Robert J. Marks II | The Walter Bradley Center for Natural & Artificial Intelligence

Robert J. Marks Ph.D. is Senior Fellow and Director of the Bradley Center and is Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Baylor University. Marks is a Fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America). He was the former Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and is the current Editor-in-Chief of BIO-Complexity. Marks is author of the books Non-Computable You: What You Do That Artificial Intelligence Never Will Never Do and The Case For Killer Robots. He is co-author of the books For a Greater Purpose: The Life and Legacy of Walter Bradley, Neural Smithing: Supervised Learning in Feedforward Artificial Neural Networks and Introduction to Evolutionary Informatics. For more information, see Dr. Marks’s expanded bio.

Archives

Micro Softy 72: Necklace Cutting

_{A golden puzzle in daily payments and clever cuts.}_{Robert J. Marks
March 30, 2026}

Sally tells her landlord she will give him one gold bead every day during the 30-day month.

Micro Softy 71: Strange Economics

_{A numbers' game at the hardware store}_{Robert J. Marks
March 23, 2026}

Great nerds are able to grasp deeper meanings. So here is this week’s Micro Softy about an overheard conversation.

Why Logic and Cognition Set Us Apart from Machines

_{Robert J. Marks
March 20, 2026}

Is consciousness the exclusive domain of human beings? Proponents of a view known as integrative information theory argue that AI will eventually achieve that same level of consciousness as systems build up and integrate more knowledge in the future. On this archive episode of Mind Matters News, guest host Pat Flynn welcomes Dr. Selmer Bringsjord to discuss some of the flaws in this theory as well as a possible alternative.

What Separates AI From the Qualities of the Human Mind

_{Selmer Bringsjord
March 20, 2026}

ID The Future listeners now get to enjoy a new episode each month (as well as a bingecast archive episode) from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of the Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. The Mind Matters News podcast brings you interviews and insight from computer scientists, engineers, inventors, neurosurgeons, and other experts who bring sanity to the conversation about natural and artificial intelligence, going beyond the hype to explore the undercurrents of these important ideas. And although the Mind Matters News podcast will not often explicitly discuss intelligent design, it regularly explores the nature of intelligence, the origin of information, and the things that make us uniquely human, concepts that are central to the theory of intelligent design. Is consciousness the exclusive domain of human beings? Proponents of a view known as integrative information theory argue that AI will eventually achieve that same level of consciousness as systems build up and integrate more knowledge in the future. On this archive episode, Mind Matters guest host Pat Flynn welcomes Dr. Selmer Bringsjord to discuss some of the flaws in this theory as well as a possible alternative.

Micro Softy 70: The Light Above Your Stairs

_{The staircase switch: a tiny puzzle hiding in plain sight}_{Robert J. Marks
March 16, 2026}

To show off my electrician skills, this week’s Micro Softy is about the light switch on your stairs.

Micro Softy 69: A Bunch of Switches

_{Where switching theory meets strategy}_{Robert J. Marks
March 9, 2026}

Fritz goes in the first day and sees one of the seven switches down and the rest up. He dutifully flips one of the switches.

Beyond Imitation: Testing for True Artificial General Intelligence

_{Robert J. Marks
March 4, 2026}

On this episode of the Mind Matters News podcast, join host Robert J. Marks as he sits down with Dr. Giorgios Mappouras for a deep dive into the philosophical and technical boundaries that define the gap between human minds and silicon machines. The pair look at why the classic Turing Test is no longer a sufficient measure of machine intelligence in the age of large language models. They explore Giorgio's proposal for a more rigorous framework that can better evaluate AI's abilities.

Irreducible Intelligence: Why AI Imitation is Not Functional Knowledge

_{Giorgios Mappouras
March 4, 2026}

Now, ID The Future listeners will get to enjoy a new episode each month (as well as a bingecast archive episode) from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of the Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. The Mind Matters News podcast brings you interviews and insight from computer scientists, engineers, inventors, neurosurgeons, and other experts who bring sanity to the conversation about natural and artificial intelligence, going beyond the hype to explore the undercurrents of these important ideas. And although the Mind Matters News podcast will not often explicitly discuss intelligent design, it regularly explores the nature of intelligence, the origin of information, and the things that make us uniquely human, concepts that are central to the theory of intelligent design. On this episode, host Robert J. Marks sits down with Dr. Giorgios Mappouras for a deep dive into the philosophical and technical boundaries that define the gap between human minds and silicon machines. The pair look at why the classic Turing Test is no longer a sufficient measure of machine intelligence in the age of large language models. While modern AI can convincingly imitate human conversation, Mappouras argues that true intelligence requires the ability to do more than just mimic data; it must reach what he calls a General Intelligence Threshold. In this episode, they explore Giorgio's proposal for a Turing Test 2.0, a more rigorous framework that evaluates whether an AI can actually extract new, applicable knowledge—what Mappouras calls "functional information"—from the raw data it is given.

