A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs
That Made Our Brains by Max Bennett
In the last decade, capabilities of
artificial intelligence that had long been the realm of science fiction have,
for the first time, become our reality. AI is now able to produce original art,
identify tumors in pictures, and even steer our cars. And yet, large gaps
remain in what modern AI systems can achieve—indeed, human brains still easily
perform intellectual feats that we can’t replicate in AI systems. How is it
possible that AI can beat a grandmaster at chess but can’t effectively load a
dishwasher? As AI entrepreneur Max Bennett compellingly argues, finding the
answer requires diving into the billion-year history of how the human brain
evolved; a history filled with countless half-starts, calamities, and clever
innovations. Not only do our brains have a story to tell—the future of AI may
depend on it.
Now,
in A Brief History of Intelligence, Bennett bridges the gap between
neuroscience and AI to tell the brain’s evolutionary story, revealing how
understanding that story can help shape the next generation of AI
breakthroughs. Deploying a fresh perspective and working with the support of
many top minds in neuroscience, Bennett consolidates this immense history into
an approachable new framework, identifying the “Five Breakthroughs” that mark
the brain’s most important evolutionary leaps forward. Each breakthrough brings
new insight into the biggest mysteries of human intelligence. Containing
fascinating corollaries to developments in AI, A Brief History of Intelligence
shows where current AI systems have matched or surpassed our brains, as well as
where AI systems still fall short. Simply put, until AI systems successfully
replicate each part of our brain’s long journey, AI systems will fail to
exhibit human-like intelligence.
Endorsed
and lauded by many of the top neuroscientists in the field today, Bennett’s
work synthesizes the most relevant scientific knowledge and cutting-edge
research into an easy-to-understand and riveting evolutionary story. With
sweeping scope and stunning insights, A Brief History of Intelligence proves
that understanding the arc of our brain’s history can unlock the tools for
successfully navigating our technological future.
NEWS
|
Climate
change driving insurance premiums, adding to cost of living pressure and
inflation
Climate
change is driving an enormous increase in the cost of insurance with premiums
massively outpacing price rises for nearly all other goods and services, making
it unaffordable for many Australians.
In
2022, Australians claimed more than seven billion dollars on their home
insurance – almost double the previous record – after a string of major floods
across the east of the country.
In
response, home insurance premium rose by at least 14% on average, the biggest
rise in a decade.
In
the major capital cities, rising insurance costs over recent decades have
massively outpaced broader price rises.
In
Brisbane, insurance costs have increased by more than five times the Consumer
Price Index (CPI), and in Melbourne, the city least impacted by climate change,
by nearly three times.
The
spy who fed CIA secrets to Russia — and convinced his son to do it too
The
handoff was quick and seamless, a coffee cup containing the DNA of a suspected
Russian spy swapped for an identical one in a hallway exchange between a CIA
operative and an FBI agent.
The
move was textbook spycraft, but everything else about the scenario was
extraordinary: The handoff went down within the bowels of CIA headquarters, and
the suspected mole was one of the agency’s own – but so was the man tasked with
catching him.
The
target was Harold ‘Jim’ Nicholson, a charismatic career spy and devoted single
dad who’d been working for the CIA for 16 years. He’d end up serving even more
time than that in prison.
The
CIA colleague who’d swiped the coffee cup from his desk was John Maguire, a
former Baltimore cop who’d carved out a counterrorism niche within the spy
agency.
Maguire
had been recalled from overseas by CIA superiors – banished to HR as
punishment, he’d thought, for rejecting a posting in Pakistan in autumn
1995 – before being called into a secret meeting at Langley, asked if
he’d accept an unidentified job, then whisked to an off-site location.
ARTICLES
|
Repeated
interrogations of sources of human intelligence using the Scharff
technique
Human
Intelligence (HUMINT) sources may be questioned multiple times. However,
criminal and military interrogation research focuses on single-instance
interrogations. The current study employed a role-playing paradigm to examine
the effect of interrogation approach on various elicitation-relevant outcomes
and information gain across repeated questioning sessions using a direct
approach and the Scharff Technique. In the study scenario, participants
(N = 68) were given information on an extremist group planning a bombing, were
given an information management dilemma, and were subsequently questioned.
