The Feedback Loop by Singularity Singularity University

This week our guest is Nita Farahany, a Distinguished Professor at Duke University where she heads the Science, Law, and Policy Lab. The research she conducts in her lab specifically focuses on the implications of emerging neuroscience, genomics, and artificial intelligence; and, as a testament to her expertise, there is a long, long list of awards and influential positions she can lay claim to, including an appointment by Obama to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.

In this episode, we explore Nita’s recent publication, provocatively entitled, The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology. This takes us on our tour of the current neurotechnology that exists, the upcoming ways in which this tech will be integrated into our daily products, how it will shape our decision making, the profound list of ethical considerations surrounding cognitive liberty, and much more.

See more about Nita at nitafarahany.com or follow her at twitter.com/NitaFarahany

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Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ /⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali

This week my guest Anne Scherer, a professor of marketing at the University of Zurich who specializes in the psychological and societal impacts that result from the increased automation and digitization of the consumer-company relationship.

In this episode we focus on the details Anne covers in, You and AI, a book she co-authored with Cindry Candrian to bring an accessible understanding of the ways in which AI is shaping our lives. This takes on a tour of topics such as our symbiotic relationship with AI, manipulation, regulation, the proposed 6 month pause on AI development, the business advantages of better data policies around AI, the difference between artificial intelligence and human intelligence, and more. 

Find out more about Anne and her book at annescherer.me

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Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ /⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali

To celebrate our 100th episode, we welcome one of the co-founders of Singularity himself, Peter Diamandis.

And although his educational background at MIT and Harvard Medical school is impressive enough, Peter has also built and invested in many successful companies and organizations dedicated to shaping a better world, including his famous X-Prize Foundation and of course the home of this podcast, Singularity.

In this episode, Peter and I attempt to update the ideas around the singularity–questions like what predictions have come true, what’s changed, what’s been surprising, and what can we expect? More specifically though, we focus on artificial intelligence, its sudden exponential leap into mainstream culture via large language models like GPT, and what future we can expect from upcoming AI advancements. Along the way we discuss gene editing, biotech, quantum computers, and other important facets of technological convergence that will assist AI in reshaping society.

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Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ /⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali

This week my guest is professor of neuroscience at University College London, Karl Friston. Viewed by many as one of the world’s most influential neuroscientists, Friston rose to prominence when he pioneered one of the key techniques that allows neuroscientists to analyze brain activity. And as if that wasn’t enough, he has since developed the Free Energy Principle, which some see as monumental to the field as Darwin’s theory of evolution was for biology and genetics. 

It’s this work on the Free Energy principle that will be the bulk of our conversation in this episode, and I warn you that this is probably one of the most intellectually challenging conversations we’ve had on the show. To help you navigate this, I want to offer just a quick overview that may aid in understanding the ideas. In essence, Friston’s work roughly states that entities that exist must track information from the world around them, create an internal model of that information, and then use that model to navigate the world in a way that reduces the difference (the error) between what was actually experienced and what one’s model predicted. 

While this concept may seem simple on the surface, the actual science behind it is detailed, complex, and holds immense influence for how we develop artificial intelligence.

Learn more about Friston and his work at fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~karl/

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Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ /⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali

This week my guest is Jean Twenge, a renowned psychologist, professor, and author who has been one of the world’s leading researchers investigating generational differences and the impacts of technology. This includes her books The Narcissism Epidemic, Generation Me, and my personal favorite iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood.

In this episode we explore Jean’s wonderful collection of work through the lens of her newest book, Generations, where we investigate how Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z have been shaped by technology and the implications this holds for the future. This takes us on a tour of discussions around the animosity between generations, mental health, personality traits like narcissism, regulations for social media platforms, and more.

ollow her at twitter.com/jean_twenge

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Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠ /⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali

This week our guest is British biologist, Nessa Carey, who has researched and written extensively about the latest trends in molecular biology and biotechnology for several decades now. This includes her 2011 book, the Epigenetics Revolution, and her more recent 2019 book, Hacking the Code of Life. 

In this episode, we lay some biological groundwork by first discussing the often misunderstood field of epigenetics, a process wherein our DNA changes how it's expressed throughout our lives. From there we dive deeply into gene editing and CRISPR, discussing the current state of the art, what’s possible and what isn’t, how to use gene editing to heal disease and address ecological issues, the existential threats gene editing poses for our species and planet, regulation, and much more. 

Find out more about Nessa and her work at nessacarey.co.uk**

Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠⁠

Host:⁠⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠ /⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali