Foresight Institute Radio

Nobel Laureate David Baker discusses the groundbreaking potential of designing new proteins to address major global issues. He envisions 'molecular machines' that can repair bodies and clean pollution, highlighting a future that was once purely theoretical. With AI accelerating scientific discovery, Baker emphasizes the importance of human creativity and collaboration in innovation. His philosophy focuses on community-driven solutions, inspiring listeners to engage in solving significant challenges with shared ingenuity.

This feed is now Foresight Institute Radio—your place for standout talks on frontier technology: from AI and neurotech to nanotech, longevity, and space. You’ll hear highlights from Foresight’s global conferences and seminars featuring top scientists and builders.For long-form interviews, follow our sister show: The Existential Hope Podcast, with guests like David Baker, Steven Pinker, and David Deutsch.Want the slides? Subscribe on YouTube and follow us on X @ForesightInst.🎤 Featuring: Allison Duettmann, CEO of Foresight Institute🎥 Slides + videos: YouTube.com/ForesightInstitute🐦 Updates: X.com/ForesightInst Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when parents can choose their children's genetic traits, and which selections benefit society versus harm it? In this talk, Jonathan Anomaly explores the emerging field of embryo selection for intelligence, disease prevention, and longevity. He covers how polygenic risk scores work to predict complex traits and why most diseases involve thousands of genetic variants rather than single genes.Jonathan Anomaly is a former professor who spent 15 years studying the intersection of game theory and ethics, focusing on collective action problems. He recently co-founded a stealth company that will be among the first to offer embryo selection for intelligence and disease prevention.This talk was recorded at Vision Weekend Puerto Rico 2025. To see the slides and more talks from the event, please visit our Youtube channel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if you could diagnose stroke, treat cancer, and cure depression with a smartphone-sized device that costs $1,000 instead of millions? In this talk, Mary Lou Jepsen demonstrates her revolutionary handheld medical devices that use ultrasound and infrared light to selectively target diseased cells while leaving healthy tissue unharmed. She covers how her team achieved 100% remission in deadly glioblastoma cancer in mice, moved nearly half of treatment-resistant depression patients into remission, and why making all 68 patents open source could democratize healthcare globally while reducing medical device costs by 93%.Mary Lou Jepsen is a serial hardtech entrepreneur and former MIT professor with a PhD in physics from Brown University. She previously founded multiple multi-billion dollar companies, left Facebook to start her current venture, and recently raised $54 million to bring these breakthrough medical technologies to market as open-source solutions.This talk was recorded at Vision Weekend US 2024. To see the slides and more talks from the event, please visit our Youtube channel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if a government agency could fund transformative health research with $200 million budgets and no bureaucratic committees? In this talk, Jean Hebert explores ARPA-H's – a research funding agency – unique mission to accelerate health breakthroughs, from 3D-printed organs to functional eye transplants. He covers how ARPA-H operates differently from traditional government funding through autonomous program managers, why it presents exceptional opportunities for longevity researchers, and how both established scientists and entrepreneurs can engage with this well-funded agency that's aligned with life extension goals.Jean Hebert is a professor of genetics and neuroscience, and the author of "Replacing Aging". He currently serves as a Program Manager at ARPA-H. His personal mission remains unchanged: to beat aging, which he believes is achievable through replacement therapies and transformative approaches to life extension.This talk was recorded at Vision Weekend US 2024. To see the slides and more talks from the event, please visit our Youtube channel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How has the history of AI been shaped by the "bitter lesson" that simple scaling beats complex algorithms, and what comes next? In this talk, Irina Rish traces AI's evolution from rule-based systems to today's foundation models, exploring how scaling laws predicted performance improvements and recent shifts toward more efficient approaches. She covers the progression from GPT scaling laws to Chinchilla's compute-optimal training, the rise of inference-time computation with models like OpenAI's o1, and why we might need to move beyond transformers to truly brain-inspired dynamical systems.Irina Rish is a professor at the University of Montreal and Mila Quebec AI Institute. She also co-founded a startup focused on developing more efficient foundation models and recently released a suite of open-source compressed models.This talk was recorded at Vision Weekend Puerto Rico 2025. To see the slides and more talks from the event, please visit our YouTube channel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eric Gilliam, a writer and researcher focused on organizational impacts on scientific progress, shares fascinating insights from his work at the Good Science Project. He discusses how successful models from institutions like Bell Labs can inform modern science. Eric highlights the importance of integrating historical context into research funding and organizational structures. He also emphasizes overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, the role of mentors in innovation, and the potential for interdisciplinary advancements to shape the future of fields like AI and biotech.

Glen Weyl, a political economist at Microsoft Research and founder of RadicalxChange, discusses the transformative potential of AI in a democratic context. He emphasizes how AI can enhance governance by promoting participatory and decentralized systems. Weyl shares insights on redesigning institutions through an interdisciplinary approach, exploring the integration of AI and crypto. He advocates for viewing AI as collective intelligence that fosters collaboration, arguing for a pluralistic governance model to ensure equitable benefits for all.

How can storytelling shape our visions of the future? Ada Palmer—historian, science fiction writer, and futurist—brings a unique perspective on how worldbuilding can be a powerful tool for exploring complex ideas. In this conversation with Beatrice Erkers, she shares her perspective on worldbuilding and storytelling, and her recommendations for how we can think in new ways about the future.This interview is a guest lecture in our new online course about shaping positive futures with AI. The course is free, and available here: https://www.udemy.com/course/worldbuilding-hopeful-futures-with-ai/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How we develop AI will shape the future of society. In this interview, Anthony Aguirre explores the distinction between Tool AI and Replacement AI, and how this framing can inform AI policy, governance, and strategy. He shares insights on the risks and thresholds of AGI, the role of capability, agency, and autonomy in AI development, and what it means to keep the future human as AI systems become more advanced and integrated into society.Anthony Aguirre is a Professor in Physics, and the Executive Director & Secretary of the Board at the Future of Life Institute.This interview is a guest lecture in our new online course about shaping positive futures with AI. The course is free, and available here: https://www.udemy.com/course/worldbuilding-hopeful-futures-with-ai/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.