80k After Hours

Investigative journalist recounts biosafety failures at top labs, including a smallpox incident at NIH. Covers uncovering the truth of a military lab accident and joint effort to hold accountable. Discusses balancing research and lab safety, oversight challenges, and need for regulation of privately funded labs.

Santosh Harish, an expert on air pollution, discusses its severe impact on global public health and its contribution to approximately 12% of all deaths worldwide. He highlights sources of air pollution, such as vehicular and coal power plant emissions, as well as concerning examples like municipal waste burning and industries without pollution control equipment. The role of the judiciary in air pollution regulation in India is explored, along with the potential for progress through individual researchers and think tanks. The importance of media in creating awareness and driving change is also emphasized.

Paul Niehaus, an expert in cash transfers and their impact on economic growth and theft levels, discusses the benefits of giving cash directly to people in need and the limitations of traditional philanthropy. He explores the concept of a multiplier effect in cash transfers and its impact on economic growth, as well as concerns and objections to Universal Basic Income (UBI). The chapter also touches on GiveDirectly's fraud case in the DRC and measures to prevent future incidents.

Ian Morris talks about the potential for an intelligence explosion, exploring the three scenarios for humanity, astonishing burials in Sungir, hunter-gatherer societies, the future of hybrid intelligence, and cycles of history and civilization development.

Seren Kell, a researcher working on alternative proteins, discusses the problems with animal agriculture and the role of fermentation in creating meat-like proteins. They explore enhancing taste through traditional fermentation techniques and highlight the potential of fungi for alternative protein production. The importance of government funding and research in advancing the industry is emphasized.

Tantum Collins, AI policy insider at the White House and DeepMind, discusses the risk of autocratic lock-in due to AI, the need for improved democratic oversight in government, misconceptions about AI in China, using language models to translate technical AI concepts, and exploring perceptions of finite resources and competing interests in AI ethics.

Guest Anders Sandberg, expert on war in space, civilizations, and the best things possible in our universe, discusses amazing future possibilities like brain emulation, humanity's future in an infinite space, absence of alien intelligence, and limitations on achieving grand futures for civilizations.

Kevin Esvelt, researcher on gene drives and pandemic prevention, discusses the risks of biological weapons, motives behind people wanting to kill everyone, predictions of biotechnology misuse, evolutionary tradeoff in pandemics, and the need for reliable monitoring to detect genetic engineering threats.

Toby Ord discusses the trade-offs of maximizing one metric and the risks of optimizing AI. We explore the concept of moral trade and the impact of virtue as a multiplier on projects. Also, learn about a collection of restored and unseen Earth photographs from the Apollo program.

AI expert Mustafa Suleyman discusses the difficulty of convincing skeptics about AI safety and the need for framing the conversation in terms of national security. He critiques the obsession with super-intelligence and highlights the risks of accelerating the development of dangerous capabilities. The podcast also explores policy lagging behind AI advances, the role of company actions, shaping the distribution of outcomes, risks of open sourcing AI models, the significance of conversations about AI ethics, and the need for legal mandates in AI labs.