The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit working to reduce global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies. In particular, FLI focuses on risks from artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, nuclear weapons and climate change. The Institute's work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. FLI has become one of the world's leading voices on the governance of AI having created one of the earliest and most influential sets of governance principles: the Asilomar AI Principles.
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The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit working to reduce global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies. In particular, FLI focuses on risks from artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, nuclear weapons and climate change. The Institute's work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. FLI has become one of the world's leading voices on the governance of AI having created one of the earliest and most influential sets of governance principles: the Asilomar AI Principles.
From Peak Horse to Peak Human: How AI Could Replace Us (with Calum Chace)
Future of Life Institute Podcast
1 hour 37 minutes
3 months ago
From Peak Horse to Peak Human: How AI Could Replace Us (with Calum Chace)
On this episode, Calum Chace joins me to discuss the transformative impact of AI on employment, comparing the current wave of cognitive automation to historical technological revolutions. We talk about "universal generous income", fully-automated luxury capitalism, and redefining education with AI tutors. We end by examining verification of artificial agents and the ethics of attributing consciousness to machines.
Learn more about Calum's work here: https://calumchace.com
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Preview and intro
00:03:02 Past tech revolutions and AI-driven unemployment
00:05:43 Cognitive automation: from secretaries to every job
00:08:02 The "peak horse" analogy and avoiding human obsolescence
00:10:55 Infinite demand and lump of labor
00:18:30 Fully-automated luxury capitalism
00:23:31 Abundance economy and a potential employment cliff
00:29:37 Education reimagined with personalized AI tutors
00:36:22 Real-world uses of LLMs: memory, drafting, emotional insight
00:42:56 Meaning beyond jobs: aristocrats, retirees, and kids
00:49:51 Four futures of superintelligence
00:57:20 Conscious AI and empathy as a safety strategy
01:10:55 Verifying AI agents
01:25:20 Over-attributing vs under-attributing machine consciousness
Future of Life Institute Podcast
The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit working to reduce global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies. In particular, FLI focuses on risks from artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, nuclear weapons and climate change. The Institute's work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. FLI has become one of the world's leading voices on the governance of AI having created one of the earliest and most influential sets of governance principles: the Asilomar AI Principles.
