The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Should we press pause on AI?

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How worried should we be about AI? Sean Illing is joined by Stuart J. Russell, a professor at the University of California Berkeley and director of the Center for Human-Compatible AI. Russell was among the signatories who wrote an open letter asking for a six-month pause on AI training. They discuss the dangers of losing control of AI and what the upsides of this rapidly developing technology could be. 

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Stuart J. Russell, professor at the University of California Berkeley and director of the Center for Human-Compatible AI

References: 

  • Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter
  • “AI has much to offer humanity. It could also wreak terrible harm. It must be controlled.” by Stuart Russell (The Observer, April 2023)
  • Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Stuart J. Russell and Peter Norvig (Pearson Education International) 
  • Human-Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control by Stuart Russell (Penguin Random House, 2020)
  • “A Conversation With Bing’s Chatbot Left Me Deeply Unsettled” by Kevin Roose (New York Times, February 2023)


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    This episode was made by: 

    • Engineer: Patrick Boyd
    • Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

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