James W. Phillips' Newsletter

James W. Phillips' Newsletter explores the intersection of science, technology, and policy reform, emphasizing innovative approaches to research (like metascience and laboratory design), the implications of artificial general intelligence (AGI), and the role of science in national and global contexts. It critiques current scientific paradigms, recommending strategic shifts towards more interdisciplinary, innovative, and democratically controlled scientific endeavors.

Science and Technology Policy Artificial General Intelligence Research and Laboratory Innovation Science Funding and Economic Impact Neuroscience and AI Political Activism in Scientific Publications Academic Publishing and Scientific Innovation UK's Role in Global Science Personal Reflections on Science and Perception

The hottest Substack posts of James W. Phillips' Newsletter

And their main takeaways

Neuroscience/AI - Can rats ‘think’? A paper by Chongxi Lai and colleagues on cognitive teleportation in rats [8 min read]

157 implied HN points • 10 Apr 23
🔬 Science Neuroscience AI Cognition Experiment
  1. There is a paper on cognitive teleportation in rats, pushing the boundaries of what we understand about rodent cognition.
  2. The research involves tasks where rats navigate in virtual reality based on their brain signals, not physical movements.
  3. The study successfully shows rats 'thinking' by rewarding them for imagining being in a particular location, showcasing impressive advancements in neuroscience and AI.

Responses to comments on our democratic control of AGI paper

137 implied HN points • 01 Apr 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Policy Safety Development
  1. The proposal on democratic control of AGI highlights the need for aligning AI development with democratic accountability and safety measures.
  2. There are concerns about a potential global race in developing AGI and whether private labs or multilateral efforts are better suited to manage the risks.
  3. Despite uncertainties, there is a growing acknowledgment in frontier labs that AGI poses significant risks to humanity and discussions about control and safety measures are crucial.

Rising political activism in prestige scientific journals and magazines

98 implied HN points • 10 Dec 23
🔬 Science Identity politics
  1. Prominent scientific journals and magazines have become significantly more politicized over the years, emphasizing political content over pure science.
  2. There is a noticeable bias towards left-of-center viewpoints in the political articles, with a lack of representation of differing viewpoints.
  3. The increase in political and identity-related content in these scientific publications may have implications for how science is perceived and understood by the public.
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Lovelace vision document: ARIA's proposed twin - a network of new research laboratories using different organisational principles

196 implied HN points • 01 Nov 22
  1. Applied metascience movement aims to reinvent how science is done for more effectiveness and innovation.
  2. UK launched ARPA modelled on ARPA to create ARIA and Lovelace Program for transformative research.
  3. Lovelace Program focuses on fostering creative visions for innovation, self-organisation, and long-term support for promising researchers.

New applied metascience lab - Future House announced + some thoughts on UK applied metascience

98 implied HN points • 01 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Research AI Innovation Policy Entrepreneurship
  1. A new applied metascience lab called Future House has been announced, with a focus on using AI to accelerate scientific research.
  2. Future House aims to create an 'AI scientist' that can independently develop hypotheses by analyzing scientific papers.
  3. The UK needs to prioritize initiatives like Future House to orient to new opportunities and empower quality talent in research.

S&T - New Horizons: The UK’s Global Science Strategy Beyond Horizon Europe (Jan 2023)

78 implied HN points • 18 Feb 23
🔬 Science Technology Research Innovation Engineering Global
  1. The UK needs to benchmark itself against global science leaders for investment and performance.
  2. Science and technology have become more interdisciplinary and institutions need to adapt to support this.
  3. Identifying niches for exploitation and creating new institutions focused on empowering junior researchers is crucial for UK's success.

A New National Purpose: AI

78 implied HN points • 13 Jun 23
🕹 Technology AI Science Government Innovation Research
  1. The UK needs a new national purpose centered on AI, with increased scale, ambition, and speed.
  2. Reforms to the state are necessary, like reprioritizing capital expenditure and empowering technical experts in government.
  3. Establishing an AI lab named Sentinel, focusing on safety, regulation, and promoting research collaboration, is crucial.

S&T - Bret Victor, Realtalk and the ‘laboratory of the future’ vision [updated with proposal]

78 implied HN points • 14 May 23
🕹 Technology Innovation Computing Visualization Collaboration
  1. Bret Victor envisions a future where the laboratory is a communal computational system.
  2. Personal computing history, led by figures like Alan Kay, envisioned computers as 'intellectual amplifiers'.
  3. Realtalk is a system where physical spaces are transformed into computational systems, allowing collaborative work without screens.

Body-mind: An Emergent I Prologue - A Semi-Monocular I

78 implied HN points • 13 Nov 22
  1. The author shares a personal story of being born blind in one eye and the challenges of living with double vision.
  2. Depth perception and binocular vision play a crucial role in how we perceive the world and interact with it.
  3. Through the author's experience, we see how seeing the world differently can impact thinking and personality.

S&T: 'A conversation with Sydney Brenner: How academia and publishing are destroying scientific innovation' - Elizabeth Dzeng's 2014 Interview

19 implied HN points • 16 May 23
🔬 Science Academia Publishing
  1. Sydney Brenner and his colleagues made significant contributions to biology, including establishing the genetic code and using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism.
  2. Young scientists face challenges in today's academic environment, such as pressure to publish in high-impact journals and the need for funding for risky, innovative research.
  3. There is a growing movement towards open access publishing and a reevaluation of the metrics used to judge research quality in academia.

Coming soon

0 implied HN points • 07 Apr 22
  1. James W. Phillips has a Substack coming soon.
  2. Check out jw-phillips.com in the meantime.
  3. Stay updated by subscribing.