logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2023
1h 19m

Neurotechnology (AI + BRAIN TECH) with N...

ALIE WARD
About this episode

Machine poets. ChatGPT fails. Neurological surveillance. Brain implants that treat depression. Is it scary? Cool? Let’s firehose some questions at Duke Law professor, neuro and bioethicist, author and TED speaker Dr. Nita Farahany. She explains the history of AI, the dawn of chatbots, what’s changed recently, the potential for good, the possible perils, how different lawmakers are stepping in, and whether or not this is scary dinner party conversation. Do you have feelings about AI and brain implants? Hopefully, and we talk about why. 

Buy Dr. Nita Farahany’s books: The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology (2023) and The Impact of Behavioral Sciences on Criminal Law (2009)

Dr. Farahany’s 2023 TED Talk: Your right to mental privacy in the age of brain-sensing tech

Follow Dr. Farahany on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter

A donation was made to Human Rights Watch

More episode sources and links

Smologies (short, classroom-safe) episodes

Other episodes you may enjoy: Field Trip: A Hollywood Visit to the Writers Guild Strike Line, Neuropathology (CONCUSSIONS), Attention-Deficit Neuropsychology (ADHD), Molecular Neurobiology (BRAIN CHEMICALS), Radiology (X-RAY VISION), Futurology (THE FUTURE), Gizmology (ROBOTS), Diabetology (DIABETES)

Sponsors of Ologies

Transcripts and bleeped episodes

Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month

OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, masks, totes!

Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram

Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram

Editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Mark David Christenson 

Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary

Website by Kelly R. Dwyer

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

Up next
Today
Fromology (CHEESE) Part 1 with Kyra James
Soft. Hard. Fresh. Aged. Stinky. Illegal. Let’s talk cheese with Certified Cheese Professional (CCP) and Fromologist, Kyra James. We chat about proprietary bacterial slurries, basement caves, cheese knife etiquette, rind eating, vegetarian versus vegan cheeses, cheese history, di ... Show More
1h 11m
Jul 2
Lampyridology (FIREFLIES) aka Sparklebuttology Updated Encore with Sara Lewis
Let’s light up your life and butt. World-renowned firefly expert Dr. Sara Lewis of Tufts University gives us some updates to her 2021 episode, sharing her love of a bug that many think is merely mythological. Learn how these tiny animals illuminate the night, the dos and don’ts o ... Show More
1h 7m
Jun 25
Crotalology (RATTLESNAKES) with Emily Taylor
Fangs. Rattles. Misconceptions. Crawl out from under your rock for the angelic rattle of one of the world’s most maligned, misunderstood, gorgeous, mysterious, efficient creatures. Herpetology professor, rattlesnake scientist and thus, Crotalologist Dr. Emily Taylor discusses why ... Show More
1h 21m
Recommended Episodes
May 2023
Can Neurotechnology Already Read Our Minds?
In this episode we bring you our event ‘The Battle for Your Brain’, recorded on the 2nd of May 2023.Imagine a world where people who suffer from epilepsy receive alerts moments before a seizure, where the average person can peer into their own mind to eliminate painful memories a ... Show More
38m 42s
Aug 2023
Protecting Our Freedom of Thought with Nita Farahany
We are on the cusp of an explosion of cheap, consumer-ready neurotechnology - from earbuds that gather our behavioral data, to sensors that can read our dreams. And it’s all going to be supercharged by AI. This technology is moving from niche to mainstream - and it has the same p ... Show More
44m 7s
Jan 2021
Episode 205: Making Your Nervous System Your Ally (William James on "Habit")
Ever wonder why you’re still listening to VBW all of these years? Or why you check your phone 50 times a day? Or why you put on your pants the same way every morning? (If you still wear pants these days.) David and Tamler talk about William James’ essay on habits, why they’re so ... Show More
1h 32m
Jan 2022
Anne-Hélène Clair, Docteure en Neurosciences - Prenez le pouvoir de votre cerveau
Les neurosciences. C’est un domaine que je trouve fascinant.Dommage que l’on m’ait répété aussi longtemps que j’étais nulle en maths, j’aurais peut- être étudié les neurosciences, pour comprendre le pouvoir du cerveau. Mais ce qui est génial, au fond, c’est que l’on a désormais p ... Show More
1h 5m
Dec 2023
64 | Celui où on parlait des limites des neurosciences
Découvrez le livre NEUROSAPIENS ! Pour apprendre à créer rapidement et à moindre coût son podcast, c'est par ici ! Dans cet épisode, je vais vous parler des limites des neurosciences. Parce que oui, neurosapiens c’est avant tout le podcast dans lequel vous découvrez le fonctionne ... Show More
12m 56s
Apr 2024
130 - Laura Gwilliams: The Needles that Unraveled the Brain’s Language and What We Can Learn from Them
Anjie chats with Dr. Laura Gwilliams.  Laura is an assistant professor at Stanford University, jointly appointed between Stanford Psychology, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and Stanford Data Science. Her work is focused on understanding the neural representations and operations ... Show More
40m 52s
Dec 2021
Silicon Valley Doesn’t Get Science Fiction w/ Annalee Newitz
Paris Marx is joined by Annalee Newitz to discuss what’s wrong with Silicon Valley’s understanding of science fiction, and how tech leaders use it to justify terrible futures. Annalee Newitz is the author of Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age and The Future of An ... Show More
57m 6s