loose into the world. Sigal Samuel, writing for Vox, talks about technological “solutionism, ” the idea that all the world’s problems, moral or otherwise, can be solved through mere technological progress. This ideology, he notes, extends to the current craze and hype surrounding AI. Sigal writes, AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) enthusiasts promise that the coming superintelligence will bring radical improvements. It could develop everything from cures for diseases to better clean energy technologies. It could turbocharge productivity, leading to windfall profits that may alleviate …

Getting Beyond “Technique” When it Comes to Mental Health

_{A new book by Dr. Alan Noble on the value of choice, responsibility, and the inherent goodness of life.}_{Peter Biles
October 3, 2023}

Jacques Ellul used the word “technique” to describe the mechanism befalling our modern society. When there’s a problem, we want the solution. When something isn’t fast enough, add the gears, the software updates, the weight loss pills, the trip to McDonald’s, etc. But suppose that mentality has seeped into the discourse surrounding mental health? Is there a quick-fix solution to debilitating depression and anxiety? Is there a pill for just that general sense of sadness and emptiness? Alan Noble is an Associate Professor at Oklahoma Baptist University and the author of a new book called On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden & Gift of Living. In it, Dr. Noble recognizes how a technique mindset is insufficient in addressing the wide range of mental …