The Evolution of Cognitive Empathy

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

If cognitive empathy is emerging in GPT-4 sparks of sparks of general AI, which we appear to be seeing, there could be a view that this could be the very early stages of laying the groundwork for an emergence of some form of consciousness or self-awareness. When we think about how consciousness actually potentially emerges, because we have this problem that we have basically no idea how consciousness emerged in humans, there are many theories. And one of them is based on the theory of mind that basically like our, you know, we evolved to get better at predicting the future.

The two hottest topics in tech right now are the rise of generative AI and, with Apple’s recent push into spatial computing, the mainstreaming of augmented reality. Will silicon-based machines develop sentience? Will human experience extend into virtual worlds? These distinct technologies may eventually blend to spawn a surprising future, as our “real” world becomes digitally enhanced and our machines behave increasingly like humans.

Today, a provocative discussion with some big (human) thinkers: Steven Johnson, visiting scholar at Google Labs and author of ”Extra Life,” “Where Good Ideas Come from,” and “How We Got to Now”; philosopher and cognitive scientist David Chalmers, author of ”The Conscious Mind” and “Reality+”; and Betaworks founder and AI investor John Borthwick.

• Want to learn more about our executive membership? Email podcast@nextbigideaclub.com

• “David Chalmers Thinks We May Be Living in a Simulation (and He’s OK With It)”

• “Steven Johnson & Michael Specter on the Future of Life”