Future of Life Institute Podcast
Episodes
FLI Podcast: Is Nuclear Weapons Testing Back on the Horizon? With Jeffrey Lewis and Alex Bell
28 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Nuclear weapons testing is mostly a thing of the past: The last nuclear weapon test explosion on US soil was conducted over 25 years ago. But how much...
FLI Podcast: Applying AI Safety & Ethics Today with Ashley Llorens & Francesca Rossi
31 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this month’s podcast, Ariel spoke with Ashley Llorens, the Founding Chief of the Intelligent Systems Center at the John Hopkins Applied Physics L...
AIAP: On Consciousness, Qualia, and Meaning with Mike Johnson and Andrés Gómez Emilsson
23 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Consciousness is a concept which is at the forefront of much scientific and philosophical thinking. At the same time, there is large disagreement over...
The Unexpected Side Effects of Climate Change with Fran Moore and Nick Obradovich
30 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s not just about the natural world. The side effects of climate change remain relatively unknown, but we can expect a warming world to impact eve...
AIAP: An Overview of Technical AI Alignment with Rohin Shah (Part 2)
25 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The space of AI alignment research is highly dynamic, and it's often difficult to get a bird's eye view of the landscape. This podcast is the second o...
AIAP: An Overview of Technical AI Alignment with Rohin Shah (Part 1)
11 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The space of AI alignment research is highly dynamic, and it's often difficult to get a bird's eye view of the landscape. This podcast is the first of...
Why Ban Lethal Autonomous Weapons
03 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Why are we so concerned about lethal autonomous weapons? Ariel spoke to four experts –– one physician, one lawyer, and two human rights specialist...
AIAP: AI Alignment through Debate with Geoffrey Irving
07 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
See full article here: https://futureoflife.org/2019/03/06/ai-alignment-through-debate-with-geoffrey-irving/ "To make AI systems broadly useful for c...
Part 2: Anthrax, Agent Orange, and Yellow Rain With Matthew Meselson and Max Tegmark
28 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this special two-part podcast Ariel Conn is joined by Max Tegmark for a conversation with Dr. Matthew Meselson, biologist and Thomas Dudley Cabot P...
Part 1: From DNA to Banning Biological Weapons With Matthew Meselson and Max Tegmark
28 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this special two-part podcast Ariel Conn is joined by Max Tegmark for a conversation with Dr. Matthew Meselson, biologist and Thomas Dudley Cabot P...
AIAP: Human Cognition and the Nature of Intelligence with Joshua Greene
21 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
See the full article here: https://futureoflife.org/2019/02/21/human-cognition-and-the-nature-of-intelligence-with-joshua-greene/ "How do we combine ...
The Byzantine Generals' Problem, Poisoning, and Distributed Machine Learning with El Mahdi El Mhamdi
07 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Three generals are voting on whether to attack or retreat from their siege of a castle. One of the generals is corrupt and two of them are not. What h...
AI Breakthroughs and Challenges in 2018 with David Krueger and Roman Yampolskiy
31 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Every January, we like to look back over the past 12 months at the progress that’s been made in the world of artificial intelligence. Welcome to our...
Artificial Intelligence: American Attitudes and Trends with Baobao Zhang
25 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our phones, our cars, our televisions, our homes: they’re all getting smarter. Artificial intelligence is already inextricably woven into everyday l...
AIAP: Cooperative Inverse Reinforcement Learning with Dylan Hadfield-Menell (Beneficial AGI 2019)
17 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What motivates cooperative inverse reinforcement learning? What can we gain from recontextualizing our safety efforts from the CIRL point of view? Wha...
Existential Hope in 2019 and Beyond
21 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Humanity is at a turning point. For the first time in history, we have the technology to completely obliterate ourselves. But we’ve also created bou...
AIAP: Inverse Reinforcement Learning and the State of AI Alignment with Rohin Shah
18 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What role does inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) have to play in AI alignment? What issues complicate IRL and how does this affect the usefulness o...
