London Futurists

Our guest in this episode is Henry Shevlin. Henry is the Associate Director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, where he also co-directs the Kinds of Intelligence program and oversees educational initiatives. He researches the potential for machines to possess consciousness, the ethical ramifications of such developments, and the broader implications for our understanding of intelligence. In his 2024 paper, “Consciousness, Machines, and Moral Status,” Henry examines the recent rapid advancements in machine learning and the questions they raise about machine consciousness and moral status. He suggests that public attitudes towards artificial consciousness may change swiftly, as human-AI interactions become increasingly complex and intimate. He also warns that our tendency to anthropomorphise may lead to misplaced trust in and emotional attachment to AIs.Note: this episode is co-hosted by David and Will Millership, the CEO of a non-profit called Prism (Partnership for Research Into Sentient Machines). Prism is seeded by Conscium, a startup where both Calum and David are involved, and which, among other things, is researching the possibility and implications of machine consciousness. Will and Calum will be releasing a new Prism podcast focusing entirely on Conscious AI, and the first few episodes will be in collaboration with the London Futurists Podcast.Selected follow-ups:PRISM podcastHenry Shevlin - personal siteKinds of Intelligence - Leverhulme Centre for the Future of IntelligenceConsciousness, Machines, and Moral Status - 2024 paper by Henry ShevlinApply rich psychological terms in AI with care - by Henry Shevlin and Marta HalinaWhat insects can tell us about the origins of consciousness - by Andrew Barron and Colin KleinConsciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness - By Patrick Butlin, Robert Long, et alAssociation for the Study of ConsciousnessOther researchers mentioned:Blake LemoineThomas NagelNed BlockPeter SengeGalen StrawsonDavid ChalmersDavid BenatarThomas MetzingerBrian TomasikMurray ShanahanMusic: Spike Protein, by Koi Discovery, available under CC0 1.0 Public Domain DeclarationPromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Real Talk About MarketingAn Acxiom podcast where we discuss marketing made better, bringing you real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

How can a binding international treaty be agreed and put into practice, when many parties are strongly tempted to break the rules of the agreement, for commercial or military advantage, and when cheating may be hard to detect? That’s the dilemma we’ll examine in this episode, concerning possible treaties to govern the development and deployment of advanced AI.Our guest is Otto Barten, Director of the Existential Risk Observatory, which is based in the Netherlands but operates internationally. In November last year, Time magazine published an article by Otto, advocating what his organisation calls a Conditional AI Safety Treaty. In March this year, these ideas were expanded into a 34-page preprint which we’ll be discussing today, “International Agreements on AI Safety: Review and Recommendations for a Conditional AI Safety Treaty”.Before co-founding the Existential Risk Observatory in 2021, Otto had roles as a sustainable energy engineer, data scientist, and entrepreneur. He has a BSc in Theoretical Physics from the University of Groningen and an MSc in Sustainable Energy Technology from Delft University of Technology.Selected follow-ups:Existential Risk ObservatoryThere Is a Solution to AI’s Existential Risk Problem - TimeInternational Agreements on AI Safety: Review and Recommendations for a Conditional AI Safety Treaty - Otto Barten and colleaguesThe Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity - book by Toby OrdGrand futures and existential risk - Lecture by Anders Sandberg in London attended by OttoPauseAIStopAIResponsible Scaling Policies - METRMeta warns of 'worse' experience for European users - BBC NewsAccidental Nuclear War: a Timeline of Close Calls - FLIThe Vulnerable World Hypothesis - Nick BostromSemiconductor Manufacturing Optics - ZeissCalifornia Institute for Machine ConsciousnessTipping point for large-scale social change? Just 25 percent - Penn TodayMusic: Spike Protein, by Koi Discovery, available under CC0 1.0 Public Domain DeclarationPromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Real Talk About MarketingAn Acxiom podcast where we discuss marketing made better, bringing you real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

