I think the possibilities of technology have become increasingly awesome in both senses of the word. And I think philosophy is a useful tool in reorienting our questions in a more human-centric way to say, what does this mean for us? What does this say about us? How can we navigate this increasingly strange and amazing world? One nice thing about being a philosopher also is you get to take the big picture perspective.
Last year, Rufus sat down with philosopher David Chalmers to talk about the allure of virtual reality, whether robots will ever achieve consciousness, and the likelihood that we’re living in a simulation (David thinks it’s about 25 percent). It was a fascinating, freewheeling conversation, and we left large chunks of it on the cutting room floor. Now, though, with ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms taking the world by storm, those unaired sections, many of which were about the ethics of artificial intelligence, feel super relevant. So today, we’re sharing our complete interview with David. Buckle up. It’s a wild ride.