Socos Labs

Socos Academy: The Rise and Fall of Bad People

This week's Socos Academy looks at schadenfreude, cynicism, and the burden of great men. Mad Science Solves... When I read newspapers call OpenAI “the Cradle of AI”, a la the Rift Valley, or refer to Sam Altman as “the AI whisperer”, it is hard to not feel schadenfreude at the

Socos Academy: Learning Goes Wrong

In this week's Socos Academy we'll look at how honest learning can mislead us. Mad Science Solves... Why can’t we learn from our past mistakes? It’s a reasonable question, but sometimes it is the learning itself that leads us astray. In this week’s research roundup I explore

Socos Academy: Who’s Getting Augmented by AI?

This week's Socos Academy looks at the hardest rung of the socioeconomic ladder: the top. Mad Science Solves... This is a huge question. First because it calls up the complimentary question, “Who’s getting replaced by AI?” But even after we’ve decided the borders between substitution and augmentation—there

Socos Academy: The Economics of Bad Choices

This week's Socos Academy looks at various bad choices. Mad Science Solves... Indulge me this week. Read my Research Roundup below and then let’s meet again at the bottom of the newsletter to talk about subject utility. Learn more on Socos.org Stage & Screen Most of what I shared

Socos Academy: Our Reasoning about AI Reasoning isn't Reasonable

This week's Socos Academy explores the limits of our own reasoning and AI reasoning. Mad Science Solves... A great many brilliant people have been claiming that AI, particularly large language models (LLMs) like GTP, are engaged in reasoning. They suggest and at times outright claim that these systems are not

Socos Academy: Noblesse Oblige

This week's Socos Academy looks at the hardest rung of the socioeconomic ladder: the top. Mad Science Solves... Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Steel Company, which he later sold to JP Morgan for roughly $6 billion. With that fortune he went on to found Carnegie Libraries throughout America and the

Socos Academy: The Hard Part of Learning is Learning

This week's Socos Academy we explore the idea that education isn't supposed to make learning easy—the purpose of education is to prove that the hard work will pay off. Mad Science Solves... More than 5 years ago, Socos Labs launched Muse. On its surface, it was just one of

Socos Academy: More AI, More Problems

This week's Socos Academy looks at possibilities and problems with AI. Mad Science Solves... Causal Reinforcement Learning MSS Back around 2015, I was thinking hard about causality. When machine learning professors talk about causality they are usually talking about causal graphs and Judea Pearl’s research at UCLA. Years earlier

Socos Academy: Who Works From Home? Autonomy & Motivation

This week's Socos Academy looks at the gains and losses of remote work, and how we might create something better. Mad Science Solves... Several of my recent posts have received a great deal of attention in the last few weeks. In particular, updates on my work in “the neuroscience of

Socos Academy: Suspicious Minds

This week’s Socos Academy explores the tension between trust and diversity, how the brain responds to strangers, and the impact of both on innovation. Mad Science Solves... I'm going to start off this week's mad science solves with an unabashed brag. I am asked to give talks around the

Socos Academy: Love

I’ve been away. You have my apologies for not delivering an episode of Socos Academy in recent weeks. This week’s Socos Academy slips through the shadows of love: for science, for my wife, and for my mom. Mad Science Solves... On June 25, my mother had a massive

Socos Academy: Face Space

Welcome back to Socos Academy with our weekly updates on mad science projects, upcoming events, tours through the latest research, and, as always, a sample from one my draft book chapters. This week: Faces! Mad Science Solves… I’ve been working on the latest draft of “SexyFace”, from Professional Mad

Socos Academy: Muse!

This month’s episode considers the messy realities of education and the challenges in making real change. One of our biggest projects at Socos Labs has been the creation of Muse@Home, a system designed to help parents, grandparents, and other guardians raise amazing kids. Rather than building a game

Socos Academy: Issues in AI

Socos Academy: Retrain the Brain

Socos Academy: A bit different…

Socos Academy: Reinvent Invention

Socos Academy: If kids were bonds…

Socos Academy: Gender

Socos Academy: Kant vs Hobbes

Socos Academy: Are We Rational?

Socos Academy: Future of Work

Socos Academy: Cyborgs

Socos Academy: Messy Society

Socos Academy: Technology & Thought

Socos Academy: Can GPS Cause Dementia?

Socos Academy: Top 10 Musings of a Mad Scientist from 2021

Socos Academy: Oct. 2021

Happy October, Socos Academy! Huge thanks to all who have switched over to our paid memberships since the announcements last month. Here’s what’s going on soon… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October Talks & Keynotes Indeed: Tuesday morning, Dr. Ming participated in a fireside chat for Senior Directors and VPs at Indeed [https:

Socos Academy: Sept. 2021

As we approach the end of summer, so do we approach another exciting milestone for Socos Academy...

How Not to Get a Job

Mad Science: Mental Health Meets Machine Learning

Socos Academy: Remote

Book Vivienne (Virtually)! "@salesforcejobs just hosted a wonderful conversation with Dr. Vivienne Ming of @SocosLabs. The power of #AI in predicting success and productivity is boundless!" Vivienne has continued consulting remotely with a diverse range of organizations around the world through COVID-19. Her talks cover everything from the science of

Socos Academy: Not the IR

Vivienne has continued consulting remotely with a diverse range of organizations around the world through COVID-19. Her talks cover everything from the science of long-term stress to data science for D&I, creating AI superpowers for kids to leveraging AI as a tool to understand the impact of policy. Whether

Socos Academy: One GPU, One Vote

Though most large events and gatherings have been cancelled due to COVID-19, Vivienne has continued consulting remotely with companies and organizations around the world. These briefings have covered Vivienne's research in AI, data science, HR, and innovation, but have also addressed the impact of Covid-19 on business and culture. These

Socos Academy: The Index

Get a taste for Vivienne’s kooky style and dynamic stage presence in our keynotes reel! As many of you know, most large events and gatherings have been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, Vivienne has continued consulting remotely with companies and organizations around the world. These briefings have

Socos Academy: Joe vs Jose

What We're Reading Individual and collective encoding of risk in animal groups [https://www.pnas.org/content/116/41/20556], PNAS, 2019 Using Causal Reasoning To Guide Algorithms Toward a Fairer World [https://ai.shorensteincenter.org/ideas/2019/4/3/using-causal-reasoning-to-guide-algorithms-toward-a-fairer-world] , The Ethical Machine, 2020 Individual differences in trust evaluations

Socos Academy: "Represent!"

A large-scale test of the link between intergroup contact and support for social change [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0815-z], Nature, 2020 Evidence of bias against girls and women in contexts that emphasize intellectual ability [https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-62311-015], American Psychologist, 2018 Active learning narrows achievement gaps for

Socos Academy: Covid-19

We Can Safely Restart the Economy in June. Here’s How. [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/opinion/coronavirus-economy.html], New York Times (2020) Keeping Business Alive: The Government as Buyer of Last Resort [http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/coronavirus.pdf], Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman (2020) Substantial undocumented infection

Socos Academy: Neuroprosthetics

Malcolm Gladwell, Sir Ken, and some weirdo. Plus, the closing keynote at Grace Hooper!