logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2023
1h 29m

Ep. 244: Thoughts on ChatGPT

CAL NEWPORT
About this episode
Are new AI technologies like ChatGPT about to massively disrupt our world? Drawing from his recent New Yorker article on the topic, Cal explains exactly how programs like ChatGPT work, and uses this knowledge to explain why we can calm our fears about this new technology.Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your que ... Show More
Up next
Nov 17
Ep. 379: The Flexibility Myth
<p>When companies began instituting return-to-office plans after the pandemic, a disproportionate number of women chose instead to leave the workforce. Why? The obvious answer is that they wanted the flexibility of remote work. But in this episode, Cal draws on a recent New York ... Show More
1h 55m
Nov 10
Ep. 378: The Lost Art of Long Thinking
<p>We often talk on this show about how digital devices undermine our ability to consume more complicated and meaningful ideas. But what about our ability to <i>produce</i> such ideas from scratch? In this episode, Cal identifies a key productive skill –  long thinking – that we’ ... Show More
1h 28m
Nov 3
Ep. 377: The Case Against Superintelligence
<p>Techno-philosopher Eliezer Yudkowsky recently went on Ezra Klein's podcast to argue that if we continue on our path toward superintelligent AI, these machines will destroy humanity. In this episode, Cal responds to Yudkowsky’s argument point by point, concluding with a more ge ... Show More
1h 31m
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2023
AI and Coding with ChatGPT
In this episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk about the current landscape of AI, how AI is trained, is AI going to take your job, who’s going to train AI, and adding AI to your applications. Sentry - Sponsor If you want to know what’s happening with your code, track errors and m ... Show More
1h 6m
Feb 2023
Real Humans Chat About Chatbots
<p>The unstoppable march of artificial intelligence carries on. In mere weeks, AI has oozed into nearly everything we interact with on the internet, from conversations, to journalism, to how we look stuff up online. It's even got Google scrambling to reclaim its spot on the searc ... Show More
32m 53s
Mar 2024
FEHH x WWW: AI, VR, and the Future of Web Development
<p>In this crossover episode, Chuck and Robbie join Jem Young and Ryan Burgess from Front End Happy Hour for an engaging discussion over whiskey. They share their career backgrounds, touching on their work with major tech brands like Netflix, Amazon, and National Geographic, and ... Show More
53m 21s
Dec 2022
Can ChatGPT Make This Podcast?
<p>It’s writing podcast scripts, finishing students’ homework and correcting mistakes in computer code: ChatGPT, the A.I. chatbot from OpenAI, is suddenly everywhere. Who should decide how it’s built? What could go wrong? And what could go right?</p><p><strong>On today’s episode: ... Show More
57m 57s
Jun 2023
Big Tech Wants You to Think AI Will Kill Us All
Did you know that AI is set to automate as many as a third of your tasks? In the future we’re all going to be saving a lot of time. That’s as long as no one invents artificial general intelligence that fires all the nukes or turns us all into paperclips. Which, some experts seem ... Show More
38m 5s
Mar 2023
Supper Club × The Role Of UX Designers In Humanizing The Future with Travis Neilson
In this supper club episode of Syntax, Wes and Scott talk with Travis Neilson about his work at Google, YouTube music, and where AI is at now, and where it’s headed in the future. Show Notes 00:37 Welcome 00:55 Guest introduction Travis Neilson (@travisneilson) Travis N ... Show More
59m 22s
May 2023
#239: Will Artificial Intelligence Replace You Soon? AI Expert Fahed Bizzari Reveals Everything
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style= "font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif;">It's time we address the elephant in the room</span><span lang="EN-US" style= "font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;" xml:lang="EN-US" ... Show More
38m 49s
Dec 2023
The case for AI optimism
AI doomerism and calls to regulate the emerging technology is at a fever pitch but today’s guest, Reid Hoffman is a vocal AI optimist who views slowing down innovation as anti-humanistic. Reid needs no introduction, he’s the co-founder of PayPal, Linkedin, and most recently Infle ... Show More
47m 13s
Jun 2023
AI Won’t Wipe Out Humanity (Yet)
<p>The idea that machine intelligence will one day take over the world has long been a staple of science fiction. But given the rapid advances in consumer-level artificial intelligence tools, the fear has felt closer to reality these past few months than it ever has before. The g ... Show More
29m 51s