In this episode, we return to the subject of existential risks, but with a focus on what actions can be taken to eliminate or reduce these risks.Our guest is James Norris, who describes himself on his website as an existential safety advocate. The website lists four primary organizations which he leads: the International AI Governance Alliance, Upgradable, the Center for Existential Safety, and Survival Sanctuaries.Previously, one of James' many successful initiatives was Effective Altruism Global, the international conference series for effective altruists. He also spent some time as the organizer of a kind of sibling organization to London Futurists, namely Bay Area Futurists. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a triple major in psychology, sociology, and philosophy, as well as with minors in too many subjects to mention.Selected follow-ups:James Norris websiteUpgrade your life & legacy - UpgradableThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey)Beneficial AI 2017 - Asilomar conference"...superintelligence in a few thousand days" - Sam Altman blogpostAmara's Law - DevIQThe Probability of Nuclear War (JFK estimate)AI Designs Chemical Weapons - The BatchThe Vulnerable World Hypothesis - Nick BostromWe Need To Build Trustworthy AI Systems To Monitor Other AI: Yoshua BengioInstrumental convergence - WikipediaNeanderthal extinction - WikipediaMatrioshka brain - WikipediaWill there be a 'WW3' before 2050? - Manifold prediction marketExistential Safety Action PledgeAn Urgent Call for Global AI Governance - IAIGA petitionBuild your survival sanctuaryOther people mentioned include:Eliezer Yudkowsky, Roman Yampolskiy, Yan LeCun, Andrew NgMusic: Spike Protein, by Koi Discovery, available under CC0 1.0 Public Domain DeclarationPromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Real Talk About MarketingAn Acxiom podcast where we discuss marketing made better, bringing you real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Our subject in this episode may seem grim – it’s the potential extinction of the human species, either from a natural disaster, like a supervolcano or an asteroid, or from our own human activities, such as nuclear weapons, greenhouse gas emissions, engineered biopathogens, misaligned artificial intelligence, or high energy physics experiments causing a cataclysmic rupture in space and time.These scenarios aren’t pleasant to contemplate, but there’s a school of thought that urges us to take them seriously – to think about the unthinkable, in the phrase coined in 1962 by pioneering futurist Herman Kahn. Over the last couple of decades, few people have been thinking about the unthinkable more carefully and systematically than our guest today, Sean ÓhÉigeartaigh. Sean is the author of a recent summary article from Cambridge University Press that we’ll be discussing, “Extinction of the human species: What could cause it and how likely is it to occur?”Sean is presently based in Cambridge where he is a Programme Director at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. Previously he was founding Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, and before that, he managed research activities at the Future of Humanity Institute in Oxford.Selected follow-ups:Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh - Leverhulme Centre ProfileExtinction of the human species - by Sean ÓhÉigeartaighHerman Kahn - WikipediaMoral.me - by ConsciumClassifying global catastrophic risks - by Shahar Avin et alDefence in Depth Against Human Extinction - by Anders Sandberg et alThe Precipice - book by Toby OrdMeasuring AI Ability to Complete Long Tasks - by METRCold Takes - blog by Holden KarnofskyWhat Comes After the Paris AI Summit? - Article by SeanARC-AGI - by François CholletHenry Shevlin - Leverhulme Centre profileEleos (includes Rosie Campbell and Robert Long)NeurIPS talk by David ChalmersPromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Real Talk About MarketingAn Acxiom podcast where we discuss marketing made better, bringing you real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Ramez Naam, a climate tech investor and award-winning author, shares insights on today's dual realities of prosperity and peril. He discusses significant advancements in clean energy technologies and the urgent climate challenges that remain. Ramez emphasizes the role of governance in navigating these issues. The conversation also covers innovative solutions like geoengineering and the complex landscape of AI's societal impact, as well as the intertwined fate of democracy and technology amid growing fears and inequalities.

