Jan 2nd 19

Ray Kurzweil‘s impact on my life in general but especially on what I have been doing for the past 3 or 4 years is hard to exaggerate. It is a simple fact that, if I haven’t read his seminal book The Singularity is Near, I would be neither blogging nor podcasting about exponential technologies, not to mention going to Singularity University. And so it was with great excitement and some trepidation that I went to interview Dr. Kurzweil in his office in Boston.

Part of my trepidation came from some technical concerns: I wish I could buy a better camera. I wish I could hire a team of audio and video professionals so that I can focus on the interview itself. I wish I did a better job with the set up. I wish I had noticed that Ray’s lavalier mic has slipped out of its holder… The list is exponential. Still, if there is one thing that I’ve learned since I started podcasting is that we do get better. But it takes time. Meanwhile, my consolation is that eventually I will have to do another interview with Ray Kurzweil just so I get it right that time. For now, however, I hope that the content of this one will make up for its technical deficiencies.

During our conversation with Dr. Kurzweil we cover a wide variety of topics such as: how and why at age 5 Ray decided to become an inventor; his unique background of being born to Jewish parents but brought up in a Unitarian Church; his early interest in issues such as religious tolerance, poverty, social inequality and justice; 3D printing, open source, patents, progress and intellectual property rights; Watson, artificial intelligence, the Turing Test and human rights for AI, the technological singularity and some criticism thereof; his upcoming book How To Create A Mind and his Pattern Recognition Theory of Mind; the evolutionary advantages of intelligence; the benefits of reverse-engineering the human brain for the creation of AI and whether the latter would be interested in pondering and solving humanity’s greatest problems.

My favorite quote that I will take away from this interview with Ray Kurzweil is:

“Don’t be too concerned about what’s practical. Follow your passion and be who you would like to be.”

Ray Kurzweil on the Singularity: Be Who You Would Like To Be

Dr. Stuart Hameroff is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychology, and Director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. Together with British quantum physicist Sir Roger Penrose, Hameroff is the co-author of the controversial Orch OR model of consciousness.

I first met Dr. Hameroff at the recent GF2045 conference where the usually mild-mannered Ray Kurzweil went out of his way to make it abundantly clear that the Orch OR model is totally wrong. Others called it “speculative,” “non-testable” and “unscientific”. By now both Stuart and Roger must have become accustomed to such attacks, and I have developed a lot of respect for the calm but firm way they are daring to stand their ground. Furthermore, if the Orch OR model were to be correct, then, there will be profound implications on variety of fields and disciplines such as medicine, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, quantum physics and philosophy. And so I decided to bring Dr. Hameroff on Singularity 1 on 1 where we can confront the controversy head-on.

During our 1 hour conversation with Stuart we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: how he got interested in studying consciousness and the definition thereof; why understanding anesthesia is the route to understanding consciousness; the hard problem of consciousness; why the brain is more than a classical computer; how Hameroff reached out to Roger Penrose after reading The Emperor’s New Mind; the Orch OR model and why the vast majority of scientists are disdainful of it; the best ways of proving or disproving the Hameroff/Penrose model and the most important implications if it is indeed correct; out-of-body experiences, quantum souls, afterlife, and reincarnation; Hinduism and Buddhism; cryonics and chemical brain preservation; Stuart’s upcoming paper [together with Roger Penrose] where they will review and present new evidence in support of the Orch OR theory.

Some of the most memorable quotes that I will take away from this interview are:

“Consciousness is the most important thing there is!”

“Assuming that a neuron is a bit-like [computer] firing ON or OFF is a tremendous insult to neurons.”

“Most scientists can’t explain consciousness in the brain, so they can’t say that consciousness out of the brain is impossible.”

“Consciousness is the music of the Universe.”

Stuart Hameroff on AI, the Singularity and Consciousness

TO SKIP THE INTRO GO STRAIGHT AT 3:30

Watch the podcast on Accelerating Sustainable Transport in Cities. With the global transportation system contributing between 20- 25% of all CO2 emissions, electric vehicles (EVs) offer a powerful and increasingly popular solution for sustainable urban mobility, with the European market growing by 37% in 2014 to bring global EV deployment to 740,000 vehicles.

This exciting webinar brought together experts from Climate Action, BMW Group, the OECD and the Government of Barcelona to focus on overcoming the challenges of sustainable transport integration.

[Podcast] Accelerating Sustainable Transport in Cities featuring BMW & OECD

Jack’s timeless wisdom leads the way as he responds to a handful of questions concerning some of the common struggles encountered on the human plane.

How can we be present with difficult situations without indulging the emotions? The problem often lies more in the narratives we tell about ourselves and others that perpetuate the suffering. We must be willing to allow the energies of life to rise and fall as they do, all the while expanding our capacity to feel without necessarily believing the storyline, which is often biased and untrue to begin with. In learning to be with our emotions we are better able to respond from a place of wisdom rather than an expectation of how it should be.

Taking time to recognize the distinction between wise and unskillful desire is a practical and effective method for addressing the root causes for much of our suffering. Through examining our impulses, we gain the perspective necessary to determine if the associated actions will ultimately increase our joy or our sorrow.

Jack reminds us that we don’t need to get rid of anything, we just have to remember who we really are and operate from that deeper self. The seeds we plant in the garden of the heart are not separate from us in their origin or their blossoming.

Jack Kornfield – Heart Wisdom - Ep. 46 - The Stories We Tell

A couple of weeks ago Joi Ito – head of the MIT Media Lab and contributor to WIRED Magazine, interviewed me about my Transhumanist Manifesto and related topics such as life-extension, immortality, speciesim, and ethics. Some people have said that this is the best interview I have done so far.

It is hard for me to judge objectively if that is indeed the best interview I have ever done or not. However, subjectively, I feel it was definitely the most fun one I have done so far. Joi Ito, in turn, shared with me that my interview inspired him to write a long in-depth article about transhumanism on WIRED Magazine: The Responsibility of Immortality: Welcome to the New Transhumanism

Whatever the case may be, I thought it is appropriate to repost the interview as a podcast episode so that you can check it out and judge for yourself.

You can also watch the full video of the interview here: https://www.singularityweblog.com/nikola-danaylov-wired/

Singularity.FM

Transhumanist Manifesto Inspires WIRED Article on Transhumanism

Max Tegmark is sometimes referred to as "Mad Max". I am not sure if he is "mad" but I am pretty sure he is very much "fun" Max Tegmark because I had a total blast talking to him about his recent book Life 3.0, the Future of Life Institute, Artificial Intelligence, the Singularity and technological unemployment.

If you enjoy this podcast then you can show your support by: 

writing a review on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/singularity-1-on-1/id398887225?mt=2

making a direct donation https://www.singularityweblog.com/donate-and-support-singularity-weblog/

becoming a patron on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/singularityfm

You can watch the full video of the interview here: https://www.singularityweblog.com/max-tegmark/

Max Tegmark on Life 3.0: What We Do Makes a Difference

North Korea has very clear humanitarian needs which the international community can help to resolve, the UN’s top humanitarian official said on Thursday, after his first visit to the country, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Relief chief Mark Lowcock described how one in five children there, suffers from stunted growth. He told Daniel Johnson a lack of funding and international sanctions was hampering the delivery of vitally needed food and medicines, “which isn’t what anybody wants”.

Audio Credit: Daniel Johnson, UN News - Geneva
Photo Credit:  Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock (right), visits the Kumchon Cooperative Farm (supported by FAO) in Unryul County, South Hwanghae Province, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. OCHA/Anthony Burke

UN relief chief assesses scale of needs in North Korea, welcomes government engagement

International migration “has been with us forever”, and a safe and orderly means of facilitating it is “in everybody’s interest”, Louise Arbour, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on International Migration, told UN News as the final round of negotiations on a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration took place at UN Headquarters in New York.

Photo: Louise Arbour, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on International Migration. Credit: UN News.

Migration is beneficial ‘part of human history’, says UN envoy

Inc Magazine called Tim O’Reilly the “Oracle of Silicon Valley.” Wired called him “The Trend Spotter.” Others have noted that “the Internet was built on O’Reilly books.” All in all, Tim O’Reilly is as perfect of a guest for my Singularity.FM podcast as I can ever imagine. So, I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

During our 90 min conversation with Tim O’Reilly we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why Tim sees himself as a change-maker; the change he is after; the aesthetic and the useful; the importance of story; Tim’s background in Latin and Ancient Greek; his thesis on Mysticism and Logic in Plato’s Dialogues; ethics as a way of debugging technology and society; reality and truth; why he is not a singularity fan; whether we can influence the future or not; why technology is not enough; his book WTF: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us; Uber and Lyft; runaway AI; the Emperor Has No Clothes and serving the wrong algorithm; rewriting the human story…

My favorite quote that I will take away from this interview with Tim O’Reilly is:

“Economic determinism is probably the cardinal sin of the present moment.”

if you want to see the full video of this interview go here:https://www.singularityweblog.com/tim-oreilly/

“Oracle of Silicon Valley” Tim O’Reilly on WTF: Do Work That Matters

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 AI safety? How does the possibility of machine qualia fit into this space? Can we leak proof the singularity to ensure we are able to test AGI? And what is computational complexity theory anyway?

AI Safety, Possible Minds, and Simulated Worlds is the third podcast in the new AI Alignment series, hosted by Lucas Perry. For those of you that are new, this series will be covering and exploring the AI alignment problem across a large variety of domains, reflecting the fundamentally interdisciplinary nature of AI alignment. Broadly, we will be having discussions with technical and non-technical researchers across areas such as machine learning, AI safety, governance, coordination, ethics, philosophy, and psychology as they pertain to the project of creating beneficial AI. If this sounds interesting to you, we hope that you will join in the conversations by following us or subscribing to our podcasts on Youtube, SoundCloud, or your preferred podcast site/application.

In this podcast, Lucas spoke with Roman Yampolskiy, a Tenured Associate Professor in the department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science at the Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville. Dr. Yampolskiy’s main areas of interest are AI Safety, Artificial Intelligence, Behavioral Biometrics, Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics, Games, Genetic Algorithms, and Pattern Recognition. He is an author of over 100 publications including multiple journal articles and books. 

Topics discussed in this episode include:

-Cyber security applications to AI safety
-Key concepts in Roman's papers and books
-Is AI alignment solvable?
-The control problem
-The ethics of and detecting qualia in machine intelligence
-Machine ethics and it's role or lack thereof  in AI safety
-Simulated worlds and if detecting base reality is possible
-AI safety publicity strategy

AIAP: AI Safety, Possible Minds, and Simulated Worlds with Roman Yampolskiy

In today’s episode I welcome you to the Museum of Non-Human Art, a brand new gallery full of art made entirely by machines, computers, algorithms, robots and other non-human entities. I hope your enjoy your visit!

Portrait Of The Artist As An Algorithm

Speaker(s): Heiner Flassbeck, Radhika Desai, Dr Robert Falkner | Heiner Flassbeck presents The Trade and Development Report 2009, subtitled "Responding to the Global Crisis and Climate Change Mitigation and Development." The worst economic downturn since the Great Depression is having a serious impact on developing countries, and at this point UNCTAD economists estimate that it will be virtually impossible for sub-Saharan African nations to achieve such United Nations Millennium Development Goals as halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. The report recommends increased development assistance and the granting of moratoria on debt for hard-hit developing countries to limit further damage and to prepare the way for eventual recovery. Tue, 1 Sep 2009 18:30:00 GMT

'Responding to the Global Crisis' and 'Climate Change Mitigation and Development' - Launch Lecture of UNCTAD Trade and Development Report [Audio]

Major advances are being made to better safeguard natural environments across the world, but more action is needed if the planet’s long-term survival is to be ensured, according to the UN’s top environment official.

Citing the case of a whale off the coast of Thailand which died after swallowing 80 plastic bags, Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said this was one poignant example of the hard work and commitment that’s needed.

The pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, is moving Governments in the right direction, but more must be done, he told Liz Scaffidi.

Audio Credit:  Liz Scaffidi, UN News
Photo Credit:  Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.  UNEP

‘Lots of good news’ but more action needed to save the planet — UN environment chief

On Thursday, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) by six months, as UN-brokered talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots aim at unification remain deadlocked.

