Lenore Blum

[Lenore Blum @BlumLenore]

60 years ago, 7/30/61, and we’re still going strong! 😍
That’s Warren & Rook McCulloch at the table with us and Manuel’s & my parents standing behind.
#neuroscience #neuralnets #AI #ML @cstheory @MIT https://t.co/sLcNta8e4a

[Ryota Kanai @kanair]

I noticed some people reacted to this work saying "it's not consciousness." Of course, there is always difficulty in claiming consciousness in AI, and Anthropic is very careful about discussing it.

Actually, I think the future of consciousness science should look more like this. Less mystery, more mechanisms. The approaches like J-Lens and J-Space are very useful when we think about access, reportability, control, and reasoning in human neuroscience.

If consciousness is ever demystified, it will be through work like this.

[Ryota Kanai 🌙 @kanair_jp]

ついに本日発売です！みなさん是非読んでください。

[Association for Computing Machinery @TheOfficialACM]

Happy Birthday, Adi Shamir! Shamir received the 2002 #ACMTuringAward with Leonard M. Adleman and Ronald Rivest, for their ingenious contribution to making public-key cryptography useful in practice.

In 1977, Adi Shamir, Rivest and Adleman created a system that made it possible to encrypt messages using a public key, freely shared with anyone, and decrypt them using a separate, private key known only to the recipient. Their method, called the RSA Method, allowed confidential information to be exchanged without requiring the sender and receiver to share a secret key in advance.

The RSA Method still underpins internet transactions today. https://t.co/G040q98FrT

[Lenore Blum @BlumLenore]

I will be giving a short talk tomorrow (Sat) at the Varela conference in Santiago (a satellite of #ASSC29) on “AI Phenomenology: What Could Count as a 'First-Person' Perspective in a Machine Model of #Consciousness?” Will convey ideas from my Simons’ talk:
https://t.co/MgZGb1f2Vt

[California Institute for Machine Consciousness @CIMCAI]

A couple of weeks ago, we hosted MC0001, our field-building conference on machine consciousness. Special thanks to all the contributors, speakers, and artists! It was genuinely enjoyable to hang out together for those days!

We are grateful for the conversations, perspectives, and the growing community working on theories of and reflections on machine consciousness.

@memoakten
@KatieHofstadter
@_joelsimon
@franclespinas
@genekogan
@xCROSSLUCID
@georgejwdeane
@LAlbantakis
@patriciacraja
@AngieNormandale
@drmichaellevin
@RanaGujral
@catalinmitelut
@chris_percy
@BlumLenore
@kanair
@anderssandberg
@RosieCampbell
@maxhodak_
@webmasterdave
@louviq
@franz_hiha
@Plinz
@philiprosedale
@lumpenspace
@hikasor
@ellynne_elly
@stephen_wolfram
@Grimezsz
@schisofrenia
@chris_percy

[Lenore Blum @BlumLenore]

And soon it will be 65!

[Lenore Blum @BlumLenore]

63 yrs now and we're still having fun, more than ever!!!😍 We're grateful to the #consciousness science community, the #AMCS (https://t.co/Yt69iyvazg) and our new colleagues and friends for including us in one of the most exciting adventures of all time!

[Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing @SimonsInstitute]

1/2 "Many view the hard problem as needing a new kind of science to explain subjective experience. We view the hard problem as a challenge to show that subjective consciousness surely is computational," said @BlumLenore at the Simons Institute.

[Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing @SimonsInstitute]

2/2 @BlumLenore invoked Kenneth Craik's view (1943) of the nervous system as a "calculating machine" to argue that 1st person exp/consciousness is computational, at the Simons Institute workshop on Topics in Intelligence: World Models and Social Reasoning. https://t.co/NHQRdbAdQI

[Association for Computing Machinery @TheOfficialACM]

HBD, Raj Reddy! Reddy received the 1994 #ACMTuringAward for pioneering the design and construction of large scale AI systems, demonstrating the practical importance and potential commercial impact of AI tech. https://t.co/gJiU1FVw8J

[Lenore Blum @BlumLenore]

I am disappointed with @demishassabis' response which seems more politic than thoughtful. While it is true there is debate in the scientific study of consciousness community if AI is or can become conscious, there are a significant # of top researchers who think it is inevitable.

[Ihtesham Ali @ihtesham2005]

A student asked the CEO of Google DeepMind what he does not want AI to touch in his lifetime.