Conscious AI, You Say? Here Are Six Models of Consciousness

_{Robert J. Marks II
March 4, 2026}

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) is a mathematically founded emergence model. Michael Egnor and I recently published a paper critiquing IIT.

Six Theories of Consciousness

_{Everybody talks about AI becoming conscious, but no one ever defines what consciousness is.}_{Robert J. Marks
March 2, 2026}

Who gave consciousness and creativity to whoever or whatever is responsible for simulating us, and who simulated our simulator?

Micro Softy 68: An Overcrowded Prison

_{When every flip counts, can Frenchy find his freedom?}_{Robert J. Marks
March 1, 2026}

Problem: If we get one more prisoner, we have to start doubling up cells which is no good.

Micro Softy 67: Three Switches and a Song

_{A mind‑twisting challenge for curious thinkers}_{Robert J. Marks
February 23, 2026}

The other two switches turn outside lights off and on. Wide Clyde can’t see outside, so he can’t determine which switches control the lights.

Dr. Mihretu Guta on The Nature of Consciousness

_{Robert J. Marks
February 20, 2026}

On this archive "bingecast" episode of Mind Matters News, hosts Robert J. Marks and Angus Menuge welcome Dr. Mihretu Guta to discuss his contribution to the book Minding the Brain. The discussion covers a number of relevant topics, highlighting the profound and puzzling nature of consciousness and the importance of philosophical inquiry in grappling with this fundamental aspect of human experience.

No Thinking Without a Thinker: Dr. Mihretu Guta on Consciousness

_{Dr. Mihretu Guta
February 20, 2026}

Starting this month, ID The Future listeners will get to enjoy a new episode each month (as well as a bingecast archive episode) from our sister podcast Mind Matters News, a production of the Discovery Institute’s Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence. The Mind Matters News podcast brings you interviews and insight from computer scientists, engineers, inventors, neurosurgeons, and other experts who bring sanity to the conversation about natural and artificial intelligence, going beyond the hype to explore the undercurrents of these important ideas. And although the Mind Matters News podcast will not often explicitly discuss intelligent design, it regularly explores the nature of intelligence, the origin of information, and the things that make us uniquely human, concepts that are central to the theory of intelligent design. On this archive "bingecast" episode, hosts Robert J. Marks and Angus Menuge welcome Dr. Mihretu Guta to discuss his contribution to the book Minding the Brain. Dr. Guta discusses the nature of consciousness and the challenges in understanding it from a philosophical perspective. He argues that consciousness is a unique property that is deeply subjective and personal, making it difficult to study scientifically. Guta contrasts first-order and second-order approaches to understanding consciousness, emphasizing the need to go beyond just the empirical observation of mental phenomena and examine the underlying metaphysical and ontological questions. The discussion covers a number of relevant topics, highlighting the profound and puzzling nature of consciousness and the importance of philosophical inquiry in grappling with this fundamental aspect of human experience.

Micro Softy 66: Reducing Repetitive Repetition

_{The curious loop your calculator didn’t warn you about}_{Robert J. Marks
February 16, 2026}

Choose any three-digit number, say 567, and repeat it: 567,567. Divide it by the prime numbers 13, then 11 and then 7.

The Accidental Inventor: An Interview with Hal Philipp

_{Robert J. Marks
February 9, 2026}

On this episode of Mind Matters News, host Robert J. Marks is joined by Bradley Norris as they welcome Hal Philipp, the man behind the modern touchscreen and a prolific inventor with an impressive 98 U.S. patents. Hal shares his story and some of the lessons he’s learned over a career in invention.

The Accidental Inventor: An Interview with Hal Philipp

_{Hal Philipp
February 9, 2026}

Micro Softy 65: Fathers and Sons

_{A classic riddle that proves numbers aren’t always what they seem}_{Robert J. Marks
February 8, 2026}

Two fathers and their two sons walked into the Bass Pro Shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Each man bought an AK47 rifle with ammunition and a 75-round drum magazine

Micro Softy 64: Old Time Phishing?

_{When prophecy meets profit, only one thing is certain: someone’s being played}_{Robert J. Marks
February 2, 2026}

A few days later, a second note was received. It read: “In the BAA [now the NBA] finals, the Baltimore Bullets will defeat the Philadelphia Warriors to win the 1948 World Championship in Basketball."

The Importance of Human Wisdom in AI Policy

_{Robert J. Marks
January 29, 2026}

On this episode of Mind Matters News, we’re wrapping up our conversation with Dr. Donald Wunsch on his experiences with AI in his recent article in the IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine about artificial general intelligence. This is the sixth part of our conversation with Dr. Wunsch. If you’ve not listened to the earlier portions, you can do so at the links below. This portion of the discussion covers several key topics, including the regulation of AI at federal versus state levels, with Wunsch arguing for certain uniform nationwide regulations while acknowledging appropriate roles for states. The conversation also addresses AI’s energy demands and infrastructure requirements. Marks and Wunsch discuss how all major AI advances have originated from human intellect …