The scenario Sam describes in his talk is disconcerting, even terrifying, but likely to occur: AI – artificial intelligence – could ultimately destroy us or inspire us to destroy ourselves. „One of the things that worry me most about the development of AI at this point is that we seem unable to marshal an appropriate emotional response to the dangers that lie ahead.“ Sam’s concern is that one day machines built by us might treat us with the same disregard as ants are treated by us. „It seems overwhelmingly likely, however, that the spectrum of intelligence extends much further than we currently conceive, and if we build machines that are more intelligent than we are, they will very likely explore this spectrum in ways that we can’t imagine, and exceed us in ways that we can’t imagine.“
Posts in category: Video/Talk
TED Talk. Brian Little: Who are you really?
„One of the most influential approaches in personality science is known as trait psychology, and it aligns you along five dimensions which are normally distributed, and that describe universally held aspects of difference between people. They spell out the acronym OCEAN. So, ‘O’ stands for ‘open to experience’ versus those who are more closed. ‘C’ stands for conscientiousness’ in contrast to those with a more lackadaisical approach to life. ‘E’ — ‘extroversion’ in contrast to more introverted people. ‘A’ — ‘agreeable individuals’ in contrast to those decidedly not agreeable. And ‘N’ — ‘neurotic individuals’ in contrast to those who are more stable.“
Brian Little’s intriguing talk is highly entertaining – and it reminds us that we cannot lick the outside of our own elbow. :-)
TED Talk. Julia Galef: Why you think you’re right – even if you’re wrong
„Unconsciously, our judgement is strongly influenced by which side we want to win. We can think we’re being objective and fair-minded and still wind up ruining the life of an innocent man.“ Julias talk revolves around the example of Alfred Dreyfus who – in 19th-century France – was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Why? Because everybody wanted him to be the culprit and existing evidence was interpreted against his favour without further investigation.
TED Talk. Tristram Stuart: The global food waste scandal
Most rich countries produce three to four times the amount of food needed to feed their own population – and almost half of the produce is being discarded before it even reaches the consumer. Not mainly because it’s expired and has become inedible, but often solely for cosmetic reasons. „What we see is only the tip of the iceberg. Food waste is happening on a gargantuan scale“, says Tristram Stuart, activist and strong advocate against global food waste. By 2050, Earth will be inhabited by around nine billion people who expect to be fed. This talk helps understand the implications of food waste and how urgent immediate action is.
TED Talk. Al Gore: The case for optimism on climate change
Former US Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore presents drastic examples on how man-made forces are gradually destroying our planet. „After World War II, the emission rates started really accelerating. And the accumulated amount of man-made, global warming pollution that is up in the atmosphere now traps as much extra heat energy as would be released by 400,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every 24 hours, 365 days a year – a fact-checked over and over again.“
Still Al Gore is optimistic that climate change can be tackled. But how?