In this episode, our guest is Rebecca Finlay, the CEO at Partnership on AI (PAI). Rebecca previously joined us in Episode 62, back in October 2023, in what was the run-up to the Global AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park in the UK. Times have moved on, and earlier this month, Rebecca and the Partnership on AI participated in the latest global summit in that same series, held this time in Paris. This summit, breaking with the previous naming, was called the Global AI Action Summit. We’ll be hearing from Rebecca how things have evolved since we last spoke – and what the future may hold.Prior to joining Partnership on AI, Rebecca founded the AI & Society program at global research organization CIFAR, one of the first international, multistakeholder initiatives on the impact of AI in society. Rebecca’s insights have been featured in books and media including The Financial Times, The Guardian, Politico, and Nature Machine Intelligence. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences and sits on advisory bodies in Canada, France, and the U.S.Selected follow-ups:Partnership on AIRebecca FinlayOur previous episode featuring RebeccaCIFAR (The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research)"It is more than time that we move from science fiction" - remarks by Anne BouverotInternational AI Safety Report 2025 - report from expert panel chaired by Yoshua BengioThe Inaugural Conference of the International Association for Safe and Ethical AI (IASEAI)A.I. Pioneer Yoshua Bengio Proposes a Safe Alternative Amid Agentic A.I. HypeUS and UK refuse to sign Paris summit declaration on ‘inclusive’ AICurrent AICollaborative event on AI accountabilityCERN for AIAI Summit Day 1: Harnessing AI for the Future of WorkThe Economic SingularityPromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Real Talk About MarketingAn Acxiom podcast where we discuss marketing made better, bringing you real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

The most highly anticipated development in AI this year is probably the expected arrival of AI agents, also referred to as “agentic AI”. We are told that AI agents have the potential to reshape how individuals and organizations interact with technology.Our guest to help us explore this is Tom Davenport, Distinguished Professor in Information Technology and Management at Babson College, and a globally recognized thought leader in the areas of analytics, data science, and artificial intelligence. Tom has written, co-authored, or edited about twenty books, including "Competing on Analytics" and "The AI Advantage." He has worked extensively with leading organizations and has a unique perspective on the transformative impact of AI across industries. He has recently co-authored an article in the MIT Sloan Management Review, “Five Trends in AI and Data Science for 2025”, which included a section on AI agents – which is why we invited him to talk about the subject.Selected follow-ups:Tom Davenport - personal siteFive Trends in AI and Data Science for 2025 - MIT Sloan Management ReviewMichael Martin Hammer - WikipediaAI winter - WikipediaAI is coming for the OnlyFans chat industry - FortuneHow Gen AI and Analytical AI Differ — and When to Use Each - Harvard Business ReviewTruth Terminal - The AI Bot That Became a Crypto Millionaire - a16zJim Simons - WikipediaWhy The "Godfather of AI" Now Fears His Own Creation - Curt Jaimungal interviews Geoffrey HintonAttention Is All You Need - Google researchers Apple suspends error-strewn AI generated news alerts - BBC NewsGen AI cuts costs by 30% - London Futurists Podcast episode featuring David Wakeling, partner at A&O ShearmanThe path to agentic automation is UiPath - UiPathMicrosoft CEO Predicts: "AI Agents Will Replace ALL Software" - AI Insights ExplorerNVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Keynote at CES 2025 - NvidiaPioneering Safe, Efficient AI - ConsciumA New Survey Of Generative AI Shows Lots Of Work To Do - October 2023 article by Tom DavenportPromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

