The Conversation @ the MIT Museum: A human cognitive glitch – mistaking AI generated fluent speech for fluent thought

The MIT Museum is partnering with The Conversation US to host lively conversations with researchers on the frontlines of science, technology, and society.

Each event will follow on the heels of a published article and allow for deeper, sustained conservations between the authors, moderators, and you, our audience.

$10 advance purchase and registration
$15 day of or registration at the door
$5 advanced registration with MIT ID

Seating is Limited. Advance purchase recommended.

Next session:

Thursday December 15
6:30–8:30pm

A human cognitive glitch – mistaking AI generated fluent speech for fluent thought

This past summer a Google engineer made international headlines claiming that Google’s AI chatbot system LaMDA is sentient—capable of thinking, feeling, and experiencing—because it can generate grammatical, meaningful language.

The news generated a number of articles and posts in the broader community including The Conversation’s article, “Google’s powerful AI spotlights a human cognitive glitch: Mistaking fluent speech for fluent thought” which explores how the human mind perceives intelligence in others and how a smart-sounding AI says as much about us as it does about technology.

We'll further explore this question with Josh Tenebaum, MIT Professor of Computational Cognitive Science and Anna Ivanova, MIT postdoctoral researcher at the intersection of language, cognitive science, and machine learning and give you the chance to add your thoughts to the conversation.

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