The Human Podcast

WELCOME TO THE AI SAFETY SERIES, FEATURING FILMED INTERVIEWS WITH INDIVIDUALS WORKING IN THE AI SAFETY FIELD, ABOUT THEIR LIVES & WORK.

In this episode, I speak to Gabe Alfour, a co-founder and the CTO of Conjecture, and an advisor to ControlAI. Conjecture is an AI Safety organisation, based in London. ControlAI is a non-profit organisation that works to reduce the risks to humanity from artificial intelligence.

The Human Podcast explores the lives and ideas of inspiring individuals. Subscribe for new interviews every week.

☕️ BUY ME A COFFEE

https://buymeacoffee.com/thehumanpodcast

It's just me (Joe) working on this so any support is hugely helpful and greatly appreciated! ❤️

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro

0:15 - What are Conjecture & ControlAI?

1:22 - Why are you starting to speak out?

2:45 - Working in crypto

4:23 - GPT-3 caused me to pivot into AI safety

7:30 - What is alignment?

9:45 - What is AI alignment?

12:57 - Story of co-founding Conjecture

14:52 - What has Conjecture worked on?

18:13 - Why run Conjecture as a for-profit?

20:02 - Publishing 'The Compendium'

21:25 - How could AI cause human extinction?

25:21 - What do ControlAI do?

28:09 - Transitioning to policy work from technical

30:04 - Dissecting the 'AI safety community' into 4 groups

32:59 - Personal impact of belief in AI causing extinction

35:01 - Biggest lesson learnt: people are too cynical

39:06 - Believing great change is possible

42:00 - CLOSING QU: What is a good life?

👤 GABE ALFOUR:

X - https://x.com/gabe_cc

Conjecture - https://www.conjecture.dev/about

ControlAI - https://controlai.com/

'The Compendium' - https://www.thecompendium.ai/

'A Narrow Path' - https://www.narrowpath.co/

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heythehumanpodcast/

Email - [email protected]

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/0KmaotctziE

WELCOME TO THE NEW AI SAFETY SERIES, FEATURING FILMED CONVERSATIONS WITH INDIVIDUALS WORKING IN THE AI SAFETY FIELD, ABOUT THEIR LIVES AND WORK.

In this episode, I speak to Liron Shapira,host of the 'Doom Debates' Podcast. Doom Debates' Mission is to raise mainstream awareness of imminent extinction from AGI and build the social infrastructure for high-quality debate.

The Human Podcast explores the lives and ideas of inspiring individuals. Subscribe for new interviews every week.

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro

0:05 - What is 'Doom'?

0:57 - How could AI cause doom?

4:08 - What is P(doom)?

6:02 - How do you determine P(doom)?

8:16 - Hosting the 'Doom Debates' Podcast

10:17 - Most people are worried about AI

11:51 - Journey into AI safety

14:25 - Liron's mind and life

17:55 - Beliefs about AI

20:14 - Best argument against AI doom

22:49 - Who would you like to see debate AI?

25:19 - Why do you believe we're doomed?

28:48 - Other risks such as nuclear & virus doom

31:05 - Rogue AI vs AI misuse risks

31:54 - What can be done to stop AI doom?

37:23 - Don't we need to build AGI because of bad actors?

40:35 - Richard Feynmann painting

41:15 - CLOSING QU: What is a good life?

👤 LIRON SHAPIRA / DOOM DEBATES:

Liron's X - https://x.com/liron

Doom Debates YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DoomDebates

'Doom Debates' Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4v2mFQwcDa8vQvCnYceCfs

'Doom Debates' Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doom-debates/id1751366208

'Doom Debates' Substack - https://lironshapira.substack.com/

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heythehumanpodcast/

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/VTGBHcPnJXo

Meet the world's most fun psychologist & magician, Professor Richard Wiseman, Britain's only Professor in the Public Understanding of Psychology. He's consulted for top magicians like Derren Brown, published a dozen influential books and over 100 papers, amassed an astonishing 800+ million YouTube views and helped shape the Edinburgh Fringe as a board member.