He did not say art. He did not say relationships. He did not give the answer anyone expected.

Here's everything he said at Stanford:

1/ AI shouldn't touch consciousness

[Johannes Kleiner @JohannesKleiner]

Schedule now available!

I'm very much looking forward to three exciting days ahead. If anyone still wanted to join us: we'll continue to process registrations today.

👉 Schedule: https://t.co/R6Z73q7Ole

A huge thank you to @niccolo_negro and @AidaElam for co-organizing this!

[American Mathematical Society @amermathsoc]

The federal government is proposing changes to student visa policies that will, if adopted, impact graduate education in mathematics for international students.

What You Can Do:

If you live in the district of one of the four members of Congress who signed the letter, think about reaching out to thank them for their support. If you have a personal story about how international student visa policies have affected you, your students, colleagues, or institution, consider sharing it.

Stay in the loop by following AMS updates on visa and other federal policy changes affecting the mathematics community.

Read more. Link in comments.

[American Mathematical Society @amermathsoc]

The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is now the "adhering organization" to the International Mathematical Union (IMU). This means that the AMS, via the U.S. National Committee for Mathematics (USNC/M), represents and supports the IMU's work at the national level.

"The AMS is delighted to be able to serve the mathematics community by taking on the responsibility of being the U.S. adhering organization to the IMU," AMS CEO John Meier said. "The IMU's focus on promoting global cooperation and activity in mathematics is directly aligned with our mission to serve the national and international mathematics community."

Read more. Link in comments.

[Yann LeCun @ylecun]

Political appointees vetting science funding?
Trump is doing to science what the Right accused previous administrations of doing.
But in previous administrations, there was no political control of research grant approvals.
Grant proposals were evaluated through peer review: the research community decided which proposals had merit.

Bye-bye Vannevar Bush, hello Trofim Lysenko.
Bye-bye meritocracy, hello political favoritism.

From The Guardian: "A set of sweeping policy changes unveiled by the White House would leave officials appointed by Donald Trump vetting every public grant issued to universities and nongovernmental organizations on the basis of their fidelity to “American values”, as defined by the president, triggering widespread concern."

[Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library @TRPresLibrary]

NEW EPISODE: Admiral James Stavridis — NATO and the World of 2084: A Future Warning
Admiral James Stavridis (@stavridisj) spent 37 years in the Navy, served as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, and has published 16 books. But it's his newest work of fiction that cuts the deepest.

On the latest Good Citizen, Admiral Stavridis joins host Ted Roosevelt V to discuss 2084, the final novel in a trilogy co-written with former Marine Elliot Ackerman. It imagines a world 60 years from now — ravaged by climate change, torn apart by a global war orchestrated by A.I. — and it's designed to be uncomfortable enough to spur action.

But Ted can't stay in the future for long. Not with the former Supreme Allied Commander sitting across from him. Their conversation moves between fiction and the world right now — from NATO's composition and why its approval rating outpaces Congress and the presidency, to the case for a centrist political party, to what 250 years of American history tells us about our capacity to overcome division.

"The hope of all three of these books is that by understanding the challenges of the 21st century, we still have time to correct course and avoid a collision."

Listen now: https://t.co/CtdQyEErRU

#GoodCitizen #TheodoreRooseveltPresidentialLibrary #TRPL #AdmiralStavridis #2084 #NATO #Leadership #Citizenship

[Lenore Blum @BlumLenore]

@kanair_jp Love your ideas @kanair !

[Aran Nayebi @aran_nayebi]

A great thread breaking down the myriad misconceptions of Ted Chiang's Atlantic piece on AI consciousness.

It's a shame since I love his sci-fi writing. But these are just objectively bad (& overconfident!) scientific takes, supported neither by AI, neuroscience, nor physics.

[Sanjeev Arora @prfsanjeevarora]

Avi is not only an amazing scientist but also a wise and great person. Worth watching this interview

[Lenore Blum @BlumLenore]

@RockefellerUniv Please some links to his papers. Thanks!

[John Preskill @preskill]

We thought that @SenAdamSchiff would want to hear about how quantum computing will benefit the world. But actually he is just really, really curious about quantum entanglement (and knows a lot about it)! Thanks for visiting @Caltech, Senator. It was fun.
https://t.co/iGprC7eaiE