JARON LANIER on Tech, Music, Creativity & Who Owns the Future - Highlights

JARON LANIER on Tech, Music, Creativity & Who Owns the Future - Highlights

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VR Pioneer · Musician · Author JARON LANIER
Who Owns the Future? · Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality & Virtual Reality · Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

AI is obviously the dominant topic in tech lately, and I think occasionally there's AI that's nonsense, and occasionally there's AI that's great. I love finding new proteins for medicine and so on. I don't think we serve ourselves well when we put our own technology up as if it were a new God that we created. I think we're really getting a little too full of ourselves to think that.

When we do that, I think we confuse ourselves too easily. This goes back to Alan Turing, the main founder of computer science, who had this idea of the Turing test. In the test, you can't tell whether the computer has gotten more human-like or the human has gotten more computer-like. People are very prone to becoming more computer-like. When we're on social media, we let ourselves be guided by the algorithms, so we start to become dumb in the way the algorithms want us to. You see that all the time. It's really degraded our psychologies and our society.

AI, Virtual Reality & Dawn of the New Everything w/ JARON LANIER, VR Pioneer, Musician, Author

AI, Virtual Reality & Dawn of the New Everything w/ JARON LANIER, VR Pioneer, Musician, Author

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Father of VR · Musician · Author JARON LANIER
Who Owns the Future? · Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality & Virtual Reality · Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

AI is obviously the dominant topic in tech lately, and I think occasionally there's AI that's nonsense, and occasionally there's AI that's great. I love finding new proteins for medicine and so on. I don't think we serve ourselves well when we put our own technology up as if it were a new God that we created. I think we're really getting a little too full of ourselves to think that.

When we do that, I think we confuse ourselves too easily. This goes back to Alan Turing, the main founder of computer science, who had this idea of the Turing test. In the test, you can't tell whether the computer has gotten more human-like or the human has gotten more computer-like. People are very prone to becoming more computer-like. When we're on social media, we let ourselves be guided by the algorithms, so we start to become dumb in the way the algorithms want us to. You see that all the time. It's really degraded our psychologies and our society.

How Can AI-moderated Deliberation Cure the Ills of Democracy? JAMES FISHKIN - Highlights
How Can AI be Part of Bringing Deliberative Democracy to the Masses? w/ JAMES S. FISHKIN
The Imagination Emporium with Fmr. VP of Innovation & Creativity at Disney DUNCAN WARDLE

The Imagination Emporium with Fmr. VP of Innovation & Creativity at Disney DUNCAN WARDLE

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Fmr. Vice President of Innovation & Creativity at Disney

I think for most of us, time to think is the biggest barrier to innovation. I would argue it's our own river of thinking. Well, what's a river of thinking? I think it's our own expertise and our own experience. The more we have, the faster, wider, and deeper our river is, allowing us to make quick and informed decisions. But we don't get to think the way we've always thought. In the last four years, we've had global pandemics. We've had global climate change. We've got Generation Z entering the workforce, and now we have AI. So basically, the tools of the toolkit, which are brought to you by Nova, are actually designed to stop you from thinking the way you always do and give you permission to think differently.

Art, Technology & Society with Author T.C. BOYLE

Art, Technology & Society with Author T.C. BOYLE

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Novelist · Short Story Writer

What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.

On Regulating the Attention Market & Prevent Algorithmic Emotional Governance w/ FABIEN GANDON & FRANCK MICHEL

On Regulating the Attention Market & Prevent Algorithmic Emotional Governance w/ FABIEN GANDON & FRANCK MICHEL

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The fact that technologies are being used and combined to capture our attention is concerning. This is currently being done with no limitations and no regulations. That's the main problem. Attention is a very private resource. No one should be allowed to extract it from us by exploiting what we know about the human mind and how it functions, including its weaknesses. We wrote this paper as a call to regulate the attention market and prevent algorithmic emotional governance.

PAY ATTENTION: A Call to Regulate the Attention Market & Prevent Algorithmic Emotional Governance

PAY ATTENTION: A Call to Regulate the Attention Market & Prevent Algorithmic Emotional Governance

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The fact that technologies are being used and combined to capture our attention is concerning. This is currently being done with no limitations and no regulations. That's the main problem. Attention is a very private resource. No one should be allowed to extract it from us by exploiting what we know about the human mind and how it functions, including its weaknesses. We wrote this paper as a call to regulate the attention market and prevent algorithmic emotional governance.

