The Future of Humanity

4min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Key takeaways

Transcript

Episode notes

Skepticism towards utilitarianism is warranted, as expected value is a poor way to measure rationality or how to live.
The goal in these situations is to avoid ruin, not maximize expected value.
The concept of God is taken seriously by some people, and if human beings are supplanted by something better, it is not a goal.
The public is not likely to give much thought to the possibility of our extinction, and we don't know what it's like to live in a world where entities are vastly smarter than us.

They operate according to rules we can never fully understand. They can be unreliable, uncontrollable, and misaligned with human values. They're fast becoming as intelligent as humans--and they're exclusively in the hands of profit-seeking tech companies. "They," of course, are the latest versions of AI, which herald, according to neuroscientist and writer Erik Hoel, a species-level threat to humanity. Listen as he tells EconTalk's Russ Roberts why we need to treat AI as an existential threat.