logo
episode-header-image
May 2025
1h 10m

Ep105 "What if AI is not actually intell...

iHeartPodcasts
About this episode

Is AI an intelligent agent, or is there a different way we should be thinking about it? Is it more like a piece of cultural technology? What in the world is a piece of cultural technology -- and how would re-thinking this change our next steps? What does any of this have to do with the myth of the Golem, printing presses, Socrates, Martin Luther, or the story of stone soup? Join Eagleman this week with cognitive scientist Alison Gopnik for a new take on a new tech.

Up next
Jul 6
Ep161 "What Do Ancient Brains and Future AIs Have in Common?" with Read Montague
What do honeybee brains have in common with human brains -- and with the AI that beat the world's best Go player? What simple algorithm has been hiding inside brains for 100s of millions of years? When babies throw food from a high chair again and again, are they being mischievou ... Show More
1h 3m
Jun 29
Ep160 "Do You Really Have a Self?" with Sam Harris
re you the author of your thoughts or just their witness? Do we simply watch our thoughts like we watch unfolding dream plots? What if the most familiar thing you experience — yourself — isn’t really there? If that’s the case, why does the experience of the self feel so solid tha ... Show More
1h 6m
Jun 22
Ep159 "If Your Brain Changed Slightly, Would You Still Be You?" with Masud Husain
Could a tiny injury to your brain change your personality? If your friends didn’t know something had happened in your brain, would they just think you're choosing to act strangely? What if the self is nothing but a fragile coalition of neural processes? Join Eagleman today with M ... Show More
1h 12m
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2023
Does AI actually understand us? | Alona Fyshe
Is AI as smart as it seems? Exploring the "brain" behind machine learning, neural networker Alona Fyshe delves into the language processing abilities of talkative tech (like the groundbreaking chatbot and internet obsession ChatGPT) and explains how different it is from your own ... Show More
10m 15s
Nov 2024
Is AI progress stuck? | Jennifer Golbeck
Will progress in artificial intelligence continue to accelerate, or have we already hit a plateau? Computer scientist Jennifer Golbeck interrogates some of the most high-profile claims about the promises and pitfalls of AI, cutting through the hype to clarify what's worth getting ... Show More
13m 19s
May 2024
What does AI mean for equality and inclusion?
<p>‘AI’: two letters that conjure a whirlwind of questions, speculation, and, for many, concern. But what exactly is artificial intelligence, or ‘AI’, and how does this connect to human behaviour and society?</p> <p>Join us as we peel back the layers of AI and go beyond the hype ... Show More
41m 37s
Mar 2023
Open The Pod Bay Doors, Sydney
What does the advent of artificial intelligence portend for the future of humanity? Is it a tool, or a human replacement system? Today we dive deep into the philosophical queries centered on the implications of A.I. through a brand new format—an experiment in documentary-style st ... Show More
1h 14m
Jul 2023
Will AI Replace Us? with Matt Ginsberg
<p>Is artificial intelligence taking over? Neil deGrasse Tyson and co hosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly discuss deepfakes, AI hallucinations, and whether AI really is intelligent with software engineer at X, the moonshot factory, Matt Ginsberg. </p><p>NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can ... Show More
54m 46s
Apr 2023
Why AI is incredibly smart -- and shockingly stupid | Yejin Choi
Computer scientist Yejin Choi is here to demystify the current state of massive artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, highlighting three key problems with cutting-edge large language models (including some funny instances of them failing at basic commonsense reasoning.) S ... Show More
16m 7s
Nov 2023
How I is AI?
Brian and Robin (the real ones) are joined by mathematician Prof Hannah Fry, compute scientist Dr Kate Devlin and comedian Rufus Hound to discuss the pros and cons of AI. Just how intelligent is the most intelligent AI? Will our phones soon be smarter than us – will we fail a Tur ... Show More
42m 57s
May 2025
Artificial Intelligence Ethicology (WILL A.I. CRASH OUT?) with Abeba Birhane
<p>Who’s babysitting AI? Will it steal your job? What happens when you’re rude to a chatbot? Cognitive scientist, Trinity College professor and Artificial Intelligence Ethicologist  Dr. Abeba Birhane lets me ask her not-smart questions about legislation around AI, auditing datase ... Show More
1h 15m