23 October, 2019 – Episode 744 – Don’t Fear the AI

What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

Interview w/ Dr. Melanie Mitchell on AI, Prime Editing, Quantum Supremacy, Cosmological Crisis, Smarty Crabs, Fast Ants, Elbow Sex, Shark Buddies!!, Plants!, And Much More…

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DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER!!!

One of the fundamental rules of defining a human is this.

Humans are humans, and

anything that is not human,

is not human.

Seems simple enough, and yet…

One of the fundamental tendencies humans have

is to humanize anything that is not human.

And yet, clocks do not really have faces…

And when apes show emotions, while they might appear to be human,

It could just as well be that humans are experiencing ape emotions.

Somewhere in the in-between there are truths that may not be comfortable.

A face can at times just be a facade that displays information.

An emotion can be separated from social context, and universal across many species

And while there is no doubt humans have the ability to be intelligent…

There is increasing evidence that we are not alone in this.

And what is the one thing intelligent creatures of all sorts have in common?

They all have a never ending thirst for more…

This Week in Science,

Coming Up Next…

Are you ready for an interview?

Interview w/ Dr. Melanie Mitchell

Melanie Mitchell is Professor of Computer Science at Portland State University, and External Professor and Co-Chair of the Science Board at the Santa Fe Institute. She attended Brown University, where she majored in mathematics and did research in astronomy, and the University of Michigan, where she received a Ph.D. in computer science. Her newest book is called <a href="https://melaniemitchel...