The simulation hypothesis is that we may be living in a computer simulated world right from the start. Could it be that our whole lives, we've been in a virtual world? It's basically the scenario made familiar by movies like The Matrix. Just as we can create simulations within our world, maybe someone else created a simulation which is our world. And that's the world we're living in.
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.