Mindfest: Center for the Future Mind Conference
Mindfest 202316-17 March 2023. Note: the meetings are at the Gruber Sandbox at FAU except when otherwise noted. This is a draft and some items may be updated.ContactPlease feel free to contact Dr. Steven Gubka at sgubka@fau.edu to confirm attendance or to ask questions!HotelsNote: We strongly recommend booking a hotel ASAP because March is a huge tourist season in this area. Hotel info is at the end of the document. For those arriving early, beginning at 5 PM on March 15 there will be a beach BBQ.There will be a small conference registration fee (the link will be here soon). Free for students from any school, speakers, FAU faculty, and Center members.Thursday, March 16: Expanding Our Horizons on Consciousness and ComputationThe Live Oak Building and Patio, Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL)9AM — 9:30AM Greetings! Strong coffee and bagels.9:30 AM — 10:30 AMAnand Vaidya (SJSU) — Keynote: The Parable of the Elephant: How Indian Philosophy Illuminates the Study of Consciousness10:30 AM — 11 AM Coffee Break at the Live Oak Patio11 AM — 12:30 PMPanel: Conscious Experience in Nonlinguistic Entities. What is it Like to be a Newborn? An Octopus? An AI?Claudia Passos (NYU), Garrett Mindt (FAU), Carlos Montemayor (SJSU) and David Chalmers (NYU)Moderators: Susan Schneider and Elan Barenholtz12:30 PM — 1:30 PMLunch on the Live Oak Patio1:30 PM — 2:30 PMIntroduction: Dr. William HahnStephen Wolfram — Keynote: Title TBA2:30 PM — 3 PM Coffee Break at the Live Oak Patio3 PM — 4 PM Introduction: Dr. Rachel St. ClairBen Goertzel (SingularityNet) — Keynote: "Three Viable Paths to True AGI"The deep neural nets and other machine learning algorithms that are absorbing most of the AI world’s attention today are fundamentally unsuited for the creation of human-level AGI. I outline more promising routes.5:30 PMBeach BBQ at Hillsboro BeachMarch 17: Global Intelligence, Machine Consciousness, and Virtual Worlds9:30 — 11:30(At the Gruber Sandbox)The Global Brain: Workshop on Social Media, BMIs and Distributed Global Intelligence(Attendance is limited to those registered for the conference and requires permission. Chatham House rules apply to the meeting discussion.)Beneath the radar of many is a scenario in which an advanced intelligence consists of a network of spatiotemporally distributed subsystems, drawing from a variety of AI services publically available (e.g., Wiki, Tiktok, Facebook) which also is integrated by an underground system by an AI superpower (e.g., an authoritarian dictatorship, a Tech company). How do we recognize when one or more of these systems exist? (These systems can be called, "Global Brain Networks", bearing in mind that any analogy with the brain is rough.) An example of such a system would be a Global Google Brain consisting of a large language model (LLM) and/or search engine, and other AI services (e.g., Gmail), drawing from much of the Internet. How do we gauge the intelligence of a global brain network? What are the implications for the control problem? How will humans interact with, and even be manipulated by, such global systems, and what devices will they use (e.g., BMIs)? What are the implications for the study of intelligent systems, the extended mind approach to cognition and consciousness, and the nature of knowledge and justification?Speakers and Participants (not an exhaustive list):Speakers: Mark Bailey (NIU), Samiah Baroni (NIU), Kyle Killian (NIU),(10-15 minute talks)Respondents: Ben Goetzel, Congressman Jerry McNerneyOther participants: Cody Turner (Notre Dame), Steven Hoover (FAU), Steven Gubka (FAU), Chad Forbes (FAU), Georg Theiner (Villanova), Brett Frischmann (Villanova), Merdad Nojoumian (FAU), Congressman Jerry McNerney (FAU), MPCR Lab members (FAU), Dave Chalmers (NYU), Claudia Passos (NYU), Scott Kelso (FAU), George Musser, etc.Reading recommendation: Eric Drexler: https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/Reframing_Superintelligence_FHI-TR-2019-1.1-1.pdfModerator:Susan Schneider(Coffee break midway through the workshop)Please note that the workshop formats will allow for only a few brief presentations and the idea is to allow everyone to have an opportunity to participate. A reader will be distributed with people's work on the topic and links to brief talks they've given in the past on the topic (if they have something to send and