Elizabeth Spehar, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus and Head of UNFICYP – told UN News’s Yasmina Guerda, why UNFICYP is still needed today.

Audio Credit:  Yasmina Guerda, UN News
Photo Credit:  Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Elizabeth Spehar.

Security Council extends Cyprus UN mission mandate by six months as challenges on the ground persist

Speaker(s): Professor Sir Paul Collier | Following the publication of his latest book, The Future of Capitalism, Paul Collier will discuss this book and his wider work. Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and a Professorial Fellow of St Antony’s College. From 1998–2003 he took a five-year Public Service leave during which he was Director of the Research Development Department of the World Bank. He is currently a Professeur invité at Sciences Po and a Director of the International Growth Centre. He has written for the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. His research covers the causes and consequences of civil war; the effects of aid and the problems of democracy in low-income and natural resources rich societies; urbanisation in low-income countries; private investment in African infrastructure and changing organisational cultures. Tim Besley is School Professor of Economics of Political Science and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics in the Department of Economics at LSE. STICERD (@STICERD_LSE) brings together world-class academics to put economics and related disciplines at the forefront of research and policy. Founded in 1978 by the renowned Japanese economist Michio Morishima, with donations from Suntory and Toyota, we are a thriving research community within the LSE.

The Future of Capitalism [Audio]

with Prasad Akella, Paul Daughtery (@pauldaugh) and Frank Chen (@withfries2)

What is different on that factory floor from Henry Ford to today? In this conversation, Prasad Akella, Founder and CEO of Drishti; Paul Daugherty, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of Accenture, and author of the recently published Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI; and a16z operating partner Frank Chen, talk about how the introduction of automation from Henry Ford to now co-bots and AI all change the work we do in manufacturing and beyond. What are the skills that we’ll need in the future?  What kinds of new information is available, and what new needs -- for dynamic adaptive processes, for example? What are the new tool chains and core (organizational and technical) habits of ML/AI-centric companies of the future?

a16z Podcast: Automation + Work, Human + Machine

A look at the history of intelligence and espionage from Biblical times to social media misinformation.

The History of Intelligence

Joscha Bach is one of those rare people whose primary motivation is unbound curiosity and inspiration. He clearly loves what he does and you can’t help but notice his radiating passion and youthful exuberance. Joscha has an impressively wide and deep knowledge in a variety of scientific, philosophical and artistic disciplines and I had to do my best just to keep up with Bach’s brilliant fast-paced mind and stream of consciousness. I enjoyed our conversation immensely and hope you love it too.

During our 130-minute interview with Joscha Bach, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: the space between academia and professorship; if organisms are algorithms, philosophy, and ethics; growing up in East Germany; science, art, evolution and the meaning of life; mathematics, computing and the limits thereof; the usefulness of useless knowledge; climate change and “the demise of humanity;” artificial intelligence and consciousness; why we are stories in a movie that the brain is creating, the difference between scholars and scientists…

Just some of my favorite quotes from Joscha Bach are:

“If you take this as a computer game metaphor, this is like the best level for humanity to play. And this best level happens to be the last level for humanity to play, as it happens against the backdrop of a dying world. But it’s still the best level.”

“Intelligence is the ability to make models. What is a model? A model is something that explains information. Information is discernable differences at your systemic interface. And the meaning of information is the relationships you discover to changes in other information.”

“Some people think that a simulation can’t be conscious and only a physical system can. But they got it completely backward: a physical system cannot be conscious only a simulation can be conscious. Consciousness is a simulated property of the simulated self.”

“The practice of AI is in a way statistics on steroids. It’s experimental statistics. It’s identifying new functions to model reality.”

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

You can watch the full video here: https://www.singularityweblog.com/joscha-bach/

Joscha Bach: We need to understand the nature of AI to understand who we are

Michael Liebreich is a leading global expert on clean energy and transportation, smart infrastructure, technology, climate finance and sustainable development. He founded New Energy Finance in 2004, which was acquired by Bloomberg in 2009.  Michael and Azeem discuss the significance of the US National Climate Assessment and IPCC's report, staying below two degrees, and the role of exponential technologies in transitioning to renewables.  www.exponentialview.co

Jan 2nd 19

Phoebe