The Human Podcast explores the lives and ideas of unique individuals. Subscribe for new interviews every week.

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro

0:19 - Richard's many achievements

1:09 - How have you achieved so much?

2:24 - Richard's research journey

4:42 - Parapsychology research

7:02 - Practising magic early on

8:39 - Richard's supportive parents

9:58 - Pursuing psychology instead of magic

13:37 - Magic's psychology lessons

15:28 - Edinburgh Fringe: Working on the board

16:24 - World's funniest joke

18:54 - Apollo moon landing research

21:36 - 'in59seconds' YouTube channel

22:36 - 59 second ideas that will change how you think

24:10 - 'Quirkology' YouTube channel

27:14 - Derren Brown: Helping as a creative consultant

28:42 - Luck research: How to I be lucky?

31:44 - Changing my mind at the last minute

32:53 - Has your career been stressful?

34:02 - Watching no TV

35:31 - Taking no holidays as I love my work

36:45 - How has your research impacted your life?

38:24 - How would your friends and family describe you?

39:37 - CLOSING QU: What is a good life?

👤 PROFESSOR RICHARD WISEMAN:

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wiseman

Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B001IGSOSK?ingress=0&visitId=5aa7397a-318f-4298-9682-707c19bbd4fc&ref_=ap_rdr

Website - https://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/

X - https://x.com/RichardWiseman

Quirkology - https://www.youtube.com/user/Quirkology

In59seconds - https://www.youtube.com/@In59seconds

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heythehumanpodcast/

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/1PqGHUSADKE

Welcome to the new quickfire series where I'm asking a wide range of people, from different careers, 10 Questions in 10 Minutes!

Episode 5 is with Peter Adamson - a philosopher at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and King’s College London. He has also been the host of the extremely popular podcast, ‘History of Philosophy without any gaps’ for over 10 years.

Subscribe for new episodes every week! Full series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdXqMrbQhkyuTGEVeaxGtPXUe_Vcpn_6l

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro

0:07 - Qu 1: Most Interesting Period Of Philosophy?

0:47 - Qu 2: Most Fascinating Philosopher Ever?

1:17 - Qu 3: Best Philosophers To Teach Us How To Live?

2:21 - Qu 4: How Has Philosophy Impacted Your Life?

2:52 - Qu 5: Most Underrated Philosopher?

4:02 - Qu 6: How'd Ancient Philosophers React To The World Today?

5:12 - Qu 7: What Does History of Philosophy Tell Us About History?

6:13 - Qu 8: What Does History of Philosophy Tell Us About Philosophy?

7:11 - Qu 9: Why Did You Start Your Podcast?

7:32 - Qu 10: What Would You Be Doing If You Weren't A Philosopher?

👤 GUEST:

Podcast (History of Philosophy without any Gaps) - https://historyofphilosophy.net

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Adamson_(philosopher)

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/histphilosophy.bsky.social

Twitter - https://twitter.com/HistPhilosophy

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heythehumanpodcast/

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@heythehumanpodcast

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/heythehumanpodcast.bsky.social

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/dhww--wcPnk

Welcome to the new quickfire series where I'm asking a wide range of people, from different careers, 10 Questions in 10 Minutes!

Ep .4 is with an 'effective altruist' - Stefan Schubert. 'Effective altruists' aim to find the best ways to help others and put this into practice. Stefan is a researcher in philosophy and psychology at Effective Altruism Sweden.

Subscribe for new episodes every week! Full series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdXqMrbQhkyuTGEVeaxGtPXUe_Vcpn_6l

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro

00:02 - Qu 1: What Is Effective Altruism?

00:09 - Qu 2: Easiest Way to Improve the World?

01:11 - Qu 3: Are Humans More Altruistic or Selfish?

01:56 - Qu 4: Most Important Problem in the World?

02:39 - Qu 5: Why We're Often Ineffectively Altruistic?

03:49 - Qu 6: Biggest Existential Risk Humanity Faces?