wish to send it).11:30 — 12:30Gruber SandboxLunch and MPCR student AI demos. Book sale/paper distribution/display of participants’ work throughout the day.1:00 — 2:30Gruber SandboxBeyond LaMDA: If and When Chatbots Achieve Sentience, and How Would We Ever Know?Description:The recent controversy concerning Google's LaMDA system possibly being sentient, together with the increasingly impressive ability of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google's largest model, PaLM (540 billion parameters) to converse, raise several important questions. (1) As AI becomes more human-like, individuals will increasingly suspect that they are interacting with conscious machines. What methodological requirements are appropriate for deciding whether a machine is or isn't conscious? (2) Will ongoing AI projects that attempt to model the neural basis of consciousness in humans succeed in creating AIs with the felt quality of experience and enhanced intelligence? What will the most sophisticated AIs of the future even look like, for that matter? (3) And importantly, even if we can build conscious AIs, should we?Participants and Speakers (everyone is welcome to participate; this is not an exhaustive list): David Chalmers (NYU), Claudia Passos (NYU), Elan Barenholtz, Will Hahn, Ben Goetzel, Carlos Montemayor (SFSU), Lenore Blum (UC Berkeley), Edwin Turner (Princeton), Michael Soloman (RWJ), George Musser, Dan Turello (LoC), Steven Gubka (FAU), Garrett Mindt (FAU), Rachel St Clair(FAU), MPCR Lab students (FAU), Susan Schneider (FAU), etc.)Moderators:Ed Turner, Steven Gupka, and ….Sophia!3:15 PM — 4:30 PM(At the Lifelong Learning building)Introduction: Congressman Jerry McNerneyDavid Chalmers (NYU)Keynote: Reality Plus: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of PhilosophyChalmers takes a mind-bending journey through virtual worlds, illuminating the nature of reality and our place within it. In this talk, Chalmers discusses his new book, Reality +, a highly original work of "technophilosophy." He argues that virtual worlds are not second-class worlds and that we can live a meaningful life in virtual reality. We may even be in a virtual world already. Along the way, Chalmers conducts a grand tour of big ideas in philosophy and science. He uses virtual reality technology to offer a new perspective on long-established philosophical questions. How do we know that there's an external world? Is there a god? What is the nature of reality? What's the relation between mind and body? How can we lead a good life? All of these questions are illuminated or transformed by Chalmers' mind-bending analysis.After talk: bus to the hotel for reception/beach timeConference Dinner and Party — Deerfield BeachMarch 18TBAThe Gruber Sandbox offices at FAU are reserved for any follow-up meetings/workshops.—————————Hotel OptionsRemember to ask for the FAU rate. (Note: some hotels do not extend the rate on weekends.) You may also consider checking Expedia for rates.Recommended Hotels on the Beach (all near each other)Conference Hotel: Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort2096 NE 2nd Street, Deerfield Beach, FL USTel: 954-428-2850FAU Rates: $235 for a city view, and $269 for an ocean view. Waived the 30$ hotel service fee and free complimentary self-parking.City View (2) Queen Beds - $235 going for $419 right now.25% discount on bicycle rentals (based upon availability), access to the fitness center, complimentary coffee in room with coffee maker, enhanced high-speed internet access. (Note: we do not recommend biking on the streets but there is a nice path in front of the beach.)PARKING:$20 Complimentary Self-Parking$25 Valet-ParkingAnother nearby hotel on the beach (no FAU rates, however):Comfort Inn Oceanside, Deerfield Beach50 South Ocean Drive (A1A), Deerfield Beach, FL, 33441Royal Blue (expensive/luxury)https://royalblueshotel.comOther hotels near FAU's campus (about 1 mile from the beach, cheaper, and convenient for the conference):Marriott Boca Raton at Boca Center5150 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, FL USATel: 561-392-4600FAU Rates: ~$285Sonesta Select Boca Raton2000 NW Executive Center Circle, Boca Raton, FL USATel: 561-241-7070FAU Rates: $124 for Deluxe Room, $169 for SuiteWyndham Boca Raton1950 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431Tel: 561-368-5200FAU Rates: ~$155 for Standard Room, ~$205 for Suite
