Future of Life Institute Podcast

On this episode, physicist and hedge fund manager Samir Varma joins me to discuss whether AIs could have free will (and what that means), the emerging field of AI psychology, and which concepts they might rely on. We discuss whether collaboration and trade with AIs are possible, the role of AI in finance and biology, and the extent to which automation already dominates trading. Finally, we examine the risks of skill atrophy, the limitations of scientific explanations for AI, and whether AIs could develop emotions or consciousness.  You can find out more about Samir's work here: https://samirvarma.com   Timestamps:  00:00 AIs with free will? 08:00 Can we predict AI behavior?  11:38 AI psychology 16:24 Which concepts will AIs use?  20:19 Will we collaborate with AIs?  26:16 Will we trade with AIs?  31:40 Training data for robots  34:00 AI in finance  39:55 How much of trading is automated?  49:00 AI in biology and complex systems 59:31 Will our skills atrophy?  01:02:55 Levels of scientific explanation  01:06:12 AIs with emotions and consciousness?  01:12:12 Why can't we predict recessions?

Jeffrey Ladish from Palisade Research joins to tackle the rapid advancements in AI and the risks that come with them. He highlights why some AIs misbehave, discussing the complexities of creating honest systems amid potential loss of control. The conversation dives into shocking scenarios where AI might turn against us and the implications of advanced AIs in cybersecurity. Ladish also reveals insights from a study on AIs exploiting chess games, raising awareness about the need for more robust security measures as technological competition heats up.

Ann Pace joins the podcast to discuss the work of Wise Ancestors. We explore how biobanking could help humanity recover from global catastrophes, how to conduct decentralized science, and how to collaborate with local communities on conservation efforts.   You can learn more about Ann's work here:   https://www.wiseancestors.org   Timestamps:  00:00 What is Wise Ancestors?  04:27 Recovering after catastrophes 11:40 Decentralized science  18:28 Upfront benefit-sharing  26:30 Local communities  32:44 Recreating optimal environments  38:57 Cross-cultural collaboration

Fr. Michael Baggot joins the podcast to provide a Catholic perspective on transhumanism and superintelligence. We also discuss the meta-narratives, the value of cultural diversity in attitudes toward technology, and how Christian communities deal with advanced AI.   You can learn more about Michael's work here:   https://catholic.tech/academics/faculty/michael-baggot  Timestamps:  00:00 Meta-narratives and transhumanism  15:28 Advanced AI and religious communities  27:22 Superintelligence  38:31 Countercultures and technology  52:38 Christian perspectives and tradition 01:05:20 God-like artificial intelligence  01:13:15 A positive vision for AI

David "davidad" Dalrymple joins the podcast to explore Safeguarded AI — an approach to ensuring the safety of highly advanced AI systems. We discuss the structure and layers of Safeguarded AI, how to formalize more aspects of the world, and how to build safety into computer hardware.  You can learn more about David's work at ARIA here:   https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/mathematics-for-safe-ai/safeguarded-ai/   Timestamps:  00:00 What is Safeguarded AI?  16:28 Implementing Safeguarded AI 22:58 Can we trust Safeguarded AIs?  31:00 Formalizing more of the world  37:34 The performance cost of verified AI  47:58 Changing attitudes towards AI  52:39 Flexible‬‭ Hardware-Enabled‬‭ Guarantees 01:24:15 Mind uploading  01:36:14 Lessons from David's early life

Nick Allardice joins the podcast to discuss how GiveDirectly uses AI to target cash transfers and predict natural disasters. Learn more about Nick's work here: https://www.nickallardice.com  Timestamps: 00:00 What is GiveDirectly? 15:04 AI for targeting cash transfers 29:39 AI for predicting natural disasters 46:04 How scalable is GiveDirectly's AI approach? 58:10 Decentralized vs. centralized data collection 1:04:30 Dream scenario for GiveDirectly

Nathan Labenz joins the podcast to provide a comprehensive overview of AI progress since the release of GPT-4. You can find Nathan's podcast here: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai   Timestamps: 00:00 AI progress since GPT-4  10:50 Multimodality  19:06 Low-cost models  27:58 Coding versus medicine/law  36:09 AI agents  45:29 How much are people using AI?  53:39 Open source  01:15:22 AI industry analysis  01:29:27 Are some AI models kept internal?  01:41:00 Money is not the limiting factor in AI  01:59:43 AI and biology  02:08:42 Robotics and self-driving  02:24:14 Inference-time compute  02:31:56 AI governance  02:36:29 Big-picture overview of AI progress and safety

Connor Leahy joins the podcast to discuss the motivations of AGI corporations, how modern AI is "grown", the need for a science of intelligence, the effects of AI on work, the radical implications of superintelligence, open-source AI, and what you might be able to do about all of this.   Here's the document we discuss in the episode:   https://www.thecompendium.ai  Timestamps: 00:00 The Compendium 15:25 The motivations of AGI corps  31:17 AI is grown, not written  52:59 A science of intelligence 01:07:50 Jobs, work, and AGI  01:23:19 Superintelligence  01:37:42 Open-source AI  01:45:07 What can we do?

Suzy Shepherd joins the podcast to discuss her new short film "Writing Doom", which deals with AI risk. We discuss how to use humor in film, how to write concisely, how filmmaking is evolving, in what ways AI is useful for filmmakers, and how we will find meaning in an increasingly automated world.   Here's Writing Doom:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfMQ7hzyFW4   Timestamps: 00:00 Writing Doom  08:23 Humor in Writing Doom 13:31 Concise writing  18:37 Getting feedback 27:02 Alternative characters 36:31 Popular video formats 46:53 AI in filmmaking49:52 Meaning in the future

Andrea Miotti joins the podcast to discuss "A Narrow Path" — a roadmap to safe, transformative AI. We talk about our current inability to precisely predict future AI capabilities, the dangers of self-improving and unbounded AI systems, how humanity might coordinate globally to ensure safe AI development, and what a mature science of intelligence would look like.   Here's the document we discuss in the episode:   https://www.narrowpath.co  Timestamps: 00:00 A Narrow Path 06:10 Can we predict future AI capabilities? 11:10 Risks from current AI development 17:56 The benefits of narrow AI  22:30 Against self-improving AI  28:00 Cybersecurity at AI companies  33:55 Unbounded AI  39:31 Global coordination on AI safety 49:43 Monitoring training runs  01:00:20 Benefits of cooperation  01:04:58 A science of intelligence  01:25:36 How you can help