Elon Musk, Putin's Russia, Murdoch's Fox News: How Billionaires Shape Our World with DARRYL CUNNINGHAM

Elon Musk, Putin's Russia, Murdoch's Fox News: How Billionaires Shape Our World with DARRYL CUNNINGHAM

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The Lives of Billionaires Comic Artist & Author DARRYL CUNNINGHAM on Making Complex Subjects Simple

No one should be a billionaire because it's damaging. There's a certain level of wealth that's damaging to a country. Billionaires have so much wealth that they have enormous political power, which is undemocratic. There should be a ceiling on wealth. I have nothing against people becoming millionaires or even multi-millionaires. But multi-billionaires are incredibly bad for all of us. If you have so much money that you can buy an entire political party, that's a thing that shouldn't exist.

AI, Technology, Art & Culture - Artists, Philosophers, Economists & Scientists discuss the Future

AI, Technology, Art & Culture - Artists, Philosophers, Economists & Scientists discuss the Future

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Artists, Philosophers, Economists & Scientists discuss the Future

How can we shape technology’s impact on society? How do social media algorithms influence our democratic processes and personal well-being? Can AI truly emulate human creativity? And how will its pursuit of perfection change the art we create?

AI & The Pathway to Flow with Neuroscientist, Fmr. Dancer DR. JULIA CHRISTENSEN

AI & The Pathway to Flow with Neuroscientist, Fmr. Dancer DR. JULIA CHRISTENSEN

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Neuroscientist · Fmr. Dancer
Author of The Pathway to Flow: The New Science of Harnessing Creativity to Heal and Unwind the Body & Mind

The state of being in flow and seeking out that state, sort of disappearing from the here and now... it must have been something that has been part of human cultures for many millennia. We know that, for example, dancing can bring you into these states. And we know from many anthropological works that people dance themselves into trance, a type of flow. So, there is that flow in this scientific sense of a state of well-being. And we will speak about what that does to our brain and our broader wellbeing, but also the flow in what cues enter into our senses. So that would be a scientific field that looks at brain synchrony, physiology synchrony, these waves that we see that sort of connect with us.

AI, Technological Progress & the Growth Dilemma w/ Economist DANIEL SUSSKIND - Highlights

AI, Technological Progress & the Growth Dilemma w/ Economist DANIEL SUSSKIND - Highlights

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Economist · Oxford & King’s College London
Author of Growth: A Reckoning · A World Without Work

We have a choice to change the nature of growth. How we can have growth that is more respectful of place, doesn’t cause as much damage to the environment, doesn't lead to as large inequalities in society, doesn’t disrupt politics, doesn't undermine the availability of good work? We ought to pursue this morally enriched GDP measure which better reflects what we really value and care about as a society.

Growth: A Reckoning with Economist DANIEL SUSSKIND

Growth: A Reckoning with Economist DANIEL SUSSKIND

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Economist · Oxford & King’s College London
Author of Growth: A Reckoning · A World Without Work

We have a choice to change the nature of growth. How we can have growth that is more respectful of place, doesn’t cause as much damage to the environment, doesn't lead to as large inequalities in society, doesn’t disrupt politics, doesn't undermine the availability of good work? We ought to pursue this morally enriched GDP measure which better reflects what we really value and care about as a society.

Neuroscience, AI & The Future of Humanity - DR. BEN SHOFTY - Highlights

Neuroscience, AI & The Future of Humanity - DR. BEN SHOFTY - Highlights

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Functional Neurosurgeon · Professor · University of Utah

When you think about the evolution of the human brain–just like other animals that have specialized in speed or keeping warm or gathering food–I feel our brain sort of specialized being creative and flexible and being able to generate different solutions to a given problem. To me, this is probably the most fascinating thought process that happens in the human brain. And what I do in neurosurgery–and my subspecialty is called functional neurosurgery–we don't deal with disorders in which there's an anatomical abnormality inside the brain. We deal with disorders in which there is an abnormal connection or abnormal circuitry inside the brain when there's an issue with the way the brain functions. There's no tumor. There are no abnormal blood vessels or anything like that. And that gives us an amazing opportunity to really investigate how different circuits and different areas inside the brain work.

The Neuroscience of Creativity with DR. BEN SHOFTY

The Neuroscience of Creativity with DR. BEN SHOFTY

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Functional Neurosurgeon · Professor · University of Utah

When you think about the evolution of the human brain–just like other animals that have specialized in speed or keeping warm or gathering food–I feel our brain sort of specialized being creative and flexible and being able to generate different solutions to a given problem. To me, this is probably the most fascinating thought process that happens in the human brain. And what I do in neurosurgery–and my subspecialty is called functional neurosurgery–we don't deal with disorders in which there's an anatomical abnormality inside the brain. We deal with disorders in which there is an abnormal connection or abnormal circuitry inside the brain when there's an issue with the way the brain functions. There's no tumor. There are no abnormal blood vessels or anything like that. And that gives us an amazing opportunity to really investigate how different circuits and different areas inside the brain work.

