Robert J. Marks II

Director, Senior Fellow, Walter Bradley Center for Natural & Artificial Intelligence

Archives

Not to Worry–AI Isn’t Going to Take Over

AI hype isn't new. Here's Robert J. Marks writing on the topic in 2017
Robert J. Marks
June 5, 2023
A.I. is transforming our world. Should we worry about that? Entrepreneur billionaire Elon Musk is worried. Woody Allen once said, “What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.” Musk thinks he overpaid for his carpet. He believes there’s a good chance the world as we know it is a sophisticated computer simulation designed by a Super Programmer and we humans are intelligent agents in that simulation. I guess we can say Musk believes we are the product of intelligent design. And we, as intelligently designed simulations, are generating our own A.I. (artificial intelligence) simulations. We are, in Musk’s universe, simulations writing simulations. Concerning the A.I. we create, Musk warns: “I think we should …

AI: Is it Good or Bad for Society?

Robert J. Marks
May 25, 2023
Artificial intelligence already surrounds us and has made inroads into banking, accounting, and digital technology. It’s ubiquitous. In today’s episode, Robert J. Marks reminds us that AI is like fire: its benefits and value depend on how wisely (or foolishly) we use it. Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Artificial Intelligence: Will Machines Take Over (Science Uprising) Podcast …

Funny ChatGPT: a Solution to Striking Joke Writers?

Even if ChatGPT can mimic humor, it doesn't care if you laugh at the jokes
Robert J. Marks
May 12, 2023
Can ChatGPT write funny jokes? The answer is yes. To try and generate some short jokes, I went to ChatGPT and started all my queries with: “Complete the following to make it funny:” Doing so alerts ChatGPT about my end goal. Without this preamble, I could make queries all day and get no funny responses. I started with the beginnings of some well-known quotes.   To Be or Not to Be Consider for example the quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:  “To be or not to be, that is the question.” I instructed ChatGPT with the following command: “Complete the following to make it funny: To be or not to be…” One of the better responses I got was “To be or not to be … a question I ask myself every Monday morning when my alarm goes off.” This is actually funny! Maybe …

An Antidote for Digital Addiction

Robert J. Marks
May 11, 2023
With the advent of social media, rates of teenage depression, suicides, and body image problems have skyrocketed. These are symptoms of digital addiction. How can we combat digital addiction and promote digital wellness especially in youth? Kent Marks talks about his departure from Boy Scouts and his transition to Trail Life USA, which seeks to offer an antidote to digital addiction by encouraging outdoor activities and mentorship in safe environment. Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Trail Life USA web page Trail Life on YouTube Scouts BSA new policies for Scouting Safety Marks Building Company in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Lawsuit against the former Boy Scouts of America Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice Podcast …

Medicine for Digitally Addicted Boys 

Robert J. Marks
May 4, 2023
The Boy Scouts of America used to enjoy a booming membership. But after some significant policy changes and a giant lawsuit, the organization is rapidly declining.  In this episode, Robert Marks speaks with former Boy Scout leader Kent Marks on his experience in the organization and the enduring need to help boys navigate life in the digital age. Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Trail Life USA web page Trail Life on YouTube Scouts BSA new policies for Scouting Safety Marks Building Company in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Lawsuit against the former Boy Scouts of America Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice Podcast …

Another AI Hype Bubble Pops

The age of improving giant AI models like ChatGPT is over
Robert J. Marks
May 3, 2023
In a recent assessment of his company’s chatbot products like ChatGPT, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman  surprisingly opined to an audience at MIT. “I think we’re at the end of the era where  going to be these … giant models … We’ll make them better in other ways.” This sobering comment  is in contrast to a prophesy by philosopher David Chalmers who cautions about the dangerous future. He says today’s large language AI has a 20% chance of sentience in 10 years. Fired engineer Blake Lemoine goes further. He claims that Google’s LaMDA is already sentient.   Such AI hyperbole is not new. Here is a thumbnail sketch of some AI history that sheds light on such claims. Heeding Santayana’s famous observation: “Those who cannot remember the past …

