The Darkside of AI – Transhumanism and the Wa...

“Is ours a ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people,’ or a Kakistocracy, rather, for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools?” (James Russell Lowell, letter in 1876) Kakistocracy is a word that means “rule by the worst”. It is derived from the Greek words kakis ...  Show more

“Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton.” Erich Fromm, Escape From Freedom In video games, an NPC, or non-player character, is a background figure who is governed by the programming of the game and capable only of performing assigned actions and repeatin ...  Show more

An artificial intelligence capable of improving itself runs the risk of growing intelligent beyond any human capacity and outside of our control. Josh explains why a superintelligent AI that we haven’t planned for would be extremely bad for humankind. (Original score by Point Lob ...  Show more

"The first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make." This statement was made by mathematician Irving John Good in 1965. He was envisioning a machine smarter than any human who had ever lived, one that would design even smarter machines ...

The human world is increasingly 'assisted' by a pantheon of automations. Yet this emergent reality brings to bear fundamental philosophical quandries about the nature of not only the mind but the soul of things called 'artificial.' In tonight's episode, sponsored by Illumination ...  Show more