Do You Worry About Artificial Intelligence?

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I think we do have to worry about, in my view, over-dependent on AI. Large global networks are vulnerable, and so we should worry about them. There are the familiar effects of automation of all kinds on the labor force. And this can be dealt with by changing economics. I don't see much chance of this happening in your country, nor in mind with the present government. We should learn far more from European countries like Germany and Poland, and in particular, from Scandinavian countries,. then we learn from the US.

Shermer and Rees discuss: existential threats • overpopulation • biodiversity loss • climate change • AI and self-driving cars, robots, and unemployment • his bet with Steven Pinker • his disagreement with Richard Dawkins • how science works as a communal activity • scientific creativity • science communication • science education • why there aren’t more women and people of color in STEM fields • verification vs. falsification • Bayesian reasoning and scientific progress • Model Dependent Realism and the nature of reality Fermi’s Paradox • why he’s an atheist but wants to be buried in the Presbyterian church in which he was raised • mysterian mysteries.

Martin Rees is Astronomer Royal, former President of the Royal Society, Fellow (and former Master) of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He sits as a member of the UK House of Lords. He is the author of many bestselling popular science books, including: On the Future; Just Six Numbers; Before the Beginning; and Our Final Hour. His newest book is If Science is to Save Us.