555. New Technologies Always Scare Us. Is A.I. Any Different?

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4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 31 August 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

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Summary

Guest host Adam Davidson looks at what might happen to your job in a world of human-level artificial intelligence, and asks when it might be time to worry that the machines have become too powerful. (Part 2 of "How to Think About A.I.")

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner.
0:04.9	Adam Davidson, one of the founders of NPR's Planet Money Podcast, is guest-hosting
0:09.6	a few episodes for us.
0:11.0	They are about the past, present, and even the future of what's being called artificial
0:15.7	intelligence.
0:16.7	A name, by the way, that practically no one working in AI seems to like.
0:22.2	The episode you're about to hear is part two in the three-part series that we are calling
0:26.3	how to think about AI.
0:29.2	Here's Adam.
0:33.1	When you dig into all the hype around AI, all the terrifying fears and utopian hope, it
0:39.3	all comes down to one question.
0:43.2	When would it become affordable for a company to train an AI system as big as the human brain?
0:50.6	That is Ajaya Kotra.
0:52.0	She's one of a growing number of people who are trying to answer this question.
0:56.8	Will artificial intelligence ever be as powerful as the human brain?
1:01.6	And if so, when will that happen?
1:04.5	That raises another question.
1:06.5	What happens if it reaches that threshold and keeps on growing?
1:11.8	Should we be terrified, thrilled?
1:14.7	Should we hurry it along?
1:16.5	Or should we try to put on the brakes?
1:19.4	When beings have been through massive technological transformations before, agriculture, cities,
	...

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