Singularity Discussions

Latest Episodes:

FBL97: Nessa Carey - Epigenetics & Gene Editing Apr 17, 2023

Show notes

This week our guest is British biologist, Nessa Carey, who has researched and written extensively about the latest trends in molecular biology and biotechnology for several decades now. This includes her 2011 book, the Epigenetics Revolution, and her more recent 2019 book, Hacking the Code of Life.

In this episode, we lay some biological groundwork by first discussing the often misunderstood field of epigenetics, a process wherein our DNA changes how it's expressed throughout our lives. From there we dive deeply into gene editing and CRISPR, discussing the current state of the art, what’s possible and what isn’t, how to use gene editing to heal disease and address ecological issues, the existential threats gene editing poses for our species and planet, regulation, and much more.

Find out more about Nessa and her work at nessacarey.co.uk
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Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠⁠

Host:⁠⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠ /⁠⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL96: Mikes Berners-Lee - Understanding Climate Change Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

This week my guest is professor and fellow of the Institute for Social Futures at Lancaster University, Mike Berners-Lee.

With a brother who is often referred to as the inventor of the internet, Mike Berners-Lee carries on his family’s legacy of scientific brilliance through the domain of climate change. Specifically, Mike is considered one of the leading experts studying carbon footprints, and has written extensively on the subject in books such as The Carbon Footprint of Everything and There Is No Planet B. In this episode we discuss Mike’s work more broadly, focusing on some of the big questions and criticisms facing climate science. For example, what are the common misconceptions around climate change? Is it man-made? Can we fix it? And what role will technology play?

Find out more about Mike and his work at Small World Consulting or follow him at twitter.com/MikeBernersLee

Learn more about Singularity: ⁠⁠su.org⁠⁠

Host:⁠⁠ Steven Parton⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ /⁠⁠ Twitter⁠⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL95: Sander van der Linden - Foolproof in the Age of Misinformation Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

This week my guest is Sander Van Der Linden, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Cambridge where he has also directed the Social Decision-Making Lab since 2016.

In this episode we explore Sander’s latest publication, Foolproof, in which he details the many ways in which humans fall prey to misinformation and ways in which we can resist such persuasion. This primarily takes us on a tour of his work around “pre-bunking,” an experience that gives one an increased resistance to misinformation almost by acting as a mental vaccine.

Find out more about Sander and his work at twitter.com/Sander_vdLinden or at sandervanderlinden.com

Learn more about Singularity: ⁠su.org⁠

Host:⁠ Steven Parton⁠ - ⁠LinkedIn⁠ /⁠ Twitter⁠

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL94: Max Borders - Decentralizing the Social Singularity Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

This week our guest is philosopher and author, Max Borders, who founded the non-profit Social Evolution in order to solve social problems through innovation, and who has also authored three books deeply exploring humanity’s movement to a society of decentralized governance.

In this episode, we explore some of the finer details of decentralization, including how it manifests itself in the digital and physical worlds, how bad actors are kept in check in a society without a central authority, the types of technologies that will help mediate the transition to such a world, and the many flaws and opportunities that exist in such a paradigm.

Find out more about at social-evolution.com or follow Max at twitter.com/socialevol

Apply for registration to our exclusive South By Southwest event on March 14th @ www.su.org/basecamp-sxsw

Apply for an Executive Program Scholarship at su.org/executive-program/ep-scholarship

Learn more about Singularity: su.org

Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL93: Angus Fletcher - Why Storytelling Will Prevent AI Dominance Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

This week our guest is Professor of Story Science at Ohio State University’s Project Narrative, Angus Fletcher, who pulls on his background of literature and neuroscience to understand how brains and machines process story and narrative.

Angus has recently made some extremely bold claims, including putting forth a proof that “even a sentient, self-aware, and infinitely powerful computer could never innovate” because it can’t engage in narrative thought. In essence, computer AI cannot replicate human creativity, and all of our expectations around self-driving cars and ChatGPT come down to a human-guided prank that pretends to do something it’s not really doing. In this episode, I obviously push back on this idea that narrative limits computer AI, but Angus makes some strong counter-arguments.

Find out more about Angus and his work at angusfletcher.co

Apply for registration to our exclusive South By Southwest event on March 14th @ www.su.org/basecamp-sxsw

Apply for an Executive Program Scholarship at su.org/executive-program/ep-scholarship

Learn more about Singularity: su.org

Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL92: Zak Stein - Transforming Education to Prevent Catastrophe Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

This week our guest is writer, educator, and futurist, Zak Stein, who is well known for co-founding the Consilience Project with Daniel Schmachtenberger, as well as his recent publication, Education in a Time Between Worlds: Essays on the Future of Schools, Technology, and Society.

