SynthCog explores the many conflicting visions in the quest to understand the nature of human intelligence and replicate it in a machine. Some believe artificial intelligence is our best hope for the future of humanity, and others consider it an existential threat guaranteed to cut that future short. In a relatively short time, it’s progressed from an esoteric topic of academic discourse to a technology of global importance.

But there’s a lot of questionable information percolating around the infosphere. Much of it is rooted in cognitive biases and belief systems rather than critical thought and empirical data. The loudest voices are often not the most reliable ones. On a roughly weekly basis, SynthCog will examine the latest news and commentary about AI and AGI, and perhaps more importantly, dig into the foundations underlying many concepts often taken on faith in popular discourse.

Artificial intelligence, whether contemporary machine learning or superhuman cognition of the future, will undoubtedly have a profound effect on human society. To use it wisely, it’s crucial to understand not only the thinking machines we build but also the thinking machines we are.

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