In this episode, we return to a theme which is likely to become increasingly central to public discussion in the months and years ahead. To use a term coined by this podcast’s cohost Calum Chace, this theme is the Economic Singularity, namely the potential all-round displacement of humans from the workforce by ever more capable automation. That leads to the question: what are our options for managing the transition of society to increasing technological unemployment and technological underemployment.Our guest, who will be sharing his thinking on these questions, is the prolific writer and YouTuber David Shapiro. As well as keeping on top of fast-changing news about innovations in AI, David has been developing a set of ideas he calls post-labour economics – how an economy might continue to function even if humans can no longer gain financial rewards in direct return for their labour.Selected follow-ups:David Shapiro’s SubstackDavid Shapiro's channel on YouTubeJulia McCoy's channel on YouTubeNext stop: Miami - WaymoResource Based EconomyDebt: The First 5,000 Years - book by David GraeberBroken Money: Why Our Financial System is Failing Us and How We Can Make it Better - book by Lyn AldenThe Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking - book by Saifedean AmmousNormalcy bias - WikipediaWhy Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty - book by Daron Acemoğlu and James A. RobinsonPrinciples for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail - book by Ray DalioVulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts, and the Death of Freedom - book by Grace BlakeleyThe Economic Singularity: Artificial Intelligence and Fully Automated Luxury Capitalism - book by Calum ChaceMusic: Spike Protein, by Koi Discovery, available under CC0 1.0 Public Domain DeclarationPromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Real Talk About MarketingAn Acxiom podcast where we discuss marketing made better, bringing you real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Our guests in this episode have been described as the world’s two oldest scientifically astute longevity activists. They are Kenneth Scott, aged 82, who is based in Florida, and Helga Sands, aged 86, who lives in London.David has met both of them several times at a number of longevity events, and they always impress him, not only with their vitality and good health, but also with the level of knowledge and intelligence they apply to the question of which treatments are the best, for them personally and for others, to help keep people young and vibrant.Selected follow-ups:Waiting For God - 1990s BBC ComedyAdelle Davis, NutritionistRoger J. Williams, BiochemistThe Importance of Maintaining a Low Omega-6/Omega-3 RatioLife Extension MagazineCalifornia Age Management InstituteFibrinogen and agingProfessor Angus Dalgleish, Nuffield HealthAbout Aubrey de Grey speaking at the Royal InstitutionGeorge Church, GeneticistJames Kirkland, Mayo ClinicDaniel Munoz-Espin, CambridgeNobel Prize for John Gurdon and Shinya YamanakaVSELs and S.O.N.G. laserXtend Optimal HealthFollistatin gene therapy, MinicircleExosomes vs Stem CellsPrevent and Reverse Heart Disease - book by Caldwell Esselstyn Jr Dasatinib and Quercetin (senolytics)We reverse atherosclerosis - Repair BiotechnologiesBioreactor-Grown Mitochondria - MitrixNobel Winner Shinya Yamanaka: Cell Therapy Is ‘Very Promising’ For Cancer, Parkison's, MorePromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Real Talk About MarketingAn Acxiom podcast where we discuss marketing made better, bringing you real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Our guest in this episode is Jeff LaPorte, a software engineer, entrepreneur and investor based in Vancouver, who writes Road to Artificia, a newsletter about discovering the principles of post‑AI societies.Calum recently came across Jeff's article “Valuing Humans in the Age of Superintelligence: HumaneRank” and thought it had some good, original ideas, so we wanted to invite Jeff onto the podcast and explore them.Selected follow-ups:Jeff LaPorte personal business websiteRoad to Artificia: A newsletter about discovering the principles of societies post‑AIValuing Humans in the Age of Superintelligence: HumaneRankIdeas Lying Around - article by Cory Doctorow about a famous saying by Milton FriedmanPageRank - WikipediaNosedive (Black Mirror episode) - IMDbThe Economic Singularity - book by Calum ChaceWorld Chess Championship 2024 - WIkipediaWALL.E (2008 movie) - IMDbA day in the life of Asimov, 2045 - short story by David WoodWhy didn't electricity immediately change manufacturing? - by Tim Harford, BBCResponsible use of artificial intelligence in government - Government of CanadaBipartisan House Task Force Report on Artificial Intelligence - U.S. House of RepresentativesMusic: Spike Protein, by Koi Discovery, available under CC0 1.0 Public Domain DeclarationPromoguy Talk PillsAgency in Amsterdam dives into topics like Tech, AI, digital marketing, and more drama...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify Real Talk About MarketingAn Acxiom podcast where we discuss marketing made better, bringing you real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify