EF34 (AMA-EF11): On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity — Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

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(EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection the AI Alignment Problem and Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

(EF34) AMA-EF11: On Perfection, the AI Alignment Problem, and the Possibility of Quantum Leaps of Creativity — Ask Me Anything for Episode EF11

PLAY | DOWNLOAD Technology and AI is rapidly evolving at a rate much faster than humanity ever did or could hope for. It's not about if AI will achieve consciousness, but when will we be at least fooled into thinking it has? But does the rapid development automatically mean the end of humankind as we know it? Or is there an alternative route where co-existence is a brighter version of life as it is today? More...

EPISODE EF34 SUMMARY

Spoiler alert: You’re about to listen to an Ask Me Anything  (AMA) of Episode EF11, which was Season 1, Episode 9 of the Evolve Faster Podcast titled When the Lights Go Out: The Blinding Light of an Artificial Future.  The driving question of this episode (and this AMA) for you to think through is … Can machines think, be creative or fall in love? It’s a fascinating question that actually has surprisingly little research or philosophical investigation.

As a reminder about Episode EF11: Aldford Herbert, a famous science fiction writer, is on the brink of finishing his latest novel about a realistic, dark future of artificial intelligence. A stroke of luck provides him with an opportunity to talk to Cynthia Butler, the mastermind behind the world’s most bleeding edge AI company. Aldford sees this as the perfect opportunity to secretly learn how precise his fictional predictions might be. What he doesn’t know is that Cynthia might just have a mysterious, and even more insidious agenda than his own.

The ninth episode of the first season of the Evolve Faster Podcast Episode is driven by the big question Can machines think, be creative or fall in love? Although they still don’t think or love as humans do, AI is learning how to be creative while humanity is stuck in the same point for almost a millennia.

To peek behind the curtain of Episode EF11, we’ll dissect the following submitted questions:

  • Why haven’t humans ever made quantum leaps in creativity?
  • Is it possible for AI to create art like music?
  • What are your thoughts on the AI alignment problem?
  • What is perfection? Does it exist? Is there an objective perfection?
  • Is human intelligence like a light bulb to the AI’s sun?
  • Are we on the brink of what you call the next evolution?
  • You have a couple of funny trolley scenarios like the Woody Allen one. Are these trolley scenarios real/possible?
  • Is Hebbian learning the same as machine learning?
  • And more…

Can machines think, be creative or fall in love?

The big question driving Episode EF11 is … Can machines think, be creative or fall in love?  It’s obvious we’re witnessing the dawn of artificial intelligence (AI). As the generation living through and directing this big change, we have to feel both excited and nervous. What will the next step be? Will machines become a new race with their own rights to live, love and create? How might the change — potentially a quantum leap — affect humanity?

Another fact is that machines will be (or already are) more effective than humans in everything, maybe even creativity. So will humanity see this as a challenge to further evolve, or will we get overwhelmed by the unprecedented capability of a machine? Do we stand a chance when for everything humanity took centuries to perfect, AI can master in days or weeks? Can our ape-like brains even comprehend what might be around the next curve of this Next Evolution?

Into The Rabbit Hole

SHOW NOTES: This episode is dedicated to Elon Musk. See the EF34 Show Notes for details of the dedication, inspirations, references, selected quotes and more.

ABOUT THE EVOLVE FASTER PODCAST: Everything is changing, yet the questions that drive us remain the same. Will humanity face the absurdity of our collective existential crisis in time? Join Scott Ely as he takes us deep into the rabbit hole with philosophical tales to reboot your mind, upgrade your life and explore your soul. To Evolve Faster is to see the fact that you will die someday as a formidable challenge, instead of a source of immense fear. Create your reality…before it creates you. Isn’t it time for an upgrade? More episodes…

SUBSCRIBE: The Evolve Faster Podcast is written, performed and produced by Scott Ely. Writing and production of each episode of the podcast is a significant undertaking spanning many months—it’s a labor of love, but it needs your help to survive. To help ensure the creation of more episodes, please learn about ways you can support the podcast (register, share, review and subscribe) on the Support Evolve Faster page. Your help is much appreciated.

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