Foresight Institute Radio

Eliezer Yudkowsky vs Mark Miller | ASI Risks: Similar premises, opposite conclusions

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 14:11:50 GMT

What are the best strategies for addressing extreme risks from artificial superintelligence? In this 4-hour conversation, decision theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky and computer scientist Mark Miller discuss their cruxes for disagreement.

They examine the future of AI, existential risk, and whether alignment is even possible. Topics include AI risk scenarios, coalition dynamics, secure systems like seL4, hardware exploits like Rowhammer, molecular engineering with AlphaFold, and historical analogies like nuclear arms control. They explore superintelligence governance, multipolar vs singleton futures, and the philosophical challenges of trust, verification, and control in a post-AGI world.

Moderated by Christine Peterson, the discussion seeks the least risky strategy for reaching a preferred state amid superintelligent AI risks. Yudkowsky warns of catastrophic outcomes if AGI is not controlled, while Miller advocates decentralizing power and preserving human institutions as AI evolves.

The conversation spans AI collaboration, secure operating frameworks, cryptographic separation, and lessons from nuclear non-proliferation. Despite their differences, both aim for a future where AI benefits humanity without posing existential threats.

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Nobel Laureate David Baker on Using AI for Science to Solve Humanity's Biggest Problems [TEASER]

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 07:17:45 GMT

This is a teaser episode of the Existential Hope Podcast with Nobel Laureate David Baker. David reveals how scientists are now inventing entirely new proteins—life's fundamental building blocks—to tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges.

David shares his journey and his vision for a future where custom-built "molecular machines," an idea once explored by thinkers like Eric Drexler, could repair our bodies, clean up pollution, and create sustainable materials. He explains how breakthroughs in AI are supercharging this field, but also why human ingenuity and collaborative science are still essential to unlocking these revolutionary possibilities.

In this conversation, we explore:

The incredible power of designing brand-new proteins for groundbreaking medicines, environmental cleanup, and creating novel materials.
The exciting prospect of "molecular machines": tiny engines built from proteins to perform complex tasks, inspired by early visions of nanotechnology.
How AI is accelerating scientific discovery, and what it takes to translate these digital designs into real-world solutions.
David’s "communal brain" philosophy for fostering innovation and his advice for anyone wanting to solve big, meaningful problems.

Listen to the full episode on the Existential Hope podcast on here on Apple or here on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Welcome to Foresight Institute Radio

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 12:05:02 GMT

This feed is now Foresight Institute Radio—your place for standout talks on frontier technology: from AI and neurotech to nanotech, longevity, and space. You’ll hear highlights from Foresight’s global conferences and seminars featuring top scientists and builders.

For long-form interviews, follow our sister show: The Existential Hope Podcast, with guests like David Baker, Steven Pinker, and David Deutsch.

Want the slides? Subscribe on YouTube and follow us on X @ForesightInst.

🎤 Featuring: Allison Duettmann, CEO of Foresight Institute

🎥 Slides + videos: YouTube.com/ForesightInstitute

🐦 Updates: X.com/ForesightInst

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Jonathan Anomaly | Embryo selection for health, longevity and intelligence

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 11:49:40 GMT

What happens when parents can choose their children's genetic traits, and which selections benefit society versus harm it? In this talk, Jonathan Anomaly explores the emerging field of embryo selection for intelligence, disease prevention, and longevity. He covers how polygenic risk scores work to predict complex traits and why most diseases involve thousands of genetic variants rather than single genes.

Jonathan Anomaly is a former professor who spent 15 years studying the intersection of game theory and ethics, focusing on collective action problems. He recently co-founded a stealth company that will be among the first to offer embryo selection for intelligence and disease prevention.

This talk was recorded at Vision Weekend Puerto Rico 2025. To see the slides and more talks from the event, please visit our Youtube channel.

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Mary Lou Jepsen | The handheld hospital

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 11:45:23 GMT

What if you could diagnose stroke, treat cancer, and cure depression with a smartphone-sized device that costs $1,000 instead of millions? In this talk, Mary Lou Jepsen demonstrates her revolutionary handheld medical devices that use ultrasound and infrared light to selectively target diseased cells while leaving healthy tissue unharmed. She covers how her team achieved 100% remission in deadly glioblastoma cancer in mice, moved nearly half of treatment-resistant depression patients into remission, and why making all 68 patents open source could democratize healthcare globally while reducing medical device costs by 93%.

Mary Lou Jepsen is a serial hardtech entrepreneur and former MIT professor with a PhD in physics from Brown University. She previously founded multiple multi-billion dollar companies, left Facebook to start her current venture, and recently raised $54 million to bring these breakthrough medical technologies to market as open-source solutions.

