AI's human-like, but inhuman, language skills ... Bob argues that LLMs don’t vindicate the ‘blank slate’ view of the mind ... Do humans and AIs acquire language in totally different ways? ... Will AIs ever quit hallucinating? ... The importance (or not) of “embodied cognition” ... What is it like to be an AI? ... Why S

Bob’s sage status rises ... GPT-4o: harbinger of the Metaverse? ... Does sentience matter for AI companionship? ... The promise and perils of social AI ... How LLMs flip the script on computing ... Heading to Overtime—and a special announcement! ...

Is it ever okay to fire professors for speech? ... Bari Weiss spreads misinformation without consequence ... Are some of Israel’s American supporters unwittingly inflaming antisemitism? ... Ayaan Hirsi Ali converts to Christianity without abandoning New Atheist creed ... Do Sam Harris et. al. get religion totally wrong

Robin’s history of thinking about the future ... Seeing AI as offspring, not adversary ... Robin’s famous answer to a great cosmic mystery ... Would evidence of aliens be good news or bad? ... Is rationalist culture cultist? ... LLMs: revolution or hype cycle? ... Heading to Overtime ...

Gary’s background and place in the AI world ... Are Gary’s views on AI paradoxical? ... Bob: Searle’s Chinese Room argument is dead ... Have LLMs demonstrated "theory of mind"? ... Arguing the semantics of an LLM's “semantic space” ... Do LLM representations map onto the real world? ... Can (and should) we slow down AI

Bob’s bad newsletter news for Paul ... Fast Car's moving Grammy moment ... Music, female orgasms, and other evolutionary enigmas ... The Moral Animal turns 30—how has it aged? ... How AI (barely) helps Paul work ... Is America real? ... Bob tries to drag Paul down the JFK rabbit hole ... Lab leak and the trouble with “