{"id":1081,"date":"2023-08-09T14:40:40","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T14:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/psychedelics\/?page_id=1081"},"modified":"2023-08-09T14:40:40","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T14:40:40","slug":"matthew-watkins-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/psychedelic-colloquium-archive\/matthew-watkins-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Watkins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contributor &#8211; Speaker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"299\" height=\"255\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/psychedelic-colloquium-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/745\/2023\/08\/Matthew-Watkins-.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1083\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>Matthew\u00a0Watkins is a mathematician, author, broadcaster, DJ and generalist thinker. In the world of psychedelic research, he\u2019s best known for a 1996 critique of Terence McKenna\u2019s notorious Timewave theory (announced by McKenna to his audience as \u201cThe Watkins Objection\u201d). His most recent publication was an experimental cosmic\/local history book (You Are Here: The Biography of a Moment, 2017). Lately, he\u2019s reluctantly become involved with AI safety research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>Colloquium Presentation: 10 June 2020 \u2013 2:30pm (In person, WS Room 105)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Faces in things? Psychedelic visuals, Pareidolia and AI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Abstract<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Increased facial pareidolia, the tendency for the human mind to see faces where there aren\u2019t any, is a common feature in accounts of psychedelic experiences. Recently, researchers developing and experimenting with AI facial recognition systems have encountered a phenomenon analogous to facial pareidolia occuring with their algorithms. \u00a0Harnessing this type of phenomenon, creative adaptation of such algorithms can be used to create convincing (to many) recreations of the visual component of psychedelic experience This goes back to Google DeepDream in 2015, and has since evolved considerably. Having recently been exploring the mysterious internal workings of Artificial Neural Network visual systems, another source of profoundly psychedelic imagery, I will explore what this unexpected crossover between technology and psychedelia might mean.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-responsive-item\"  title=\"Dr Matthew Watkins \u2013 Faces in things? Psychedelic visuals, Pareidolia, and AI\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RJ1nk46ePVM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributor &#8211; Speaker Matthew\u00a0Watkins is a mathematician, author, broadcaster, DJ and generalist thinker. In the world of psychedelic research, he\u2019s best known for a 1996 critique of Terence McKenna\u2019s notorious Timewave theory (announced by McKenna to his audience as \u201cThe Watkins Objection\u201d). His most recent publication was an experimental cosmic\/local history book (You Are Here: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-sidebar-boxed-feature-img.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Matthew Watkins - Psychedelic Colloquium Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/psychedelic-colloquium-archive\/matthew-watkins-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matthew Watkins - Psychedelic Colloquium Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contributor &#8211; Speaker Matthew\u00a0Watkins is a mathematician, author, broadcaster, DJ and generalist thinker. 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