This talk was recorded at Vision Weekend US 2024. To see the slides and more talks from the event, please visit our Youtube channel.

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Jean Hebert | ARPA-H: Accelerate better health outcomes for everyone

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 11:43:16 GMT

What if a government agency could fund transformative health research with $200 million budgets and no bureaucratic committees? In this talk, Jean Hebert explores ARPA-H's – a research funding agency – unique mission to accelerate health breakthroughs, from 3D-printed organs to functional eye transplants. He covers how ARPA-H operates differently from traditional government funding through autonomous program managers, why it presents exceptional opportunities for longevity researchers, and how both established scientists and entrepreneurs can engage with this well-funded agency that's aligned with life extension goals.

Jean Hebert is a professor of genetics and neuroscience, and the author of "Replacing Aging". He currently serves as a Program Manager at ARPA-H. His personal mission remains unchanged: to beat aging, which he believes is achievable through replacement therapies and transformative approaches to life extension.

This talk was recorded at Vision Weekend US 2024. To see the slides and more talks from the event, please visit our Youtube channel.

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Irina Rish | AI & Scale

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 11:40:10 GMT

How has the history of AI been shaped by the "bitter lesson" that simple scaling beats complex algorithms, and what comes next? In this talk, Irina Rish traces AI's evolution from rule-based systems to today's foundation models, exploring how scaling laws predicted performance improvements and recent shifts toward more efficient approaches. She covers the progression from GPT scaling laws to Chinchilla's compute-optimal training, the rise of inference-time computation with models like OpenAI's o1, and why we might need to move beyond transformers to truly brain-inspired dynamical systems.

Irina Rish is a professor at the University of Montreal and Mila Quebec AI Institute. She also co-founded a startup focused on developing more efficient foundation models and recently released a suite of open-source compressed models.

This talk was recorded at Vision Weekend Puerto Rico 2025. To see the slides and more talks from the event, please visit our YouTube channel.

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What history can teach us about doing better science – Eric Gilliam

Thu, 29 May 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Eric Gilliam studies how organizations like Bell Labs, early MIT, and the Rockefeller Foundation helped drive scientific progress — and what made them unusually effective.

In this conversation, we explore how those models worked, why many of them disappeared, and what it would take to bring them back. Eric explains why fast-moving, engineering-driven labs like BBN (which built the first nodes of the internet) may be essential to accelerating progress in fields like AI, biotech, and beyond.

We also cover:

Why most funders underuse applied history
How systems engineers at Bell Labs identified billion-dollar problems
What a $100M research organization should do differently
What makes Eric hopeful about the future of meta-science

Eric runs FreakTakes, a Substack focused on the organizational infrastructure of scientific progress. He’s a fellow at the Good Science Project and works with ARIA UK and Renaissance Philanthropy to support new models for R&D.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that we can have more people commit to creating a brighter future, and to begin mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project.

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Glen Weyl | Can we use AI to build a fairer society?

Fri, 23 May 2025 10:52:28 GMT

Most AI discussions focus on its risks to democracy – disinformation, surveillance, centralization of power. But what if AI could make governance better?

Glen Weyl, political economist at Microsoft Research and founder of RadicalxChange, argues that AI could be used to create more participatory, decentralized, and democratic systems, if we design it right. In this interview, he explores what AI governance could look like if we tried to use it for real pluralism.

This interview is a guest lecture in our online course about shaping positive futures with AI. The course is free, and available here: https://www.udemy.com/course/worldbuilding-hopeful-futures-with-ai/

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Existential Hope Podcast: Ada Palmer | The storytelling tools you need for worldbuilding

Fri, 16 May 2025 09:26:15 GMT

How can storytelling shape our visions of the future? Ada Palmer—historian, science fiction writer, and futurist—brings a unique perspective on how worldbuilding can be a powerful tool for exploring complex ideas. In this conversation with Beatrice Erkers, she shares her perspective on worldbuilding and storytelling, and her recommendations for how we can think in new ways about the future.

This interview is a guest lecture in our new online course about shaping positive futures with AI. The course is free, and available here: https://www.udemy.com/course/worldbuilding-hopeful-futures-with-ai/

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Existential Hope Podcast: Anthony Aguirre | Will AI replace us or help us thrive?

Fri, 09 May 2025 14:34:43 GMT

How we develop AI will shape the future of society. In this interview, Anthony Aguirre explores the distinction between Tool AI and Replacement AI, and how this framing can inform AI policy, governance, and strategy. He shares insights on the risks and thresholds of AGI, the role of capability, agency, and autonomy in AI development, and what it means to keep the future human as AI systems become more advanced and integrated into society.