Governing Biotechnology: From Avian Flu to Genetically-Modified Babies With Catherine Rhodes
30 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A Chinese researcher recently made international news with claims that he had edited the first human babies using CRISPR. In doing so, he violated int...
Avoiding the Worst of Climate Change with Alexander Verbeek and John Moorhead
31 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
“There are basically two choices. We're going to massively change everything we are doing on this planet, the way we work together, the actions we t...
AIAP: On Becoming a Moral Realist with Peter Singer
18 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Are there such things as moral facts? If so, how might we be able to access them? Peter Singer started his career as a preference utilitarian and a mo...
On the Future: An Interview with Martin Rees
11 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How can humanity survive the next century of climate change, a growing population, and emerging technological threats? Where do we stand now, and what...
AI and Nuclear Weapons - Trust, Accidents, and New Risks with Paul Scharre and Mike Horowitz
28 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On this month’s podcast, Ariel spoke with Paul Scharre and Mike Horowitz from the Center for a New American Security about the role of automation in...
AIAP: Moral Uncertainty and the Path to AI Alignment with William MacAskill
18 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How are we to make progress on AI alignment given moral uncertainty? What are the ideal ways of resolving conflicting value systems and views of mor...
AI: Global Governance, National Policy, and Public Trust with Allan Dafoe and Jessica Cussins
31 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Experts predict that artificial intelligence could become the most transformative innovation in history, eclipsing both the development of agriculture...
The Metaethics of Joy, Suffering, and Artificial Intelligence with Brian Tomasik and David Pearce
16 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What role does metaethics play in AI alignment and safety? How might paths to AI alignment change given different metaethical views? How do issues in ...
Six Experts Explain the Killer Robots Debate
31 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Why are so many AI researchers so worried about lethal autonomous weapons? What makes autonomous weapons so much worse than any other weapons we have ...
AIAP: AI Safety, Possible Minds, and Simulated Worlds with Roman Yampolskiy
16 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What role does cyber security play in alignment and safety? What is AI completeness? What is the space of mind design and what does it tell us about A...
Mission AI - Giving a Global Voice to the AI Discussion With Charlie Oliver and Randi Williams
29 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How are emerging technologies like artificial intelligence shaping our world and how we interact with one another? What do different demographics thin...
AIAP: Astronomical Future Suffering and Superintelligence with Kaj Sotala
14 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the classic taxonomy of risks developed by Nick Bostrom, existential risks are characterized as risks which are both terminal in severity and trans...
Nuclear Dilemmas, From North Korea to Iran with Melissa Hanham and Dave Schmerler
31 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
With the U.S. pulling out of the Iran deal and canceling (and potentially un-canceling) the summit with North Korea, nuclear weapons have been front a...
What are the odds of nuclear war? A conversation with Seth Baum and Robert de Neufville
30 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What are the odds of a nuclear war happening this century? And how close have we been to nuclear war in the past? Few academics focus on the probabili...
AIAP: Inverse Reinforcement Learning and Inferring Human Preferences with Dylan Hadfield-Menell
25 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Inverse Reinforcement Learning and Inferring Human Preferences is the first podcast in the new AI Alignment series, hosted by Lucas Perry. This series...
Navigating AI Safety -- From Malicious Use to Accidents
30 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Is the malicious use of artificial intelligence inevitable? If the history of technological progress has taught us anything, it's that every "benefici...
AI, Ethics And The Value Alignment Problem With Meia Chita-Tegmark And Lucas Perry
28 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to create beneficial artificial intelligence? How can we expect to align AIs with human values if humans can't even agree on what we...
Top AI Breakthroughs and Challenges of 2017
31 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
AlphaZero, progress in meta-learning, the role of AI in fake news, the difficulty of developing fair machine learning -- 2017 was another year of big ...