Participants in the Scharff Technique condition were questioned using the
Scharff Technique at Time 1 and direct questioning at Time 2. Direct Approach
condition participants received direct questioning at both times. All
participants provided a greater information contribution at Time 2 compared to
Time 1, regardless of assigned condition. Compared to participants in the
Direct Approach condition, participants in the Scharff Technique condition
perceived Time 1 interrogators as more knowledgeable and Time 2 interrogators
as less knowledgeable. This suggests a backfire effect when switching from the
Scharff technique to direct questioning. Interrogators should carefully
consider the decision to employ the Scharff technique if it may be followed up
with more traditional questioning approaches.
Inside
a Firewall Vendor's 5-Year War With the Chinese Hackers Hijacking Its
Devices
For
years, it's been an inconvenient truth within the cybersecurity industry that
the network security devices sold to protect customers from spies and
cybercriminals are, themselves, often the machines those intruders hack to gain
access to their targets. Again and again, vulnerabilities in “perimeter”
devices like firewalls and VPN appliances have become footholds for
sophisticated hackers trying to break into the very systems those appliances
were designed to safeguard.
Now
one cybersecurity vendor is revealing how intensely—and for how long—it has
battled with one group of hackers that have sought to exploit its products to
their own advantage. For more than five years, the UK cybersecurity firm Sophos
engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with one loosely connected team of adversaries
who targeted its firewalls. The company went so far as to track down and
monitor the specific devices on which the hackers were testing their intrusion
techniques, surveil the hackers at work, and ultimately trace that focused,
years-long exploitation effort to a single network of vulnerability researchers
in Chengdu, China.
REPORT
|
Chinese
hackers collected audio from unnamed Trump campaign adviser: report
The
Washington Post reported that the hackers intercepted calls and texts of Trump
team adviser
Chinese
state-affiliated hackers intercepted audio from the phone calls of US political
figures including an unnamed campaign adviser of Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump, The Washington Post newspaper reported. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency said on Friday they were investigating
unauthorised access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by people
associated with China. Trump’s campaign and the FBI did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
The
Post also reported the hackers were able to access unencrypted communications,
such as text messages, of the individual. Reuters reported that Chinese
hackers also targeted phones used by people affiliated with the campaign of
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Trump and his running
mate, J.D. Vance, were targeted, various media outlets reported.
OPINION
|
There
are no safe seats. Major parties have to get used to independent
thinking
Since
the 2022 election, commentators and reporters have debated whether the wave of
new independents was part of a broader movement or just the reflection of a
moment.
Elections
in the ACT and on the northern beaches of Sydney suggest a movement is on
foot.
Canberrans
elected two independents, whose vote swelled at the expense of both major
parties and the Greens. In the NSW state electorate of Pittwater, the community
(or “teal”) independent Jacqui Scruby was victorious in what was, until
recently, a safe Liberal seat.
The
shift is part of a decades-long decline in the major party vote. At the 1990
federal, election just 9 per cent voted for a minor party or independent. In
2022 the figure was 32 per cent, not far short of the primary votes for Labor
and the Liberal-National Coalition.
With
the Labor government in the ACT approaching a quarter-century of rule (sharing
power with the Greens for most of that time), proportional representation
allowed Canberrans to elect a counter-veiling force without replacing the
government with the Liberal opposition.
While
the two independents will not hold balance of power, as parliamentarians they
can influence parliamentary debate, propose legislation and question the
executive.
TALKS, WEBINARS
& PRESENTATIONS
|
SpyCast
Episode 657: Bellingcat: An Intelligence Agency for the People with Eliot
Higgins
Here
on SpyCast, we’ve made an active effort to bring you up to date and relevant
conversations on what’s been called the “new frontier” of intelligence – OSINT.
While the rise of open-source intelligence over the past decade has certainly
been supported by the intelligence community, it has perhaps been most
championed by independent and passionate actors in the private
sector.
In
this episode, we bring you a conversation with Eliot Higgins, founder of the
groundbreaking investigative journalism website Bellingcat – An “intelligence
agency for the people.” You’ve undoubtedly heard us talk about Bellingcat on
the show before, but never like this. Straight from its founding father, tune
in to learn more about the fascinating work of Bellingcat and the many
journalists that contribute to it.