04:52 - Qu 7: What Gives You Hope for the Future?

05:37 - Qu 8: What Does It Mean To Be Rational?

06:54 - Qu 9: What Is Sleepwalk Bias?

08:31 - Qu 10: Who Inspires You?

👤 GUEST:

𝕏 - https://x.com/StefanFSchubert

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanfschubert/

Substack - https://stefanschubert.substack.com/

Academia - https://lse.academia.edu/StefanSchubert

Effective Altruism - https://www.effectivealtruism.org/people/stefan-schubert

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heythehumanpodcast/

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@heythehumanpodcast

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/heythehumanpodcast.bsky.social

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/ETj4sMNAwgs

This interview is with Professor Jo Fox, a historian of propaganda. She is an expert in psychological warfare in twentieth-century Europe and propaganda in Britain & Germany during WW1 & WW2. Jo is also the Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research and Public Engagement at the University of London.

The Human Podcast explores the lives and ideas of unique individuals. Subscribe for new interviews every week.

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Research Overview

1:39 - What are misinformation & disinformation

3:12 - What is propaganda?

5:06 - What are rumours?

6:31 - WW2 propaganda

8:11 - Measuring the impact of propaganda

10:23 - Film propaganda (WW1 & WW2)

13:29 - Woman in propaganda

15:34 - Ethics of propaganda (Britain's in WW1/WW2)

19:08 - How to avoid propaganda

24:05 - Decreased trust in the media

26:11 - Institutional corruption

27:51 - AI/Technology & future of propaganda

29:57 - Why the motivation to research propaganda?

31:25 - How's your research influenced your life?

33:28 - Where did interest in propaganda come from?

34:48 - Jo's PhD

35:58 - Benefits of learning history

37:32 - Tech leaders should understand history

39:17 - George Orwell's 1984 Ministry of Truth: Filming location?

42:03 - SHOW ENDING TRADITION: What is a good life?

👤 GUEST:

LinkedIn - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Fox

Uni of London Page - https://www.london.ac.uk/about/senior-executive-team/professor-jo-fox

Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Jo-Fox/author/B001JOYKW0

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thehumanpodcastinsta

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thehumanpodcasttiktok

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/hpZ89E-n8hQ

This interview is with the host of The Cognitive Revolution Podcast, Nathan Labenz. The Cognitive Revolution is a fantastic and highly regarded weekly podcast featuring interviews with artificial intelligence (AI) innovators, diving into the transformative impact AI will have in the near future.

The Human Podcast explores the lives, careers and beliefs of inspiring individuals. Subscribe for new interviews every week.

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro

0:04 - Inspiration for starting The Cognitive Revolution Podcast

2:43 - Decision to host podcast vs becoming a researcher

6:37 - Imagining podcast episodes in 1-3 years

12:22 - Life as a podcaster

17:50 - Life story

24:13 - Effect of high consumption of AI advancements/news

29:41 - Trends across podcast guests (agreements & disagreements)

36:15 - What is a good life?

👤 NATHAN:

𝕏 - https://x.com/labenz

Website - https://www.nathanlabenz.com/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/

🎙️ COGNITIVE REVOLUTION PODCAST:

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@UCjNRVMBVI30Sak_p6HRWhIA

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431

𝕏 - https://x.com/cogrev_podcast

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thehumanpodcastinsta

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thehumanpodcasttiktok

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/8Ssqnccv2_I

NEW SERIES WHERE I ASK FASCINATING PEOPLE 10 QUESTIONS in 10 MINUTES!

Ep #3 is with the scientific advisor of the film 'Ex Machina', Professor Murray Shanahan. Murray works at Google DeepMind as a Principal Research Scientist, and is a Professor of Cognitive Robotics at Imperial College London. He is an expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Subscribe for new episodes every week!

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro

0:08 - Qu 1: What do you hope the world learns from Ex Machina?

0:20 - Qu 2: When can we expect a robot like Ava?

0:43 - Qu 3: What should the public know about AI?

1:15 - Qu 4: How do you feel about what's coming with AI?