Beneficial AI And Existential Hope In 2018
21 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
For most of us, 2017 has been a roller coaster, from increased nuclear threats to incredible advancements in AI to crazy news cycles. But while it’s...
Balancing the Risks of Future Technologies With Andrew Maynard and Jack Stilgoe
30 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What does it means for technology to “get it right,” and why do tech companies ignore long-term risks in their research? How can we balance near-t...
AI Ethics, the Trolley Problem, and a Twitter Ghost Story with Joshua Greene And Iyad Rahwan
31 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As technically challenging as it may be to develop safe and beneficial AI, this challenge also raises some thorny questions regarding ethics and moral...
80,000 Hours with Rob Wiblin and Brenton Mayer
29 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If you want to improve the world as much as possible, what should you do with your career? Should you become a doctor, an engineer or a politician? Sh...
Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence with Max Tegmark
29 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk has called it a compelling guide to the challenges and choices in our quest for a great future of life on Earth and beyond, while Stephen Ha...
The Art Of Predicting With Anthony Aguirre And Andrew Critch
31 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How well can we predict the future? In this podcast, Ariel speaks with Anthony Aguirre and Andrew Critch about the art of predicting the future, what ...
Banning Nuclear & Autonomous Weapons With Richard Moyes And Miriam Struyk
30 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How does a weapon go from one of the most feared to being banned? And what happens once the weapon is finally banned? To discuss these questions, Arie...
Creative AI With Mark Riedl & Scientists Support A Nuclear Ban
01 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special two-part podcast. First, Mark and Ariel discuss how AIs can use stories and creativity to understand and exhibit culture and ethics,...
Climate Change With Brian Toon And Kevin Trenberth
27 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
I recently visited the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO and met with climate scientists Dr. Kevin Trenberth and CU Boulder’s ...
Law and Ethics of AI with Ryan Jenkins and Matt Scherer
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The rise of artificial intelligence presents not only technical challenges, but important legal and ethical challenges for society, especially regardi...
UN Nuclear Weapons Ban With Beatrice Fihn And Susi Snyder
28 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Last October, the United Nations passed a historic resolution to begin negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. Previous nuclear treaties have...
AI Breakthroughs With Ian Goodfellow And Richard Mallah
31 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
2016 saw some significant AI developments. To talk about the AI progress of the last year, we turned to Richard Mallah and Ian Goodfellow. Richard is ...
FLI 2016 - A Year In Reivew
30 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
FLI's founders and core team -- Max Tegmark, Meia Chita-Tegmark, Anthony Aguirre, Victoria Krakovna, Richard Mallah, Lucas Perry, David Stanley, and A...
Heather Roff and Peter Asaro on Autonomous Weapons
30 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Drs. Heather Roff and Peter Asaro, two experts in autonomous weapons, talk about their work to understand and define the role of autonomous weapons, t...
Nuclear Winter With Alan Robock and Brian Toon
31 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
I recently sat down with Meteorologist Alan Robock from Rutgers University and physicist Brian Toon from the University of Colorado to discuss what is...
Robin Hanson On The Age Of Em
28 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Robin Hanson talks about the Age of Em, the future and evolution of humanity, and his research for his next book.
Nuclear Risk In The 21st Century
20 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast interview, Lucas and Ariel discuss the concepts of nuclear deterrence, hair trigger alert, the potential consequences of nuclear war, ...
Concrete Problems In AI Safety With Dario Amodei And Seth Baum
30 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Interview with Dario Amodei of OpenAI and Seth Baum of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute about studying short-term vs. long-term risks of AI, plu...
Earthquakes As Existential Risks?
25 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Could an earthquake become an existential or catastrophic risk that puts all of humanity at risk? Seth Baum of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute ...
nuclear_interview_David_Wright
14 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
nuclear_interview_David_Wright by Future of Life Institute
Climate interview with Seth Baum
22 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
An interview with Seth Baum, Executive Director of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute, about whether the Paris Climate Agreement can be considered...