A few weeks ago I posted an extract from a brilliant book called A Brief History Of Intelligence, by Max Bennett. It proved really popular with Ruffian readers, so I’m delighted to have Max on the podcast to discuss some of the questions his book raises.
In Part One, which is free for everyone, and on all the usual podcast platforms, I ask Max about the concept of 'reinforcement learning' and what makes it so important to both human and machine intelligence. We talk about the differences between how AIs learn and how humans learn. We also get into the evolution of imagination - the human ability to simulate different worlds and different futures. (It's all fascinating but I strongly recommend checking out that part of the discussion in particular.)
In Part Two, which will land in a few days for paid subscribers only, I ask Max about something he doesn't get into in the book - the future of AI. How does his deep understanding of human intelligence inform his thinking about where we're headed?
Enjoy!
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
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