Jacob Howland on the Hidden Human Costs of AI

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4.7 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2023

⏱️ 82 minutes

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Summary

In the early 1900s, the philosopher Henry Adams expressed concern about the rapid rate of social change ushered in by new technologies, from the railways to the telegraph and ultimately airplanes. If we transpose Adams's concerns onto the power of artificial intelligence--a power whose rate of acceleration would have exceeded his wildest dreams--you might feel a bit uneasy. Listen as philosopher Jacob Howland of UATX speaks with EconTalk's Russ Roberts about why too much leisure is at best a mixed blessing, and how technology can lead to intellectual atrophy. They also speak about the role of AI in education and its implications for that most human of traits: curiosity. Finally, they discuss Howland's biggest concern when it comes to outsourcing our tasks, and our thinking, to machines: that we'll ultimately end up surrendering our own liberty.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, Conversations for the Curious, part of the Library of Economics
0:07.0	and Liberty.
0:08.0	I'm your host, Russ Roberts of Shalem College in Jerusalem and Stanford University's Hoover
0:13.0	Institution.
0:14.0	Go to econtalk.org where you can subscribe, comment on this episode and find links down
0:18.6	the information related to today's conversation.
0:21.6	You'll also find our archives with every episode we've done going back to 2006.
0:26.8	Our email address is mail at econtalk.org.
0:29.8	We'd love to hear from you.
0:37.8	Today is May 31, 2023.
0:39.8	My guest is philosopher Jacob Howland.
0:42.0	He is provost and director of the Electrical Foundation's program at UATX.
0:47.8	Commonly known as the University of Austin, his latest book is Glaucom's Fate, History
0:52.6	Myth and Character in Plato's Republic.
0:55.6	Jacob, welcome to econtalk.
0:57.6	Thank you, Russ.
0:58.6	It's great to be on your show.
1:00.6	Our topic for today is the impact of artificial intelligence AI on our humanity, on the human
1:07.6	experience, based on an essay you wrote on the website Unheard.
1:13.6	We've done a number of episodes recently and whether AI is going to destroy life on Earth.
1:17.6	An important question.
1:19.6	For the record, I am concerned, but not panicked.
	...

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