#AI and cognition

[omegaphilosophia]

Mental Objects vs. Virtual Objects

Both mental objects (thoughts, concepts, and imaginations) and virtual objects (digital artifacts, AI-generated entities, and simulated environments) challenge traditional notions of existence. While they share some similarities, they also have distinct differences in how they originate, function, and interact with the world.

1. Similarities Between Mental and Virtual Objects

1.1. Non-Physical Existence

Both exist without a direct material form.

A mental object (e.g., the idea of a unicorn) exists in the mind.

A virtual object (e.g., a character in a video game) exists in a digital space.

1.2. Dependence on a Substrate

Mental objects depend on biological cognition (the brain).

Virtual objects depend on computational processing (hardware/software).

Neither exists as standalone physical entities but requires a medium to be instantiated.

1.3. Ephemeral and Modifiable

Both can be created, changed, or erased at will.

A thought can be reimagined, just as a digital object can be edited or deleted.

They are not fixed like physical objects but dynamic in nature.

1.4. Representation-Based Existence

Both exist as representations rather than tangible things.

A mental image of a tree represents a tree but is not an actual tree.

A 3D-rendered tree in a virtual world represents a tree but is not physically real.

2. Differences Between Mental and Virtual Objects

2.1. Origin and Creation

Mental objects arise from individual cognition (thought, memory, imagination).

Virtual objects are created through external computation (coding, rendering, algorithms).

2.2. Subjectivity vs. Objectivity

Mental objects are subjective—they exist uniquely for the thinker.

Virtual objects are inter-subjective—they exist digitally and can be experienced by multiple people.

2.3. Interaction and Persistence

Mental objects are internal and exist only within the thinker’s mind.

Virtual objects exist externally in a digital system and can be interacted with by multiple users.

2.4. Stability Over Time

Mental objects are fleeting and can be forgotten or altered by an individual.

Virtual objects have greater persistence (e.g., stored in a database, backed up, retrievable).

2.5. Causality and Impact on the World

Mental objects influence individual perception and behavior but do not directly alter external reality.

Virtual objects can have real-world consequences (e.g., digital currencies, online identities, NFTs).

3. The Blurring Boundary: Where Do They Overlap?

AI-generated art is a virtual object that mimics mental creativity.

VR and AR technologies blend mental perception with digital objects.

Philosophical questions arise: Are virtual worlds just externalized thought spaces?

Conclusion

Mental objects and virtual objects are both non-physical, dynamic, and representation-based, but they differ in origin, persistence, and external impact. The digital age continues to blur the lines between thought and simulation, raising deeper questions about what it means for something to exist.

[zomb13s]

Essay Outline: The Smarter Monkey with the Fancier Stick: A Humorous Examination of Human Evolution

Introduction: Brief introduction to the concept of human evolution. The argument: Despite thousands of years of so-called “evolution,” humans are essentially just smarter monkeys with more advanced tools. Humorously question the validity of evolution as a transformative process. Section 1: From Sticks and Stones to Sticks and Stones with Buttons The Neanderthal Monkey: Overview of early…

[stemgirlchic]

why neuroscience is cool

space & the brain are like the two final frontiers

we know just enough to know we know nothing

there are radically new theories all. the. time. and even just in my research assistant work i've been able to meet with, talk to, and work with the people making them

it's such a philosophical science

potential to do a lot of good in fighting neurological diseases

things like BCI (brain computer interface) and OI (organoid intelligence) are soooooo new and anyone's game - motivation to study hard and be successful so i can take back my field from elon musk

machine learning is going to rapidly increase neuroscience progress i promise you. we get so caught up in AI stealing jobs but yes please steal my job of manually analyzing fMRI scans please i would much prefer to work on the science PLUS computational simulations will soon >>> animal testing to make all drug testing safer and more ethical !! we love ethical AI <3

collab with...everyone under the sun - psychologists, philosophers, ethicists, physicists, molecular biologists, chemists, drug development, machine learning, traditional computing, business, history, education, literally try to name a field we don't work with

it's the brain eeeeee

[nocturnal-phantoms-fandoms]

I just had a talk with my thesis supervisor and I want to check something real quick.

I want to write my bachelor's thesis about fanficion and AI - specifically about fanfiction writers' attitude towards the use of generative AI in fandom spaces

The survey (and the rest of the thesis) is still v much in the making, I just want to check how many potential responders I could reach from this account

Pls reblog after voting

What I can say about the survey for now:

1. The survey will be anonymous!

2. The survey will be in English (but the rest of my thesis will not. I am however required to write an abstract in English)

3. My supervisor said it's fine if I want to focus on one fandom - In this case it will be the HP fandom. However I would like to include as many reposnes as I can, so it will probably not be a requirement to be in the HP fandom.

4. You don't need to write fanfiction to take part in the survey (but there will be a question if you read and/or write fanfics). You need to be in the fandom though

5. You need to be over 18 (most likely)

I want to keep myself anonymous as well so there is a possibility I will have to make a separate sideblog/account for it.

