Mark is a philosopher of computation and cognitive science at Edinburgh. We start off the conversation exploring why we shouldn't attribute computation to stones and talk about instances of distributed cognition in classical antiquity. Then, we discuss the relationship between functionalism and extended cognition with the paradigmatic example of Otto's notebook and some implications for deep learning researchers. Next off is the famous Chinese Room Argument and how the 'Robot Reply' illustrates the need for embodiment when going from 'cat' syntax to cat semantics. After a quick rendezvous with the frame problem (see also Ep1), Hubert Dreyfus and Heideggerian AI, we move onto predictive coding, David Marr's three levels of analysis and the idea of representation in the brain. We finish off the conversation with some very good reading strategies and why we should all move to Edinburgh.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Intro

(03:04) - Does a stone do computation?

(08:16) - Distributed cognition in classical antiquity

(20:27) - Functionalism and extended cognition

(33:00) - Chinese Room Argument & Robot Reply

(45:51) - Frame Problem, Hubert Dreyfus

(56:47) - David Marr's Three Levels, Predictive Coding and Representation in the Brain

(01:16:14) - Career advice & Why Edinburgh is the best

Mark's Website (All of Mark's publications are freely available there)

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Papers

Clark and Chalmers 1998 paper - The Extended Mind

Ballard et al. 1997 paper - Off-loading information onto the environment

Rao and Ballard 1999 paper - Predictive Coding

Spratling 2008 paper - Predictive Coding