In my view we should regard the realities we're creating with virtual reality technologies as genuine realities, albeit digital realities. I argue that inside the virtual world, the ontology of these virtual worlds is of objects made of bits. This also has practical consequences, we are eventually, right now, virtual worlds for many people,. Some people spend a lot of time in video game worlds, and some people indeed spend a lot Of time in social virtual worlds like second life.
Throughout the year, AI development has taken significant strides. We are living in a society that is becoming increasingly reliant on digital technology, which soon could be flooded with computer-generated content. As technology advances, it will become harder to distinguish between the virtual and the real, eventually almost impossible. Is this a cause for concern?
In part one of this partnership with the Swedish publishing house and ideas forum Fri Tanke we hear from keynote speaker David Chalmers, Professor of Philosophy at New York University.
We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be.
This event took place in May 2023 in Stockholm.
Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2.
And if you’d like to get ad-free access to all Intelligence Squared podcasts, including exclusive bonus content, early access to new episodes and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared today for just £4.99, or the equivalent in your local currency .
Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices