Mark Nitzberg: Human-Compatible AI

Mark Nitzberg: Human-Compatible AI

Author: Helen and Dave Edwards May 15, 2022 Duration: 54:11
Stay Human, from the Artificiality Institute
Technology

We hear a lot about harm from AI and how the big platforms are focused on using AI and user data to enhance their profits. What about developing AI for good for the rest of us? What would it take to design AI systems that are beneficial to humans?

In this episode, we talk with Mark Nitzberg who is Executive Director of CHAI or the UC Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI and head of strategic outreach for Berkeley AI Research. Mark began studying AI in the early 1980s and completed his PhD in Computer Vision and Human Perception under David Mumford at Harvard. He has built companies and products in various AI fields including The Blindsight Corporation, a maker of assistive technologies for low vision and active aging, which was acquired by Amazon. Mark is also co-author of The AI Generation which examines how AI reshapes human values, trust and power around the world.

We talk with Mark about CHAI’s goal of reorienting AI research towards provably beneficial systems, why it’s hard to develop beneficial AI, variability in human thinking and preferences, the parallels between management OKRs and AI objectives, human-centered AI design and how AI might help humans realize the future we prefer.

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P.S. Thanks to Jonathan Coulton for our music

About Artficiality from Helen & Dave Edwards:

Artificiality is a research and services business founded in 2019 to help people make sense of artificial intelligence and complex change. Our weekly publication provides thought-provoking ideas, science reviews, and market research and our monthly research releases provides leaders with actionable intelligence and insights for applying AI in their organizations. We provide research-based and expert-led AI strategy and complex change management services to organizations around the world.

We are artificial philosophers and meta-researchers who aim to make the philosophical more practical and the practical more philosophical. We believe that understanding AI requires synthesizing research across disciplines: behavioral economics, cognitive science, complexity science, computer science, decision science, design, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. We are dedicated to unraveling the profound impact of AI on our society, communities, workplaces, and personal lives. 

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Thanks to ⁠⁠Jonathan Coulton⁠⁠ for our music

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Hosted by Helen and Dave Edwards, Stay Human, from the Artificiality Institute is a conversation that lives in the messy, human space between our tools and our selves. Each episode digs into the subtle ways artificial intelligence is reshaping our daily decisions, our creative impulses, and even our sense of identity. This isn't a technical manual or a series of futuristic predictions; it's a grounded exploration of how we maintain our agency in a world increasingly mediated by algorithms. The podcast operates from a core belief: that our engagement with AI should be about more than just safety or efficiency-it needs to be meaningful and worthwhile. You'll hear discussions rooted in story-based research, where complex ideas about cognition and ethics are unpacked through relatable narratives and real-world examples. The goal is to provide a framework for thoughtful choice, helping each of us consciously design the relationship we want with the machines in our lives. Tuning in offers a chance to step back from the hype and consider how we can actively remain the authors of our own minds, preserving what makes us uniquely human even as the technology evolves. It's an essential listen for anyone curious about the personal and philosophical dimensions of our digital age.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

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Stay Human, from the Artificiality Institute
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