Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.

I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

Today I have the pleasure of introducing Dr. Lex Friedman as our guest on the Huberman Lab Podcast.

Dr. Friedman is a researcher at MIT specializing in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and human robot interactions.

I must say that the conversation with Lex was without question one of the most fascinating conversations that I've ever had, not just in my career but in my lifetime.

I knew that Lex worked on these topics and I think many of you are probably familiar with Lex and his interest in these topics from his incredible podcast, the Lex Friedman Podcast.

If you're not already watching that podcast, please subscribe to it. It is absolutely fantastic.

But in holding this conversation with Lex, I realized something far more important. He revealed to us a bit of his dream, his dream about humans and robots, about humans and machines, and about how those interactions can change the way that we perceive ourselves and that we interact with the world.

We discuss relationships of all kinds, relationships with animals, relationships with friends, relationships with family, and romantic relationships.

And we discuss relationships with machines, machines that move and machines that don't move, and machines that come to understand us in ways that we could never understand for ourselves, and how those machines can educate us about ourselves.

Before this conversation, I had no concept of the ways in which machines could inform me or anyone about themselves.

By the end, I was absolutely taken with the idea, and I'm still taken with the idea, the interactions with machines of a very particular kind, a kind that Lex understands and wants to bring to the world, can not only transform the self, but may very well transform humanity.

So whether or not you're familiar with Dr. Lex Friedman or not, I'm certain you're going to learn a tremendous amount from him during the course of our discussion, and that it will transform the way you think about yourself and about the world.

Before we begin, I want to mention that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research rules at Stanford.

It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public.

In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast.

Our first sponsor is Athletic Greens. Athletic Greens is an all-in-one vitamin mineral probiotic drink.

I've been taking Athletic Greens since 2012, so I'm delighted that they're sponsoring the podcast.

The reason I started taking Athletic Greens and the reason I still take Athletic Greens once or twice a day is that it helps me cover all of my basic nutritional needs.

It makes up for any deficiencies that I might have.

In addition, it has probiotics, which are vital for microbiome health.

I've done a couple of episodes now on the so-called gut microbiome and the ways in which the microbiome interacts with your immune system, with your brain to regulate mood,

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