2:03 - Qu 5: Can we build conscious AI?

2:48 - Qu 6: Should we build conscious AI?

3:46 - Qu 7: What's been your most interesting chat with AI?

4:15 - Qu 8: What question has fascinated you most?

5:53 - Qu 9: Does AGI require breakthroughs or just continuing as we are?

7:36 - Qu 10: What is a good life?

👤 GUEST:

𝕏: https://twitter.com/JDHamkins

Website: https://jdh.hamkins.org/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_David_Hamkins

Substack (Infinitely More): https://www.infinitelymore.xyz/

Books: https://tinyurl.com/4kc8df7d

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeMZeXYIhdxnQvZP360uoBg

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thehumanpodcastinsta

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thehumanpodcasttiktok

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/vMVkRVviiRw

__________________

NEW SERIES WHERE I ASK FASCINATING PEOPLE 10 QUESTIONS EACH!

Ep #2 is with Former World memory Champion, Ben Pridmore. Ben was the first person to ever memorise a deck of cards in under 30 seconds. He's also an accountant who loves to holiday in Las Vegas.

Subscribe for new episodes every week!

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro

0:08 - 1. Most impressive memory feat?

0:43 - 2. How do you memorise a deck of cards?

1:13 - 3. Can anyone develop an amazing memory?

1:39 - 4. Do you ever forget things?

2:11 - 5. Is an amazing memory a gift or a curse?

2:39 - 6. How do you radically improve your memory?

3:14 - 7. Do you use memory techniques in everyday life?

4:00 - 8. What do people misunderstand about memory?

4:50 - 9. Why did you become so obsessed with memorisation?

5:43 - 10. How has your amazing memory changed your life?

👤 GUEST:

𝕏: https://twitter.com/JDHamkins

Website: https://jdh.hamkins.org/

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_David_Hamkins

Substack (Infinitely More): https://www.infinitelymore.xyz/

Books: https://tinyurl.com/4kc8df7d

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeMZeXYIhdxnQvZP360uoBg

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thehumanpodcastinsta

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thehumanpodcasttiktok

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/eonR5-VN4y8

In this episode, I speak to the scientific advisor of the film 'Ex Machina', Professor Murray Shanahan. Murray works at Google DeepMind as a Principal Research Scientist, and is a Professor of Cognitive Robotics at Imperial College London. He is an expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The Human Podcast explores the lives, careers and beliefs of inspiring individuals. Subscribe for new interviews every week.

🕒 TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Helping with Ex Machina film

3:13 - What Ex Machina taught me about AI

5:25 - Is Ex Machina a realistic look at the future?

6:55 - 'Her' film / AI relationships

9:03 - Watershed robotics moment

11:00 - Conversations with AI (LLM Chatbots)

16:19 - Disturbing moments with AI

18:05 - Theme of my career

19:54 - Interest in technical & philosophical areas

23:26 - Google DeepMind & Imperial College London

24:25 - Being a student

28:15 - Early life

33:11 - Buddhism interest

35:55 - Future plans

39:00 - Consciousness / Conscious exotica

45:30 - What is a good life?

👤 GUEST:

𝕏 - https://x.com/mpshanahan

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Shanahan

Website - https://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~mpsha/

Book inspiring Ex Machina (Embodiment and the Inner Life” (2010)) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Embodiment-inner-life-Cognition-Consciousness/dp/0199226555?ref_=ast_author_dp

Conscious Exotica (Aeon article) - https://aeon.co/essays/beyond-humans-what-other-kinds-of-minds-might-be-out-there

Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=00bnGpAAAAAJ&hl=en

Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/mpshanahan.bsky.social

📱 SOCIAL:

𝕏 - https://twitter.com/heyhumanpodcast

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thehumanpodcastinsta

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thehumanpodcasttiktok

Email - [email protected]

🎥 EQUIPMENT:

Provided by Kintek, who provide organisations with outstanding technology services - https://kintek.co.uk

🎵 MUSIC:

Music by penguinmusic - Better Day from Pixabay