#135 – Charles Isbell: Computing, Interactive AI, and Race in America
Lex Fridman Podcast
Lex Fridman
4.7 • 13.6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 November 2020
⏱️ 149 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Charles Isbell is the Dean of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Charles’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/isbellHFh
Charles’s Website: https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~isbell/
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:16) – Top 3 movies of all time
(13:26) – People are easily predictable
(19:08) – Breaking out of our bubbles
(30:54) – Interactive AI
(37:26) – Lifelong machine learning
(45:53) – Faculty hiring
(53:27) – University rankings
(1:00:55) – Science communicators
(1:10:20) – Hip hop
(1:19:20) – Funk
(1:20:44) – Computing
(1:36:35) – Race
(1:52:40) – Cop story
(2:01:01) – Racial tensions
(2:10:23) – MLK vs Malcolm X
(2:13:44) – Will human civilization destroy itself?
(2:18:14) – Fear of death and the passing of time
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following is a conversation with Charles Isbel, Dean of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech, |
| 0:06.3 | a researcher, an educator, and the field of artificial intelligence, and someone who deeply thinks |
| 0:12.9 | about what exactly is the field of computing and how do we teach it. He also has a fascinatingly |
| 0:20.1 | varied set of interests, including music, books, movies, sports, and history. They make him especially |
| 0:26.8 | fun to talk with. When I first saw him speak, his charisma immediately took over the room, |
| 0:32.8 | and I had a stupid excited smile on my face, and I knew I had to eventually talk to him on this |
| 0:38.3 | podcast. Quick mention of each sponsor, followed by some thoughts related to the episode. |
| 0:44.2 | First is Nuro, the maker of functional sugar free gum and mints that I used to give my brain a |
| 0:50.5 | quick caffeine boost. Second is the coding digital, a podcast on tech and entrepreneurship that I |
| 0:57.2 | listen to and enjoy. Third is masterclass, online courses that I watch from some of the most |
| 1:02.8 | amazing humans in history, and finally cash app, the app I use to send money to friends for food |
| 1:09.4 | and drinks. Please check out these sponsors in the description to get a discount and to support |
| 1:15.2 | this podcast. As a side note, let me say that I'm trying to make it so that the conversations |
| 1:20.1 | with Charles, Eric Weinstein, and Dan Carlin will be published before American's vote for |
| 1:26.0 | President on November 3rd. There's nothing explicitly political in these conversations, |
| 1:31.3 | but they do touch on something in human nature that I hope can bring context to our difficult time, |
| 1:37.7 | and maybe for a moment allow us to empathize with people we disagree with. With Eric, we talk about |
| 1:44.4 | the nature of evil. With Charles, besides AI and music, we talk a bit about race in America, |
| 1:51.3 | and how we can bring more love and empathy to our online communication. And with Dan Carlin, |
| 1:58.6 | well, we talk about Alexander the Great, Jengus Khan, Hitler, Stalin, and all the complicated parts |
| 2:06.0 | of human history in between, with a hopeful eye toward a brighter future for our humble little |
| 2:11.7 | civilization here on earth. The conversation with Dan will hopefully be posted tomorrow on Monday |
... |
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