Episode 2234: Terrence Sejnowski asks whether our brains and AI are converging
As the longtime collaborator of the 2024 Nobel laureates John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, Terrence Sejnowski is one of America’s most distinguished AI scientists. In his new book, ChatGPT and the Future of AI: The Deep Language Revolution, Sejnowski addresses some of the central technical and philosophical issues of today’s large language model AI revolution. And in this wide-ranging conversation, we talked about everything from the origins of human language to the existential question of whether our brains and smart machines are converging. Unlike other AI researchers, Terry Sejnowski is able to make the deep language revolution accessible to a mainstream audience. Strongly recommended.
Terrence J. Sejnowski is Francis Crick Chair at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Distinguished Professor at the University of California at San Diego. He has published over 500 scientific papers and 12 books, including The Computational Brain with Patricia Churchland. He was instrumental in shaping the BRAIN Initiative that was announced by the White House in 2013, and he received the prestigious Gruber Prize in Neuroscience in 2022.
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
Alexander Rose on The Lion and the Fox: Two Rival Spies and the Secret Plot to Build a Confederate Army
David Fenton on Lessons From Fifty Years as a Progressive Agitator: Never Lie, Tell the Truth, Repeat Repeat Repeat
Ian Kershaw: The Eleven Men (and One Woman) Who Authored 20th-Century Europe
Richard McCarthy: What Japan Can Teach Urban Americans About Regenerating Rural Values and Practices
Steve Kemper: Could Pearl Harbor Have Been Avoided With More Skillful American Diplomacy?
Eduardo Halfon: Why "Writing" Has Nothing to Do With Being a "Writer"
Katherine Corcoran: How the 2012 Murder of a Mexican Journalist Should Be a Warning About Press Freedoms in America
Andrew Hill on the Sign of Our Financial Times: How 2022's Best Business Books Address the Challenges of Contemporary Global Capitalism
Shannon O'Neil on The Globalization Myth: Why Most Economics Is Regional
Travis Baldree: Want to Self-Publish Successfully? Write Fast, Leverage All Your Social Media Networks, and Prioritize Memorable Cover Art
John Mulholland on Inside High Noon: Why the Classic 1952 Movie Is As Relevant in America Today As It Was 70 Years Ago
Ellis Cose on Reckoning on Race: Why Can't America Escape Its Racist Past?
Adam Mendelsohn on What Was It Like to Be a Jew in Lincoln's Armies: Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War