Leslie Allan – Postmodernism & Relativism are Wrong
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Leslie Allan – Postmodernism & Relativism are Wrong

Postmodernism and relativism buckle under their own contradiction: they passionately assert the objective truth that there exists no objective truth. This very paradox embodies a self-negating precept, a construct that dismantles itself from within. They champion the idea of relative truths, yet in this declaration, they inadvertently sculpt an overarching meta-narrative, contradicting the foundational principle…

Leslie Allan: The Theory-Ladenness of Observation

Leslie Allan: The Theory-Ladenness of Observation

Our scientific observations are not pristine windows to reality; they are tinted by the theoretical frameworks and conceptual schemes that scaffold our interpretations, often smuggling in with them implicit assumptions of the very thesis they’re meant to support. We don’t simply absorb the world as it is; rather, we interpret it through the filter of…

AI & the Faustian Bargain with Technological Change – A. C. Grayling
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AI & the Faustian Bargain with Technological Change – A. C. Grayling

With AI we have made a ‘Faustian bargain’ – are the risks reason enough to halt technological progress? Professor A. C. Grayling discusses the implications of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotics on society, and shares his views on how they will reshape the future. The thing that’s going to change everything is machine learning,…

Stuart Russell – AI Ethics – Provably Beneficial Artificial Intelligence
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Stuart Russell – AI Ethics – Provably Beneficial Artificial Intelligence

Delighted to have Stuart Russell on video discussing the importance of AI Alignment – achieving friendly Strong AI that is provably beneficial. Points of discussion:A clash of intuitions about the beneficiality of Strong Artificial Intelligence The Value Alignment problem Basic AI Drives: Any objective generates sub-goals Aggregated Volition: How does an AI optimise for many…

ChatGPT on issues relating to the Hedonistic Imperative
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ChatGPT on issues relating to the Hedonistic Imperative

Here, Adam Ford interviews OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Adam Ford: What is the anatomical basis for raw feels? ChatGPT: I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “raw feels.” Could you please provide some more context or clarify your question? Adam Ford: By “raw feels” I mean pleasure and suffering. ChatGPT: Pleasure and suffering are subjective experiences,…

The Anatomy of Happiness – David Pearce
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The Anatomy of Happiness – David Pearce

David Pearce in interview on the The Anatomy of Happiness. While researching epilepsy, neuroscientist Itzhak Fried stumbled on a ‘mirth’ center in the brain – given this, what ought we be doing to combat extreme suffering and promote wellbeing? 0:00 Mastery of reward circuitry 0:25 Itzhak Fried’s experiments on stimulating ‘the Humor Centre’ of the…

Stuart Armstrong on AI Interpretability, Accidental Misalignment & Risks of Opaque AI
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Stuart Armstrong on AI Interpretability, Accidental Misalignment & Risks of Opaque AI

Interview with Stuart Armstrong (Aligned AI) Video / Audio of interview will be up soon To watch interview live, join the zoom call: Time: Nov 9, 2022 07:30 PM Canberra, Melbourne, SydneyJoin Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81320547208?pwd=MGFnZ2RGcFl5cW9aZ1BaUm5qcnh1UT09Meeting ID: 813 2054 7208Passcode: scifuture Auditing and interpreting AI (and their models) seems obviously important to achieve verifiably safe AI (by…

The Future of Consciousness – Andrés Gómez Emilsson
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The Future of Consciousness – Andrés Gómez Emilsson

Synopsis: In this talk we articulate a positive vision of the future that is both viable given what we know, and also utterly radical in its implications. We introduce two key insights that, when taken together, synergize in powerful ways. Namely, (a) the long-tails of pleasure and pain, and (b) the correlation between wellbeing, productivity,…