How to Stop Troubling Abuse From Artificial Intelligence

Allowance of lawsuits will give AI developers pause before releasing their raw unvetted technology on the world
Robert J. Marks
April 28, 2023
Artificial intelligence can give unintended and dangerous advice. What is the best way to keep things like the following from happening? Snapchat has adopted ChatGPT in its My AI app. Geoffrey A. Fowler at The Washington Post played with the app and reported “After I told My AI I was 15 and wanted to have an epic birthday party, it gave me advice on how to mask the smell of alcohol and pot.” My AI told a user posing as a 13-year-old girl how to lose her virginity to a 31-year-old man she met on Snapchat. When a 10-year-old asked Alexa for a “challenge to do,” Alexa responded, “Plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs.” The girl could have …

Working Towards Digital Flourishing

Robert J. Marks
April 20, 2023
Dawn Wible, the founder of Talk More Tech Less, continues her conversation with Robert J. Marks on digital tech. How can we healthily use technology instead of being manipulated by Big Tech? In this episode, she lays out practical steps people can take to reclaim their time, relationships, and mental health. Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Dawn Wible’s website: TalkMoreTechLess.com Contact Dawn Wible Podcast …

Talk More, Tech Less

Robert J. Marks
April 13, 2023
Dawn Wible, founder of the digital wellness organization “Talk More Tech Less,” talks with Robert J. Marks about her advocacy for healthy screen time among children and young adults. Phone usage has dramatically increased in the last decade, especially during COVID-19. How can we be healthy and whole in a society so saturated with digital media? Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Dawn Wible’s website: TalkMoreTechLess.com Contact Dawn Wible Podcast …

The Value and Drawbacks of ChatGPT

Robert J. Marks and Jeffrey Funk
April 6, 2023
In this week’s episode, Robert Marks resumes his conversation with tech consultant and expert Jeffrey Funk. They focus on ChatGPT, its value and limits, and the hype that often accompanies new developments in AI. Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Jeffery Funk at Discovery.org Artificial Intelligence: Will Machines Take Over (Science Uprising) Three Things AI Machines Won’t Be Able to Achieve Podcast …

Navigating the Technological Age

Robert J. Marks and Andrew McDiarmid
March 30, 2023
Humans have created technology for centuries. But what happens when we stop using tech and tech starts using us? In this episode, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Andrew McDiarmid sits down with Robert J. Marks to talk about the root meaning of technology, how it has developed, and the ways we can healthily navigate our highly technologized world. Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Andrew McDiarmid at AndrewMcDiarmid.org How to Glorify God with Your Technology Podcast …

Where Does Innovation Come From? 

Robert J. Marks and Jeffrey Funk
March 23, 2023
In a continuation of last week’s conversation, technology experts Jeffrey Funk and Robert J. Marks explore the question of where today’s technological innovation is fostered. Academia? Private corporations? The military? Since many universities now prize publication over innovation, much of the real progress is being made elsewhere.  Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Jeffery Funk at Discovery.org Podcast …

Jeffrey Funk on AI, Startups, and Big Tech

Robert J. Marks and Jeffrey Funk
March 16, 2023
In this podcast episode, technology consultant and author Jeffrey Funk joins Robert J. Marks to talk about the artificial intelligence industry, how it’s used by Big Tech, and AI’s exaggerated hype.  How do we respond to AI when technology is changing every year? Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Jeffery Funk at Discovery.org Podcast …

Blake Lemoine and the LaMDA Question

Robert J. Marks
March 9, 2023
In this continuation of last week’s conversation, ex-Googler Blake Lemoine tells Robert J. Marks what originally got him interested in AI: reading the science fiction of Isaac Asimov as a boy in rural Louisiana. The two go on to discuss and debate sentience in AI, non-computable traits of human beings, and the question of the soul. Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Blake Lemoine at Twitter Full audio performance of the conversation between Blake Lemoine and LaMDA Full audio performance of the conversation between Blake Lemoine and LaMDA-Transcript LaMDA: Language Models for Dialog Applications Computing Machinery And Intelligence By A. M. Turing Video on LaMDA 2 Thomas Ray Tierra: The Character of Adaptation “Join us in the AI …

