Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset developed by Facebook and Oculus VR. It allows users to play games such as ping pong, mini-golf in an immersive environment. But the technology still lacks haptic feedback for things like eating or drinking. This article was originally published on The Guardian's website. We are happy to clarify that we have no plans to change our readers’ views of this story.
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.