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
Episode 2237: Bethanne Patrick on new Fall Fiction to take your mind off you-know-what
Episode 2236: Stephen Riggio on the greatest Italian novel you've never heard of
Episode 2235: Peter Osnos on LBJ & McNamara - the Vietnam Partnership Bound to Fail
Episode 2233: More than a Tool: How AI is becoming an independent actor in our world
Episode 2232: Mark Galeotti on whether Putin is a prisoner or a master of history
Episode 2231: Bill Adair on the Epidemic of Political Lying, why Republicans do it more, and how it could destroy American democracy
Episode 2230: Seth Godin on why we are all hard-wired for hope
Episode 2229: Robert Skidelsky worries about the Human Condition in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Episode 2228: Bethanne Patrick on Al Pacino, the Queen, Bob Woodward and Ketanji Brown Jackson
Episode 2227: Allie Funk on how to Build Online Trust
Episode 2226: Why the Economics of our AI Age might be unlike all previous Tech Revolutions
Episode 2225: Katherine Epstein on how American Historians are Killing History
Episode 2224: Celeste Marcus on why the humanism of Agnieszka Holland's movies remain so relevant in our Trumpian age