AI, Tech & The Future of Museums - STEPHEN REILY, Founding Director of Remuseum on Transforming Cultural Spaces
Is AI capable of creating a protest song that disrupts oppression & inspires social change? - JAKE FERGUSON, ANTHONY JOSEPH & JERMAIN JACKMAN

Is AI capable of creating a protest song that disrupts oppression & inspires social change? - JAKE FERGUSON, ANTHONY JOSEPH & JERMAIN JACKMAN

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I think as humans, we forget. We are often limited by our own stereotypes, and we don't see that in everyone there's the potential for beauty and love and all these things. And I think The Architecture of Oppression, both parts one and two, are really a reflection of all the community and civil rights work that I've been doing for the same amount of time, really - 25 years. And I wanted to try and mix my day job and my music side, so bringing those two sides of my life together. I wanted to create a platform for black artists, black singers, and poets who I really admire. And it was a no-brainer to give Anthony a call for this second album because I know of his pedigree, and he's much more able to put ideas and thoughts on paper than I would be able to.

What can AI teach us about human cognition & creativity? - Highlights - RAPHAËL MILLIÈRE

What can AI teach us about human cognition & creativity? - Highlights - RAPHAËL MILLIÈRE

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Asst. Professor in Philosophy of AI · Macquarie University
I'd like to focus more on the immediate harms that the kinds of AI technologies we have today might pose. With language models, the kind of technology that powers ChatGPT and other chatbots, there are harms that might result from regular use of these systems, and then there are harms that might result from malicious use. Regular use would be how you and I might use ChatGPT and other chatbots to do ordinary things. There is a concern that these systems might reproduce and amplify, for example, racist or sexist biases, or spread misinformation. These systems are known to, as researchers put it, “hallucinate” in some cases, making up facts or false citations. And then there are the harms from malicious use, which might result from some bad actors using the systems for nefarious purposes. That would include disinformation on a mass scale. You could imagine a bad actor using language models to automate the creation of fake news and propaganda to try to manipulate voters, for example. And this takes us into the medium term future, because we're not quite there, but another concern would be language models providing dangerous, potentially illegal information that is not readily available on the internet for anyone to access. As they get better over time, there is a concern that in the wrong hands, these systems might become quite powerful weapons, at least indirectly, and so people have been trying to mitigate these potential harm

How can we ensure that AI is aligned with human values? - RAPHAËL MILLIÈRE

How can we ensure that AI is aligned with human values? - RAPHAËL MILLIÈRE

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Asst. Professor in Philosophy of AI · Macquarie University
I'd like to focus more on the immediate harms that the kinds of AI technologies we have today might pose. With language models, the kind of technology that powers ChatGPT and other chatbots, there are harms that might result from regular use of these systems, and then there are harms that might result from malicious use. Regular use would be how you and I might use ChatGPT and other chatbots to do ordinary things. There is a concern that these systems might reproduce and amplify, for example, racist or sexist biases, or spread misinformation. These systems are known to, as researchers put it, “hallucinate” in some cases, making up facts or false citations. And then there are the harms from malicious use, which might result from some bad actors using the systems for nefarious purposes. That would include disinformation on a mass scale. You could imagine a bad actor using language models to automate the creation of fake news and propaganda to try to manipulate voters, for example. And this takes us into the medium term future, because we're not quite there, but another concern would be language models providing dangerous, potentially illegal information that is not readily available on the internet for anyone to access. As they get better over time, there is a concern that in the wrong hands, these systems might become quite powerful weapons, at least indirectly, and so people have been trying to mitigate these potential harm

Is understanding AI a bigger question than understanding the origin of the universe? - Highlights, NEIL JOHNSON

Is understanding AI a bigger question than understanding the origin of the universe? - Highlights, NEIL JOHNSON

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Professor of Physics · GWU · Head of the Dynamic Online Networks Lab

It gets back to this core question: Why AI comes out with what it does. That's the burning question. It's like it's bigger than the origin of the universe to me as a scientist, and here's the reason why. The origin of the universe, it happened. That's why we're here. It's almost like a historical question asking why it happened. The AI future is not a historical question. It's a now and future question.