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PODCAST

Future of Life Institute Podcast

Future of Life Institute

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit working to reduce global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies. In particular, FLI focuses on risks from artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, nuclear weapons and climate change. The Institute"s work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. FLI has become one of the world"s leading voices

technology

All Episodes

70:26

Why the AI Race Ends in Disaster (with Daniel Kokotajlo)

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/07/03

On this episode, Daniel Kokotajlo joins me to discuss why artificial intelligence may surpass the transformative power of the Industrial Revolution, and just how much AI could accelerate AI research. We explore the implications of automated coding, the critical need for transparency in AI development, the prospect of AI-to-AI communication, and whether AI is an inherently risky technology. We end by discussing iterative forecasting and its role in anticipating AI's future trajectory. You can learn

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63:37

Preparing for an AI Economy (with Daniel Susskind)

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/06/27

On this episode, Daniel Susskind joins me to discuss disagreements between AI researchers and economists, how we can best measure AI’s economic impact, how human values can influence economic outcomes, what meaningful work will remain for humans in the future, the role of commercial incentives in AI development, and the future of education. You can learn more about Daniel's work here: https://www.danielsusskind.com Timestamps: 00:00:00 Preview and intro 00:03:19 AI researchers versus economists

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87:14

Will AI Companies Respect Creators' Rights? (with Ed...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/06/20

Ed Newton-Rex joins me to discuss the issue of AI models trained on copyrighted data, and how we might develop fairer approaches that respect human creators. We talk about AI-generated music, Ed’s decision to resign from Stability AI, the industry’s attitude towards rights, authenticity in AI-generated art, and what the future holds for creators, society, and living standards in an increasingly AI-driven world. Learn more about Ed's work here: https://ed.newtonrex.com Timestamps: 00:00:00 Preview

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75:49

AI Timelines and Human Psychology (with Sarah...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/06/13

On this episode, Sarah Hastings-Woodhouse joins me to discuss what benchmarks actually measure, AI’s development trajectory in comparison to other technologies, tasks that AI systems can and cannot handle, capability profiles of present and future AIs, the notion of alignment by default, and the leading AI companies’ vague AGI plans. We also discuss the human psychology of AI, including the feelings of living in the "fast world" versus the "slow world", and navigating long-term projects given short

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61:28

Could Powerful AI Break Our Fragile World? (with...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/06/06

On this episode, Michael Nielsen joins me to discuss how humanity's growing understanding of nature poses dual-use challenges, whether existing institutions and governance frameworks can adapt to handle advanced AI safely, and how we might recognize signs of dangerous AI. We explore the distinction between AI as agents and tools, how power is latent in the world, implications of widespread powerful hardware, and finally touch upon the philosophical perspectives of deep atheism and optimistic

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92:33

Facing Superintelligence (with Ben Goertzel)

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/05/23

On this episode, Ben Goertzel joins me to discuss what distinguishes the current AI boom from previous ones, important but overlooked AI research, simplicity versus complexity in the first AGI, the feasibility of alignment, benchmarks and economic impact, potential bottlenecks to superintelligence, and what humanity should do moving forward. Timestamps: 00:00:00 Preview and intro 00:01:59 Thinking about AGI in the 1970s 00:07:28 What's different about this AI boom? 00:16:10 Former taboos about

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94:27

Will Future AIs Be Conscious? (with Jeff Sebo)

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/05/16

On this episode, Jeff Sebo joins me to discuss artificial consciousness, substrate-independence, possible tensions between AI risk and AI consciousness, the relationship between consciousness and cognitive complexity, and how intuitive versus intellectual approaches guide our understanding of these topics. We also discuss AI companions, AI rights, and how we might measure consciousness effectively. You can follow Jeff’s work here: https://jeffsebo.net/ Timestamps: 00:00:00 Preview and intro00:02:56

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95:09

Understanding AI Agents: Time Horizons, Sycophancy,...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/05/09

On this episode, Zvi Mowshowitz joins me to discuss sycophantic AIs, bottlenecks limiting autonomous AI agents, and the true utility of benchmarks in measuring progress. We then turn to time horizons of AI agents, the impact of automating scientific research, and constraints on scaling inference compute. Zvi also addresses humanity’s uncertain AI-driven future, the unique features setting AI apart from other technologies, and AI’s growing influence in financial trading. You can follow Zvi's

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62:32

Inside China's AI Strategy: Innovation, Diffusion,...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/04/25

On this episode, Jeffrey Ding joins me to discuss diffusion of AI versus AI innovation, how US-China dynamics shape AI’s global trajectory, and whether there is an AI arms race between the two powers. We explore Chinese attitudes toward AI safety, the level of concentration of AI development, and lessons from historical technology diffusion. Jeffrey also shares insights from translating Chinese AI writings and the potential of automating translations to bridge knowledge gaps. You can learn more

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96:02

How Will We Cooperate with AIs? (with Allison Duettmann)

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/04/11

On this episode, Allison Duettmann joins me to discuss centralized versus decentralized AI, how international governance could shape AI’s trajectory, how we might cooperate with future AIs, and the role of AI in improving human decision-making. We also explore which lessons from history apply to AI, the future of space law and property rights, whether technology is invented or discovered, and how AI will impact children.You can learn more about Allison's work at: https://foresight.org Timestamps:

