Making Sense with Sam Harris

Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence | Episode 1 of The Essential Sam Harris


Listen Later

Filmmaker Jay Shapiro has produced a new series of audio documentaries, exploring the major topics that Sam has focused on over the course of his career.

Each episode weaves together original analysis, critical perspective, and novel thought experiments with some of the most compelling exchanges from the Making Sense archive. Whether you are new to a particular topic, or think you have your mind made up about it, we think you’ll find this series fascinating.

In this episode, we explore the landscape of Artificial Intelligence. We’ll listen in on Sam’s conversation with decision theorist and artificial-intelligence researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky, as we consider the potential dangers of AI – including the control problem and the value-alignment problem – as well as the concepts of Artificial General Intelligence, Narrow Artificial Intelligence, and Artificial Super Intelligence.

We’ll then be introduced to philosopher Nick Bostrom’s “Genies, Sovereigns, Oracles, and Tools,” as physicist Max Tegmark outlines just how careful we need to be as we travel down the AI path. Computer scientist Stuart Russell will then dig deeper into the value-alignment problem and explain its importance.   We’ll hear from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt about the geopolitical realities of AI terrorism and weaponization. We’ll then touch the topic of consciousness as Sam and psychologist Paul Bloom turn the conversation to the ethical and psychological complexities of living alongside humanlike AI. Psychologist Alison Gopnik then reframes the general concept of intelligence to help us wonder if the kinds of systems we’re building using “Deep Learning” are really marching us towards our super-intelligent overlords.   Finally, physicist David Deutsch will argue that many value-alignment fears about AI are based on a fundamental misunderstanding about how knowledge actually grows in this universe.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Making Sense with Sam HarrisBy Sam Harris

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

25,620 ratings


More shows like Making Sense with Sam Harris

View all
The Glenn Show by Glenn Loury

The Glenn Show

2,239 Listeners

Conversations with Tyler by Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Conversations with Tyler

2,396 Listeners

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps by Josh Szeps

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps

832 Listeners

The Good Fight by Yascha Mounk

The Good Fight

890 Listeners

Growth Mindset Psychology: The Science of Self-Improvement by Growth Mindset Psychology

Growth Mindset Psychology: The Science of Self-Improvement

327 Listeners

The Michael Shermer Show by Michael Shermer

The Michael Shermer Show

909 Listeners

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas by Sean Carroll | Wondery

Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

4,093 Listeners

Quillette Podcast by Quillette

Quillette Podcast

802 Listeners

Within Reason by Alex J O'Connor

Within Reason

1,489 Listeners

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss by Lawrence M. Krauss

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss

493 Listeners

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

5,205 Listeners

The Coronavirus Effect by Sam Webster Harris

The Coronavirus Effect

36 Listeners

The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan by Andrew Sullivan

The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan

805 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,210 Listeners

The Best of Making Sense with Sam Harris by Sam Harris

The Best of Making Sense with Sam Harris

322 Listeners

Conversations With Coleman by This Is 42

Conversations With Coleman

217 Listeners