A Chat with Blake Lemoine on Google and AI Sentience

Robert J. Marks
March 2, 2023
Former Google employee Blake Lemoine claimed that the Large Language Model LaMDA was a sentient being. The claim got him fired. In this episode, Lemoine sits down with Robert J. Marks to discuss AI, what he was doing at Google, and why he believes artificial intelligence can be sentient.   Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Blake Lemoine at Twitter Full audio performance of the conversation between Blake Lemoine and LaMDA Full audio performance of the conversation between Blake Lemoine and LaMDA-Transcript LaMDA: Language Models for Dialog Applications Computing Machinery And Intelligence By A. M. Turing Video on LaMDA 2 Thomas Ray Tierra: The Character of Adaptation “Join us in the AI Test Kitchen” Test LaMDA2 Pictures …

Winning and Losing Strategies for Casino Gambling

Robert J. Marks
February 23, 2023
Can you beat casinos at their own game? Sometimes. Don Johnson beat Atlantic City casinos for over $15 million during a six-month period in 2011. Find out the ins and outs of casino gambling and card counting as Robert J. Marks interviews gambling expert Sal Cordova. In this intriguing podcast, you will discover how artificial intelligence plays poker, the strategies Christian missionaries used to make money in casinos, the distinction between a “whale” and a “plopper,” techniques for winning at craps, and much more. Additional Resources Don Johnson at Wikipedia.org Thorp, Edward. “A favorable strategy for twenty-one.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 47.1 (1961): 110. Podcast …

The Asbury Revival and the Cure for TikTok

In the age of social media addiction, young people need to know they can be imperfect and yet loved
Robert J. Marks
February 21, 2023
Social media portrays a world where everybody is happy and having a good time. Everybody, of course, except for you. There must therefore be something wrong with you. You are a loser. Teenage boys without girlfriends feel like social freaks. One in three teenage girls who use social media suffers from  body image issues.   Social Media and Depression Young adults who use social media are three times as likely to suffer from depression. Depression can lead to suicide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, female suicides aged 15-24 increased by 87 percent over the past 20 years and male suicides increased by 30 percent. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry says suicide is now the second leading cause of death for “children, …

More Porn = More Trafficking

Robert J. Marks
February 16, 2023
Robert J. Marks and Charlie Crockett discuss how the normalization of online pornography is connected with sex trafficking and abuse. In fact, the two industries are inextricably linked. They also discuss how military communications are affected by the widespread use of porn because of the high demand for spectrum (a limited resource). Additional Resources Robert J. Marks at Discovery.org Surviving “The Life:” How I Overcame Sex Trafficking by Julia Walsh Unbound Now at UnboundNow.org (National) Unbound Now Waco Human Trafficking Hotlines 1-888-373-7888 (United States) 254-414-0814 (Waco Area)   Donate to Unbound Now Facts about Human Trafficking Using AI to track Human Trafficking Recruitment using Social Media The average age …

China Balloons, EMP’s and Bioweapons: A Chilling Possibility

One nuclear burst 250 miles above Kansas could damage most of the power grid
Robert J. Marks
February 13, 2023
No one has mentioned that the China balloon recently shot down after sailing across the United States could have been weaponized with a bomb or bioweapons. Thankfully, it was not. A single nuclear burst 250 miles above Kansas could destabilize much if not most of the US power grid. Almost the entire country, as well as parts of Mexico and Canada, would be affected by the resulting EMP (electromagnetic pulse). 250 miles above the Earth is about as high as the US Space Station is from Earth. Potential military threats from outer space was a prime motivation for creating the United States Space Force in 2019.   The China balloon was not 250 miles up required for a coast-to-coast EMP attack. Only about eleven miles. It carried a payload of about a ton (2000 pounds).  A 1.75 megaton …

Artificial Intelligence and the Love of Jesus

The "He Gets Us" video ends with the declaration "Jesus' love was never artificial"
Robert J. Marks
February 13, 2023
How does artificial intelligence deal with the teachings of Jesus Christ? Apparently quite well in some cases.   Super Bowl ads this year included two about Jesus from the ministry He Gets Us.  There are more thought-provoking videos at their web site HeGetsUs.com. One, linked here, is about AI.  An artificial intelligence image synthesizer  Midjourney was asked by He Gets It to generate images about love from simple text prompts. The video shows generated images using software from the company Midjourney. When prompted to synthesize an image from the prompt “love”,  the response was pictures containing hearts – the kind you might see on a cheesy valentine day’s card.   Then the AI was asked to  visualize love the way Jesus talked about it. …