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96:03

How Will We Cooperate with AIs? (with Allison Duettmann)

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/04/11

On this episode, Allison Duettmann joins me to discuss centralized versus decentralized AI, how international governance could shape AI’s trajectory, how we might cooperate with future AIs, and the role of AI in improving human decision-making. We also explore which lessons from history apply to AI, the future of space law and property rights, whether technology is invented or discovered, and how AI will impact children. You can learn more about Allison's work at: https://foresight.org

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73:13

Brain-like AGI and why it's Dangerous (with Steven...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/04/04

On this episode, Steven Byrnes joins me to discuss brain-like AGI safety. We discuss learning versus steering systems in the brain, the distinction between controlled AGI and social-instinct AGI, why brain-inspired approaches might be our most plausible route to AGI, and honesty in AI models. We also talk about how people can contribute to brain-like AGI safety and compare various AI safety strategies. You can learn more about Steven's work at: https://sjbyrnes.com/agi.html Timestamps: 00:00 Preview

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73:14

Brain-like AGI and why it's Dangerous (with Steven...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/04/04

On this episode, Steven Byrnes joins me to discuss brain-like AGI safety. We discuss learning versus steering systems in the brain, the distinction between controlled AGI and social-instinct AGI, why brain-inspired approaches might be our most plausible route to AGI, and honesty in AI models. We also talk about how people can contribute to brain-like AGI safety and compare various AI safety strategies. You can learn more about Steven's work at: https://sjbyrnes.com/agi.html Timestamps:

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94:33

How Close Are We to AGI? Inside Epoch's GATE Model...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/03/28

On this episode, Ege Erdil from Epoch AI joins me to discuss their new GATE model of AI development, what evolution and brain efficiency tell us about AGI requirements, how AI might impact wages and labor markets, and what it takes to train models with long-term planning. Toward the end, we dig into Moravec’s Paradox, which jobs are most at risk of automation, and what could change Ege's current AI timelines. You can learn more about Ege's work at https://epoch.ai Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Preview and

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94:34

How Close Are We to AGI? Inside Epoch's GATE Model...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/03/28

On this episode, Ege Erdil from Epoch AI joins me to discuss their new GATE model of AI development, what evolution and brain efficiency tell us about AGI requirements, how AI might impact wages and labor markets, and what it takes to train models with long-term planning. Toward the end, we dig into Moravec’s Paradox, which jobs are most at risk of automation, and what could change Ege's current AI timelines. You can learn more about Ege's work at https://epoch.ai Timestamps: 00:00:00 –

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143:13

Special: Defeating AI Defenses (with Nicholas Carlini...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/03/21

In this special episode, we feature Nathan Labenz interviewing Nicholas Carlini on the Cognitive Revolution podcast. Nicholas Carlini works as a security researcher at Google DeepMind, and has published extensively on adversarial machine learning and cybersecurity. Carlini discusses his pioneering work on adversarial attacks against image classifiers, and the challenges of ensuring neural network robustness. He examines the difficulties of defending against such attacks, the role of human

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143:12

Special: Defeating AI Defenses (with Nicholas Carlini...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/03/21

In this special episode, we feature Nathan Labenz interviewing Nicholas Carlini on the Cognitive Revolution podcast. Nicholas Carlini works as a security researcher at Google DeepMind, and has published extensively on adversarial machine learning and cybersecurity. Carlini discusses his pioneering work on adversarial attacks against image classifiers, and the challenges of ensuring neural network robustness. He examines the difficulties of defending against such attacks, the role of human intuition

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81:04

Keep the Future Human (with Anthony Aguirre)

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/03/13

On this episode, I interview Anthony Aguirre, Executive Director of the Future of Life Institute, about his new essay Keep the Future Human: https://keepthefuturehuman.ai AI companies are explicitly working toward AGI and are likely to succeed soon, possibly within years. Keep the Future Human explains how unchecked development of smarter-than-human, autonomous, general-purpose AI systems will almost inevitably lead to human replacement. But it doesn't have to. Learn how we can keep the

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81:03

Keep the Future Human (with Anthony Aguirre)

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/03/13

On this episode, I interview Anthony Aguirre, Executive Director of the Future of Life Institute, about his new essay Keep the Future Human: https://keepthefuturehuman.ai AI companies are explicitly working toward AGI and are likely to succeed soon, possibly within years. Keep the Future Human explains how unchecked development of smarter-than-human, autonomous, general-purpose AI systems will almost inevitably lead to human replacement. But it doesn't have to. Learn how we can keep the future human

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76:15

We Created AI. Why Don't We Understand It? (with...

Future of Life Institute Podcast ·

2025/03/06

On this episode, physicist and hedge fund manager Samir Varma joins me to discuss whether AIs could have free will (and what that means), the emerging field of AI psychology, and which concepts they might rely on. We discuss whether collaboration and trade with AIs are possible, the role of AI in finance and biology, and the extent to which automation already dominates trading. Finally, we examine the risks of skill atrophy, the limitations of scientific explanations for AI, and whether AIs could

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489 results

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