Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman Ep120 "Will AI build us into better humans?"
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Sep 8, 2025 What if AI could enhance our humanity? Dive into discussions about AI's transformative impact on communication, creativity, and even strategic games like chess and Go. The podcast explores the potential of AI to challenge our perceptions and push the boundaries of human talent. It raises thought-provoking questions about how technology influences debate and public opinion. Plus, the journey from personal computers to AI reveals ethical implications we all must consider as we integrate these innovations into our lives.
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AI As A New Cognitive Species
- AI represents a new intelligent species that absorbs and remixes human knowledge at scale.
- This arrival reshapes how we solve problems and perceive possibility.
Reddit Debate Experiment
- A Swiss team secretly deployed LLM accounts on Reddit to debate and persuade users over four months.
- The bots achieved up to 18% mind-change while humans averaged about 3%, and they went undetected.
Persuasion Through Better Argument
- The Reddit bots succeeded not by trickery but by making clearer, calmer, empathetic arguments.
- Persuasion came from superior reasoning and presentation, not emotional manipulation.