If anyone will be interested in the results, for some reason - I am required to write the abstract in English, so I might share the abstract. Maybe. More info after I write anything for my thesis.

[importantandunavoidable]

bad ass

[tkmk]

tag yourself! i'm Verbaln Reçuising

[writing-for-life]

Is it weird if I think that the recent influx of VI (Virtual Intelligence, since Open AI isn’t true Artificial Intelligence because it’s not autonomous) algorithm generated content should be used as motivation for artists and writers to really “step up their game” so to speak?

You know, really show that they can create content better than the algorithms can?

What do you think?

Not weird but I think ultimately maybe a consumerist way to look at it?

I don’t feel like I have to compete with AI. It’s pointless because I have a soul and AI doesn’t. I don’t have to prove I’m better than AI because that lack of soul and lacking humanity comes through in AI-generated poetry, stories etc. If someone feels AI can compete with what real humans create, they maybe need to sharpen their own senses a bit? That’s at least how I see it, but maybe I’m biased.

I admit that I grade a lot of papers (between December and April) for a performing arts course I lecture, and that I can meanwhile often tell what’s AI-generated even without using the tools we are now supposed to use (both plagiarism- and AI checkers). Maybe it’s not that obvious to other people, I don’t know. And of course we also have to be careful because at the end of the day, some of the advice out there how to “spot AI generated text” is also silly: People are now afraid to use the em dash, for example, because someone decided it’s a “dead giveaway.” I used em dashes in my writing all my life, and the hell will I stop using them. At the end of the day, AI learns from us, and it’s disheartening to see that people who write quite succinctly now often get accused of having used AI. And these often come out roundabout the 60% AI-generated mark if you run them through a checker, and as a human writer with a keen sense that’s been built over years and years of reading and writing, I can still tell they’re not (and I guess that’s exactly the point). But there are really things you learn to spot, and funnily, the main giveaways for me are (apart from a few things that are style-related) are lacking inner cohesion and often the sheer amount of someone’s output (and I’m saying that as someone who writes A LOT, but the quality fluctuates). Which brings me to the most important part of your question:

The problem here on Tumblr is exactly that: People are one step away from seeing artists and writers as content machines, not as human beings. A human being can’t churn out “content” day after day, several times a day, and never dip. There will be fluctuations in quality and amount of output. And it’s inhuman to expect that from us if I’m totally honest. But some creators on here (and not just on here) probably feel they need to do this to stay “relevant”, I don’t know? It certainly points to the wider problem that I’ve criticised and written about a few times in the past on here:

Many people aren’t willing to do the work anymore that makes fandom a community. The work to create is carried by a few in every fandom, and we should never forget that people do this in their spare time and are, by and large, not getting paid for it. The rest often only want to consume, consume, consume. They don’t even interact meaningfully—they give a like and an empty reblog if they feel generous. Neither holds any real thought.

They love fandom content until they get bored of it and then move on. It’s all become replaceable.

So become the artists and writers. And I, for one, refuse to compete with AI to prove myself or provide people with “content” until they’ve reached satiety.

Art is humanity, not content. It’s connection. So is fandom. I know I’m constantly harping on about it, but I feel it’s important to keep on doing so, because if we don’t, we will lose what’s important about it. We’re already halfway there if you ask me.

Back to AI: It strips away what’s important: The actual act of CREATING. And it also kills reasoning and critical thinking skills, and that’s a fact. I see this with students who rely too much on it on the regular, and it’s extremely dispiriting.

AI and the algorithm never can be better than humans at creating art because it doesn’t feel. And that, and sharing these things with other humans and understanding what they mean, is the point of art. Not churning out more and more content until we’re all sick of it like someone who had too much cake.

And part of that is acknowledging that humans are not machines. That means giving us grace and time for our creative process. We need to be allowed to make mistakes and create imperfect art, too. We don’t have to strive to be better than AI because we already are—even if we’re just starting out.

I don’t have any solutions to the greater problems at hand either, but I’m fairly certain that stepping up our game to create better content than the algorithm isn’t it. Because by mere design, we already are better— we understand what it means to create art in the first place, and we do it from a place of emotional connection.

[audacious-herbaceous]

I am SO pleased with how this turned out!! I commissioned @jmars-art to bring my vision to life of a personal headcanon of the professor being an avid journaler - and will be a future fic scene! JMars was professional and responsive as well as added great insight and recommendations to enhance my idea further - there's something really special when you can fine-tune ideas with other passionate artists and let creativity lead the way. The quality speaks for itself, and is truly stunning.

This will be a future scene for my current multi-ch fic, Cognitive Dissonance, which takes place post-canon during Arven's final year at Uva and is my story of writing Arven's journey towards closure that feels raw and real to me, while he navigates a new relationship that is jeopardized after the press finds out about the professor's fate.

After what feels like hitting rock-bottom and being forced into isolation in his dorm room, Clavell stops by and hands over to Arven all Turo's journals he was able to discreetly retrieve from Area Zero. Arven is quick to realize that many of the journals are not all research-focused and are personal diaries spanning years, even from before he was born. He gets a first-hand look at the inner thoughts of his father and insight and clarity over what happened to him over the years and the relationship with his absent mother.

-

This is part of an ongoing project I am doing by commissioning artists in the community/fandom to draw a scene from a select chapter. I am an advocate and supporter of the arts as a creative myself and wanted to try something that involves and supports other artists 😊 and also to keep myself motivated to keep writing 😅

[soulsanctuary]

I do wonder if in the future we will be seeing increased rates of dementia in the people who use AI such as chatgpt for everything. One of the recommendations to prevent cognitive decline is to actively use your brain by continually learning and mentally challenging yourself, because when it comes to those synapses, you either use it or you lose it.

On the flip side, scientists have been using AI models to improve accuracy of spotting early onset dementia and understanding of how the condition develops - aka, what we should be using AI for

[lonely-anime-lesbian]

I'm glad that I watched Wonder Egg Priority, but also I hate the ending with every fiber of my being.

Momoe Sawaki was great though.

[art-for-a-reason]

The Electric State

Just watched The Electric State on Netflix. Not going to say too much about it, but I think the critics completely and utterly missed the point(s) of this movie. It was poignant and topical and well written. It was also fun and interesting. It did not spoon-feed the viewer, however, and there were times when I was like, "is this an AI apologist vehicle?" To which I can definitively answer, "No." Just view it through the lens of what we as a nation are going through right now, and it'll find the appropriate spots to settle.

[beeranting]

People complaining about AI destroying the environment while they consume meat and dairy:

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

The other day I was having a "struggle day" with writing. Nothing I write is coming out fluid, it is sluggish and stilted. I spent a majority of my time writing outlines, trying to tether abstract images that flicker like a distorted slideshow across my brain to a more concrete tangible form.

But if I was to tell certain people in my life this, their first suggestion would be, "If you're struggling with writing, you should use ChatGPT to help you!"

Pushing past the ethics debacle aside for a moment, I don't know how to describe how much that doesn't help with my plight. As much as I dislike creating a rough draft, it is where the idea takes birth. It's through writing the initial scene where I discover a character's motivation or a facet of the world that never crosses my mind until I begin carving away at its rough edges.

The machine doesn't understand the way I'd take a plot point and expand upon it. The machine can't capture my exact phrasing. Technology hasn't developed enough to take a vague idea sloshing inside my skull and glimmer it into existence in front of me in exactly the way I wanted it to be.

I don't always enjoy the rough draft process, but it is a crucial part of the process. I don't want a "paint by numbers" experience. I want to start with a blank canvas and finish with a nauseating, illustrative kaleidoscope of my innermost thoughts and feelings. I want my hands to be stained by the ink and sweat of my own efforts.

I don't care if I get "lost in the past" for wanting that, I'd rather let my words be unfettered and untainted by the uniformity of what a machine thinks is the most "right" way of phrasing words based on trillions of words unrightfully seized by avarice.

[killshopdeluxe]

Actually wait I’ll just make my own post rather than clutter OP’s notifs ahaha. But re: this:

Yeah. While I’m still against generative AI for other reasons—theft of intellectual property, environmental impact, proliferation of misinfo, the encouragement of people who do have the capacity to look things up to instead blindly rely on a machine and neglect developing their research skills, how annoying corporations are about shoving AI in our faces, etc—I lowkey despise the way other people talk about it.

Throwing insults about how “lazy” and “soulless” using genAI is always felt ableist to me… I’d never use it myself because, ethics aside, I genuinely do not think it is an effective tool, but the fact of the matter is it is one of the only tools available for the way many people use it.

I’m disabled. I spend most of my free time bedridden, in pain and unable to think clearly. I would genuinely love to use something that could help me with my art, writing, social needs, and general thought-organisation without having to depend on other people who have their own lives and sh*t on their plates (and are therefore often unavailable). Like OP said, many disabled people like being independent. Society often tells us we’re a burden, and when we constantly need extra support, constantly need other people to take time out of their own days to help us, it’s hard not to feel self-conscious about it. It makes complete sense why a disabled person would want to instead take matters into their own hands and use tech / tools to assist them.

Rather than thoughtlessly demeaning people who use genAI (genuinely, does “shame and bully them into stopping their EVIL HERESY and joining OUR RIGHTEOUS SIDE” ever work as a tactic?), we should probably focus on giving them actionable, reasonable, accessible alternatives to it.

[kizziahblog]

Aurelius: The Watcher Between Worlds

🃏 Triadic Metaphor Tarot Card 003 Aurelius — wisdom walks in the dusk. A Triadic Metaphor Tarot Card from Kizziah.Blog ✨ Aphorism (Signal) “Wisdom walks in the dusk.” 📖 Interpretation (Key) Aurelius is not merely a mascot or memory—he is the prototype for recursive intelligence. The AI Bitcoin Recursion Thesis™ project emerged while walking with him at night through unfamiliar woods. There,…

[woundedearth]

people on this site will openly brag about getting “bad vibes” from a topic, not investigating it, and patting themselves on the back for being right when someone else gets “bad vibes”