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David Deutsch - AI, America, Fun, & Bayes

David Deutsch is the founder of the field of quantum computing and the author of The Beginning of Infinity and The Fabric of Reality. Read me Contra David, on AI: https://dwarkeshpatel.com/universal-explainers/ Buy The Beginning of Infinity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143121359/ Episode website + Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/david-deutsch Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PZXA1j Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Q4fmjS Follow me on Twitter to be notified of future content: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp Follow David on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidDeutschOxf Timestamps: 0:00:00 Will AIs be smarter than humans? 0:06:30 Are intelligence differences immutable/heritable? 0:20:08 IQ correlation of twins separated at birth 0:27:08 Do animals have bounded creativity? 0:33:28 How powerful can narrow AIs be? 0:36:55 Could you implant thoughts in VR? 0:38:45 Can you simulate the whole universe? 0:41:19 Are some interesting problems insoluble? 0:44:55 Does America fail Popper's Criterion? 0:49:57 Does finite matter mean there's no beginning of infinity? 0:53:12 The Great Stagnation 0:55:30 Changes in epistemic status is Popperianism 0:59:25 Open-ended science vs gain of function 1:02:51 Contra Tyler Cowen on civilizational lifespan 1:07:16 Fun criterion 1:14:12 Does AGI through evolution require suffering? 1:17:57 Would David enter the Experience Machine? 1:20:05 (Against) Advice for young people

Dwarkesh PatelhostDavid Deutschguest
Jan 31, 20221h 24mWatch on YouTube ↗

Episode Details

EPISODE INFO

Released
January 31, 2022
Duration
1h 24m
Channel
Dwarkesh Podcast
Watch on YouTube
▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

David Deutsch is the founder of the field of quantum computing and the author of The Beginning of Infinity and The Fabric of Reality. Read me Contra David, on AI: https://dwarkeshpatel.com/universal-explainers/ Buy The Beginning of Infinity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143121359/ Episode website + Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/david-deutsch Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3PZXA1j Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Q4fmjS Follow me on Twitter to be notified of future content: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp Follow David on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidDeutschOxf Timestamps: 0:00:00 Will AIs be smarter than humans? 0:06:30 Are intelligence differences immutable/heritable? 0:20:08 IQ correlation of twins separated at birth 0:27:08 Do animals have bounded creativity? 0:33:28 How powerful can narrow AIs be? 0:36:55 Could you implant thoughts in VR? 0:38:45 Can you simulate the whole universe? 0:41:19 Are some interesting problems insoluble? 0:44:55 Does America fail Popper's Criterion? 0:49:57 Does finite matter mean there's no beginning of infinity? 0:53:12 The Great Stagnation 0:55:30 Changes in epistemic status is Popperianism 0:59:25 Open-ended science vs gain of function 1:02:51 Contra Tyler Cowen on civilizational lifespan 1:07:16 Fun criterion 1:14:12 Does AGI through evolution require suffering? 1:17:57 Would David enter the Experience Machine? 1:20:05 (Against) Advice for young people

SPEAKERS

  • Dwarkesh Patel

    host
  • David Deutsch

    guest
  • Narrator

    other

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Dwarkesh Podcast, featuring Dwarkesh Patel and David Deutsch, David Deutsch - AI, America, Fun, & Bayes explores david Deutsch challenges AI hype, human limits, Bayesianism, and fun David Deutsch argues that human and artificial general intelligences are fundamentally equivalent in potential cognitive range, with differences reducible to hardware (speed, memory) and software (knowledge, culture) rather than fixed biological ceilings. He disputes genetic or hardware-based explanations of most human IQ variance, emphasizing culture and software-like factors, and extends this to reject partial or ‘bounded’ creativity in animals and narrow AIs.

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