NASA Chair, Lib. of Congress Dr. Susan Schneider - TMO Background Mode Interview

Dr. Susan Schneider is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at The University of Connecticut. She writes about issues in philosophy, AI, cognitive science and astrobiology. Within philosophy, she works on both the computational nature of the brain and the metaphysical nature of the mind. The topics she has written about most recently include radical brain enhancement, machine intelligence, consciousness, and the nature of persons. Her new book is Artificial You – AI And The Future Of Your Mind.

In our chat we covered many of the major issues of AI: the computational nature of the mind, consciousness, the question of whether consciousness is restricted to humans, extraterrestrial post-biological intelligence, AI implants in humans, and the ethical and cybersecurity issues of AI. Susan talks to AI issues you may have never thought about before. Join me in this awesome 30 minute virtual seminar on AI.

App Store Prices Will Increase in Kazakhstan, Sweden

Apple released developer news today saying that due to changes in foreign exchange rates, App Store prices will increase in Kazakhstan and Sweden.

Once this change goes into effect, the Pricing and Availability section of My Apps will be updated. You can change the price of your apps and in-app purchases (including auto-renewable subscriptions) at any time in App Store Connect. For subscriptions, you have the option to preserve prices for existing subscribers.

See this PDF for a list of updated App Store pricing for these regions.

Facebook Refuses to Fact-Check Politicians

Facebook moves to hold politicians to lower standards than the rest of us, saying that politicians will be exempt from its fact-checking system.

Facebook uses independent third-party fact-checking organizations to help identity fake news, misleading claims and misinformation. However, it said posts made by politicians would not be fact-checked. It said it did not want to be the “referee” in political debates or prevent politicians’ posts from reaching their intended audience. However, it did not define who it counted as a politician.

Mark Zuckerberg won’t fact-check politicians but he’ll gladly take their political advertising money.

Apple News+ Now Available in Australia, UK

News+ is Apple’s new subscription service for news, and today it’s available for customers in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Apple News+ subscribers can access more than 150 publications in Apple News+, with a one month free trial available to test the service before having to pay the £9.99 (UK) or $14.99 (Australia) monthly fee.

Available magazines and publications in the UK include The Times and The Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan UK, more.

Magazines and publications in Australia include The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, more.