Future of Life Institute Podcast

Frank Sauer discusses autonomy in weapon systems, killer drones, low-tech defenses against drones, flaws and unpredictability of autonomous weapon systems, and the political possibilities of regulating such systems.

Darren McKee, AI control and alignment expert, discusses the difficulty of controlling AI, the development of AI goals and traits, and the challenges of AI alignment. They explore the speed of AI cognition, the reliability of current and future AI systems, and the need to plan for multiple AI scenarios. Additionally, they discuss the possibility of AIs seeking self-preservation and whether there is a unified solution to AI alignment.

Mark Brakel, Director of Policy at the Future of Life Institute, talks about the AI Safety Summit in the UK, objections to AI policy, AI regulation in the EU and US, global institutions for safe AI, autonomy in weapon systems, and the importance of companies conducting risk assessments and being held legally liable for their actions.

Dan Hendrycks, AI risk expert, discusses X.ai, evolving AI risk thinking, malicious use of AI, AI race dynamics, making AI organizations safer, and representation engineering for understanding AI traits like deception.

Samuel Hammond, an expert in AGI, discusses how it will transform economies, governments, and institutions. Topics include AI's impact on the economy, transaction costs, and state power. They explore the timeline of a techno-feudalist future and alignment difficulty in AI scale.

This podcast explores a fictional world where emerging technologies shape society. Topics discussed include the arms race between advertisers and ad-filtering technologies, the addictive nature of AI-generated art, and the redistribution of wealth by corporations. The impact of technology on society, conflicts arising from AI advisors, and the portrayal of robotic assistants in fiction are also explored.

Explore a future with narrow AI remaking the world, creating separate media bubbles and increasing inequality. Despite the drawbacks, AI improves medicine and therapy. The podcast discusses fictional worldbuilding, the impact of media and AI on reality, limitations of narrow AI, lack of optimism in realistic fiction, virtual celebrities and AI art, building a better future through worldbuilding, and balancing cultural perspectives.

Steve Omohundro, co-author of Provably Safe Systems, discusses the concept of provable safety in AI, formalizing safety, provable contracts, proof-carrying code, language models' logical thinking, AI doing proofs for us, risks of totalitarianism, tamper-proof hardware, least-privilege guarantee, basic AI drives, AI agency and world models, self-improving AI, and the overhyping of AI.

This podcast explores the possibility of using AI to communicate with animals and the implications of such communication. It also delves into activism, AI's impact on jobs and nature, and the concept of universal basic income. The speakers discuss AI systems, data sovereignty, and the creation of a social network. They also explore carbon tokens and their connection to incentivizing climate-positive actions. The podcast concludes by emphasizing the power of activism, storytelling, and the importance of including diverse voices in shaping AI and technology.

In this podcast, the host interviews Mako Yass, the first place winner of the FLI Worldbuilding Contest. They discuss Mako's imaginative world 'To Light' which features life-extending pills, mind-uploading technology, and wealth distribution. They also delve into topics like AGI challenges, AI alignment, and the power of storytelling in inspiring creativity.