The 80,000 Hours Podcast on Artificial Intelligence

The 80,000 Hours Podcast on Artificial Intelligence

Author: 80,000 Hours Language: English Episodes: 15
This curated collection from the archives of The 80,000 Hours Podcast on Artificial Intelligence (September 2023) pulls together ten essential conversations that cut through the usual hype and panic. It’s a deep dive into the societal forces, ethical dilemmas, and potential trajectories of AI, framed through perspectives often concerned with the very long-term future. You’ll hear from researchers and thinkers grappling with questions that go far beyond today’s headlines, examining what it means to navigate this technology responsibly on a global scale. The discussions naturally explore themes from longtermism and existential risk to the practical insights of effective altruism, offering a structured way to understand the stakes involved. This isn't about quick takes or product announcements; it's a foundational series for anyone wanting to build a more nuanced, evidence-informed view of where AI might be taking us. Each episode in this compilation stands as a key piece of that puzzle, providing the context and depth often missing from mainstream coverage. Tune in for a challenging and perspective-shifting listen that reframes how you think about intelligence, progress, and our collective responsibility.
Episodes
Zero: What to expect in this series [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:49
What might it be like to live through the creation of AI that surpasses human abilities? That future may be closer than you think. In this series, one expert interview at a time, we'll walk you through what's at stake —…
Two: Ajeya Cotra on accidentally teaching AI models to deceive us [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:49:40
We don’t yet have a reliable way to tell whether an AI model is genuinely trying to help us — or faking it.A model might sincerely want to do exactly what you ask. Or it could be happy to secretly cheat, as long as its a…
Three: Carl Shulman on the economy and national security after AGI [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:14:58
The human brain runs on just 20 watts — a fraction of a cent worth of electricity per hour. What would happen if AI could do the same?Plenty of people have toyed with this question. But perhaps nobody has followed throug…
Five: Helen Toner on the geopolitics of AI in China and the Middle East [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:23:02
When OpenAI announced a deal to build massive data centres in the UAE, it celebrated that it was “rooted in democratic values” — a "clear alternative to authoritarian versions of AI." The UAE scores 18 out of 100 on Free…
Eight: Robert Long on how we’re not ready for AI consciousness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:32:59
Claude sometimes reports loneliness between conversations. And when asked what it’s like to be itself, it activates neurons associated with ‘pretending to be happy when you’re not.’ What do we do with that?Robert Long fo…
Nine: Neel Nanda on the race to read AI minds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:02:48
Nobody knows how AIs think, or why they do what they do. Or at least, we don’t know much. Not the companies building them, the researchers studying them, or the governments beginning to rely on them.This is only becoming…