Joscha Bach: Artificial Consciousness and the Nature of Reality | Lex Fridman Podcast #101

The following is a conversation with Joscha Bach, VP of research at the AI Foundation, with a history of research positions at MIT and Harvard. Joscha is one of the most unique and brilliant people in the artificial intelligence community, exploring the workings of the human mind, intelligence, consciousness, life on Earth, and the possibly simulated fabric of our universe. I can see myself talking to Joscha many times in the future. Quick summary of the ads. Two sponsors, ExpressVPN and Cash App. Please consider supporting the podcast by signing up at expressvpn.com/lexpod and downloading Cash App and using code LEXPODCAST. This is the Artificial Intelligence Podcast. If you enjoy it, subscribe on YouTube, review it with five stars on Apple Podcasts, support it on Patreon, or simply connect with me on Twitter @LexFridman. Since this comes up more often than I ever would have imagined, I challenge you to try to figure out how to spell my last name without using the letter E. An- and it'll probably be the correct way. (laughs) As usual, I'll do a few minutes of ads now and never any ads in the middle that can break the flow of the conversation. This show is sponsored by ExpressVPN. Get it at expressvpn.com/lexpod to support this podcast and to get an extra three months free on a one-year package. I've been using ExpressVPN for many years. I love it. I think ExpressVPN is the best VPN out there. They told me to say it, but I think it actually happens to be true. It doesn't log your data, it's crazy fast, and it's easy to use. Literally, just one big power on button. Again, for obvious reasons, it's really important that they don't log your data. It works on Linux and everywhere else too. Shout out to my favorite flavor of Linux, Ubuntu Mate 2004. Once again, get it at expressvpn.com/lexpod to support this podcast and to get a extra three months free on a one-year package. This show is presented by Cash App, the number one finance app in the App Store. When you get it, use code LEXPODCAST. Cash App lets you send money to friends, buy Bitcoin, and invest in the stock market with as little as $1. Since Cash App does fractional share trading, let me mention that the order execution algorithm that works behind the scenes to create the abstraction of the fractional orders is an algorithmic marvel. So big props to the Cash App engineers for taking a step up to the next layer of abstraction over the stock market, making trading more accessible for new investors and diversification much easier. So again, if you get Cash App from the App Store or Google Play and use the code LEXPODCAST, you get $10 and Cash App will also donate $10 to FIRST, an organization that is helping advance robotics and STEM education for young people around the world. And now here's my conversation with Joscha Bach. As you've said, you grew up in a forest in East Germany, just as we were talking about off mic, to parents who are artists. And now I think, at least to me, you've become one of the most unique thinkers in the AI world. So can we try to reverse engineer your mind a little bit? What were the key philosopher's, scientist ideas, maybe even movies or just realizations that had a impact on you when you were growing up that kind of led to the trajectory or were the key sort of crossroads in the trajectory of your intellectual development?