PODCAST

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast

Robert West

In this podcast we consider the humanity of AI and what AI might tell us about the human mind

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

27:19

Instance Based Consciousness for Humans and AI

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2026/04/05

In this episode, Dr West outlines a new way of thinking about consciousness, one that makes sense for humans and for AI

en-US

15:25

How large language models work: Part 5 - How they think

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2026/03/12

In this episode, Dr West explains how the LLM structure that we have been describing can go beyond word generation, to thought generation

en-US

3:32

How large language models work: Part 4.5 - we missed...

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2026/03/11

In this episode, Britany describes how word order is processed in Large Language Models

en-US

4:03

How large language models work: Part 4 - the big picture

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2026/02/08

In this episode, Britany helps us to visualize the large language model structure by thinking of it as a building

en-US

11:42

How large language models work: Part 3 - learning

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2026/02/07

In this episode Dr West explains how large language models are trained

en-US

4:18

How large language models work: Part 2 - vector flow

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2026/01/19

In this episode, Britany describes how vectors flow through Large Language Models, and how they are transformed

en-US

7:22

How large language models work: Part 1 - the macro...

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2026/01/13

This is the first in a series of episodes explaining how Large Language Models work

en-US

18:43

Christmas, Demonology, and Large Language Models

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2026/01/04

In this episode Dr West uses Christmas and Gnostic Demonology to explore how humans and Large Language Models have trouble separating physical reality from associative reality

en-US

24:25

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/12/08

In this episode, Dr West explains the high dimensional structure of the unbearable lightness of being, for humans and for Large Language Models

en-US

40:25

Is Culture the Real AI

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/11/19

In this episode, Dr West explains culture in terms of memes and how the success of large language models should change how think about this

en-US

41:54

Emotion: Part2. Large Language Model Emotions

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/10/31

In this episode Dr West deconstructs the question of whether or not AI can have emotion, and gives a nuanced answer

en-US

26:27

Emotion: Part 1. Human Emotion

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/10/16

In this episode, in preparation for discussing emotion in AIs, Dr West gives an overview of what we know about human emotion.

en-US

10:49

Britany explains the Free Energy Principle

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/10/12

In this episode, Britany breaks down Karl Friston's Free Energy Principle into easy to understand bits

en-US

13:35

Mortal Intelligence: How Tasks Give AI a Soul

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/09/30

In this episode, Dr West discusses the idea of Mortal Intelligence by Alex Orobia and Karl Friston and proposes adding Alan Newell's idea of Tasks into the mix

en-US

7:17

A review of Steven Pinker's new book, When Everyone...

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/09/28

In this episode, Britany critically reviews Steven Pinker's new book, "When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows.... Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life," from the perspective that we have been developing in the podcast

en-US

17:04

Steven Pinker and Enlightenment Philosophy

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/09/25

In this episode, Dr West reviews Steven Pinker's version of Enlightenment philosophy as a way of summing up how thinking and rationality have been traditionally portrayed in mainstream Psychology - and how this explains mainstream views about LLMs

en-US

14:10

Lost in the Sauce

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/09/17

In this episode Dr West discusses how humans get, "lost in the sauce"

en-US

5:25

Culture is a self programming operating system

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/08/27

In this episode we review and clarify what Dr West has been laying down about how Large Language Models teach us about human culture

en-US

20:56

Performativity and Rationality

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/08/18

In this episode, Dr West takes the concept of performativity to the next level and explores whether it is actually a mode of thought. That is, just as things like money or gender can be performed into existence, can thought also be performed into existence?

en-US

6:16

Predictive Brains

The Cognitive Science and Humanities AI Podcast ·

2025/08/12

In this episode, Britany explains how brains and LLMs are based on the same principle of prediction

en-US

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