The million-dollar question in AI circles is: When? When will artificial intelligence become so smart and capable that it surpasses human beings at every task? AI is already visible in the world through job automation, algorithmic financial trading, self-driving cars and household assistants like Alexa, but these developments are trivial compared to the idea of […]
“The future of work is now,” says Moshe Vardi. “The impact of technology on labor has become clearer and clearer by the day.” Machines have already automated millions of routine, working-class jobs in manufacturing. And now, AI is learning to automate non-routine jobs in transportation and logistics, legal writing, financial services, administrative support, and healthcare. […]
[beginning of recorded material] Barbara Lee: My name is Congresswoman Barbara Lee, I represent the 13th Congressional District of California. I support a ban on nuclear weapons because I know that a nuclear bomb is an equal opportunity destroyer. It will annihilate the world, and so we must ban nuclear weapons. Ariel: And I’m Ariel Conn with […]
[beginning of recorded material] Conn: I’m Ariel Conn with the Future of Life Institute. With April hosting Earth Day, the March for Science, and the People’s Climate March, it seemed like a natural month to focus on climate change for our podcast. I’m also a resident of Boulder, Colorado, which means today I have the […]
[beginning of recorded material] Ariel: I’m Ariel Conn with the Future of Life Institute. Today I’m joined by Matt Scherer and Ryan Jenkins to discuss some of the legal and ethical issues facing AI, especially regarding things like autonomous weapons and self-driving cars. Matt is an attorney and legal scholar based in Portland, Oregon, who’ […]
Even though human drivers don’t consciously think in terms of probabilities, we observe our environment and make decisions based on the likelihood of certain things happening. A driver doesn’t calculate the probability that the sports car behind her will pass her, but through observing the car’s behavior and considering similar situations in the past, she […]
Automated algorithms currently manage over half of trading volume in US equities, and as AI improves, it will continue to assume control over important financial decisions. But these systems aren’t foolproof. A small glitch could send shares plunging, potentially costing investors billions of dollars. For firms, the decision to accept this risk is simple. The […]
Is the world more dangerous than ever? Today in Washington, D.C, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announced its decision to move the infamous Doomsday Clock thirty seconds closer to doom: It is now two and a half minutes to midnight. Each year since 1947, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has publicized the symbol of the […]
Artificial intelligence may seem like a computer science project, but if it’s going to successfully integrate with society, then social scientists must be more involved. Developing an intelligent machine is not merely a problem of modifying algorithms in a lab. These machines must be aligned with human values, and this requires a deep understanding of […]
What are the greatest problems of our time? And how can we best address them? FLI’s Lucas Perry recently spoke at Duke University and Boston College to address these questions. Perry presented two major ideas in these talks – effective altruism and existential risk – and explained how they work together. As Perry explained to […]
Consider the following wartime scenario: Hoping to spare the lives of soldiers, a country deploys an autonomous weapon to wipe out an enemy force. This robot has demonstrated military capabilities that far exceed even the best soldiers, but when it hits the ground, it gets confused. It can’t distinguish the civilians from the enemy soldiers […]
When it comes to cybersecurity, no nation can afford to slack off. If a nation’s defense systems cannot anticipate how an attacker will try to fool them, then an especially clever attack could expose military secrets or use disguised malware to cause major networks to crash. A nation’s defense systems must keep up with the […]
When Apple released its software application, Siri, in 2011, iPhone users had high expectations for their intelligent personal assistants. Yet despite its impressive and growing capabilities, Siri often makes mistakes. The software’s imperfections highlight the clear limitations of current AI: today’s machine intelligence can’t understand the varied and changing needs and preferences of human life. […]
As artificial intelligence improves, machines will soon be equipped with intellectual and practical capabilities that surpass the smartest humans. But not only will machines be more capable than people, they will also be able to make themselves better. That is, these machines will understand their own design and how to improve it – or they […]
The threat of uncontrolled artificial intelligence, Sam Harris argues in a recently released TED Talk, is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Yet most people “seem unable to marshal an appropriate emotional response to the dangers that lie ahead.” Harris, a neuroscientist, philosopher, and best-selling author, has thought a lot about this […]
In the early 1900s, the Italian chemist Giacomo Ciamician recognized that fossil fuel use was unsustainable. And like many of today’s environmentalists, he turned to nature for clues on developing renewable energy solutions, studying the chemistry of plants and their use of solar energy. He admired their unparalleled mastery of photochemical synthesis—the way they use light […]
In an announcement to the International Astronautical Congress on Tuesday, Elon Musk unveiled his Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). His goal: allow humans to colonize a city on Mars within the next 50 to 100 years. Speaking to an energetic crowd in Guadalajara, Mexico, Musk explained that the alternative to staying on Earth, which is at […]
Developing countries currently cannot sustain themselves, let alone grow, without relying heavily on fossil fuels. Global warming typically takes a back seat to feeding, housing, and employing these countries’ citizens. Yet the weather fluctuations and consequences of climate change are already impacting food growth in many of these countries. Is there a solution? Developing Countries […]
The world’s oceans play a major role in mitigating the greenhouse effect, as they absorb roughly a quarter of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. As this atmospheric CO2 mixes with the ocean’s surface, it forms carbonic acid, and when carbon uptake occurs on a massive scale—as it has for the past few decades—the ocean acidifies. […]