In this episode, Zak takes us on a well-articulated tour of the philosophical and sociocultural conditions that are causing us to fail at our central task of educating the next generation. Along the way we discuss how technology is playing a role in this struggle for sensemaking, from social media to the future of AI tutors. Much of this, Zak explains, is due to the current issues in the information ecology, issues that he explains could have catastrophic consequences if not rectified.

Find out more about Zak at zakstein.org and his work with the Consilience Project at consilienceproject.org

Apply for registration to our exclusive South By Southwest event on March 14th @ www.su.org/basecamp-sxsw

Apply for an Executive Program Scholarship at su.org/executive-program/ep-scholarship

Learn more about Singularity: su.org

Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL91: Connor Leahy - The Existential Risk of AI Alignment Feb 20, 2023

Show notes

This week our guest is AI researcher and founder of Conjecture, Connor Leahy, who is dedicated to studying AI alignment. Alignment research focuses on gaining an increased understanding of how to build advanced AI systems that pursue the goals they were designed for instead of engaging in undesired behavior. Sometimes, this means just ensuring they share the values and ethics we have as humans so that our machines don’t cause serious harm to humanity.

In this episode, Connor provides candid insights into the current state of the field, including the very concerning lack of funding and human resources that are currently going into alignment research. Amongst many other things, we discuss how the research is conducted, the lessons we can learn from animals, and the kind of policies and processes humans need to put into place if we are to prevent what Connor currently sees as a highly plausible existential threat.

Find out more about Conjecture at conjecture.dev or follow Connor and his work at twitter.com/NPCollapse

Apply for registration to our exclusive South By Southwest event on March 14th @ www.su.org/basecamp-sxsw

Apply for an Executive Program Scholarship at su.org/executive-program/ep-scholarship

Learn more about Singularity: su.org

Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL90: Zoltan Istvan - The Current State of Transhumanism Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

In this episode we check back in with one-time presidential candidate and author of The Transhumanist Wager, Zoltan Istvan, to see how his views have changed since we last talked. This included exploring his changing views in ethics thanks to his study at Oxford, the incredible changes that chatGPT appears to be bringing to society, the disappointments of the longevity movement, and especially concerns around AGI retribution and the “useless” class of humans who will have very few skills that are needed in the transhuman future.

To find out more about Zoltan and his work work, go to zoltanistvan.com or twitter.com/zoltan_istvan

Apply for registration to our exclusive South By Southwest event on March 14th @ www.su.org/basecamp-sxsw

Apply for an Executive Program Scholarship at su.org/executive-program/ep-scholarship

Learn more about Singularity: su.org

Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL89: Elizabeth Renieris - How Data Distracts Us From Human Rights Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

This week’s guest is lawyer, author, and Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, Elizabeth M. Renieris.

In this episode, we explore Elizabeth's brand new book, Beyond Data: Reclaiming Human Rights at the Dawn of the Metaverse. This takes us on a tour through the ways in which our obsession with data has failed and distracted us, how we need to return to the pillars of basic human rights law that are already well established if we are to regulate technology appropriately. In essence, there is little need to separate the digital from the physical. Elizabeth argues that to think about it otherwise allows for government regulations to become outdated and for corporations to get away with bad behavior.

Find out more about Elizabeth and her book at hackylawyer.com and twitter.com/hackylawyer

Apply for registration to our exclusive South By Southwest event on March 14th @ www.su.org/basecamp-sxsw

Apply for an Executive Program Scholarship at su.org/executive-program/ep-scholarship

Learn more about Singularity: su.org

Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter

Music by: Amine el Filali

FBL88: Justin Hendrix - Democracy in the Digital Age Jan 30, 2023

Show notes

This week our guest is research scientist and adjunct professor, Justin Hendrix, who is the CEO and editor of Tech Policy Press (https://techpolicy.press/), a non-profit media community dedicated to exploring the intersection of technology and democracy.

In this episode, Justin and I enjoy a wide tour through a variety of topics, including political polarization, social media as a public square, social media as a public utility, the economic possibilities including Universal Basic Income, and much more.

Follow Justin at twitter.com/justinhendrix.

You can also find the paper Justin cited on Collective Stewardship at https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2025764118

Learn more about Singularity: su.org

Host: Steven Parton - LinkedIn / Twitter

Music by: Amine el Filali

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