Anthony Aguirre is a Professor in Physics, and the Executive Director & Secretary of the Board at the Future of Life Institute.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Helen Toner | Who gets to decide AI’s future?

Fri, 02 May 2025 10:46:43 GMT

Who makes the rules for AI? Right now, a handful of companies and governments are shaping its trajectory – but what happens behind closed doors?

Helen Toner, Director of Strategy at Georgetown’s CSET and former OpenAI board member, has been inside some of the biggest AI governance conversations. In this conversation with Beatrice Erkers, she shares an insider’s take on AI policy, US-China dynamics, and what’s coming next in AI regulation.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Aaron Stupple | Raising kids for an unknown future

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 08:10:32 GMT

What if parenting held the keys to civilization’s long-term flourishing?

In this deeply personal and philosophically rich episode of the Existential Hope podcast, we sit down with Dr. Aaron Stupple – physician, thinker, and author of The Sovereign Child. Drawing from the rationalist traditions of David Deutsch and Karl Popper, and grounded in the parenting philosophy of "Taking Children Seriously," Aaron explores what it means to treat children as full moral agents from birth.

From screen time and sugar to sleep and sovereignty, Aaron shares how applying rigorous epistemology to parenting transformed his relationship with his children — and how it might transform the future of civilization itself.

Key Topics

Applying Popperian epistemology to parenting
Why children are not "pre-persons" but full moral agents
Moving beyond control vs. permissiveness
Real-life examples: screens, food, bedtime, and education
Parenting as civilizational infrastructure for a better future

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Existential Hope Podcast: Hannah Ritchie | Climate Tech & How AI Can Help Solve Big Problems

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 03:00:00 GMT

The way we talk about the future of the planet often feels like a choice between denial and doomism. But what if we looked at the data? Hannah Ritchie, Deputy Editor at Our World in Data, has dedicated her work to making complex global challenges—like climate change, energy, and sustainability—more understandable and actionable.

In this conversation with Beatrice Erkers, she shares insights from her book Not the End of the World, exploring what the data actually tells us about humanity’s progress, where technology—including AI—can help, and how we can build a future that is not just survivable, but sustainable and hopeful.

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Existential Hope podcast | Worldbuilding for a Hopeful AI Future

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 14:00:00 GMT

In this special “minisode” of the Existential Hope podcast, Allison and Beatrice from Foresight Institute sit down to discuss their newly launched, free worldbuilding course on Udemy: The AI Futures Worldbuilding course. This course—created in partnership with the Future of Life Institute—helps participants imagine and shape positive visions for AI’s impact on technology, governance, economics, and everyday life.

Hear about expert guest lectures from leaders like Anousheh Ansari (XPRIZE), Helen Toner (CSET), Hannah Ritchie (Our World in Data), Ada Palmer (University of Chicago), Anthony Aguirre (FLI), and more. If you’re curious how to chart a better future with AI, or simply need a dose of optimism, tune in for practical insights and inspiring ideas.

• Take the course – Search for “Building Hopeful Futures with AI” on Udemy or visit existentialhope.com

• Submit your vision – Share your optimistic vision for 2035 using the form at existentialhope.com, and explore submissions from others.

• Spread the word – If you know someone who could use a hopeful perspective on our AI future, invite them to join this journey!

Learn more about the course: https://www.udemy.com/course/worldbuilding-hopeful-futures-with-ai/

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zac Hatfield-Dodds | Anthropic’s Responsible Scaling Policy

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Zac Hatfield-Dodds is a member of the technical staff at Anthropic. In this episode he talks about Anthropic's responsible scaling policy.

About Foresight Institute

Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Existential Hope podcast: Clay Routledge | Why Meaning and Agency Matter More Than Ever

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

In this episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, existential psychologist Clay Routledge explores how meaning and agency shape both individual well-being and societal progress.

While material conditions have improved, many people—especially younger generations—report growing pessimism and disconnection. Clay argues that a lack of meaning, not just external barriers, often holds us back. By understanding how humans derive purpose and motivation, we can unlock new paths to flourishing.

We discuss:

Why agency—the belief that we can shape our future—is crucial for progress
How nostalgia can fuel innovation rather than trap us in the past
The difference between hope and optimism, and why hope drives action
The psychology behind rising pessimism and how to counter it
What a world that maximizes meaning and human potential could look like

If you’ve ever wondered how psychology can help us move from existential angst to existential hope, this episode is for you.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cate Hall | What Philanthropy Can Do That Others Can’t

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 14:09:16 GMT

Cate Hall is the CEO of Astera. She’s a former Supreme Court attorney and the ex-No. 1 female poker player in the world. Before joining Astera, she co-founded and served as COO and later co-CEO of Alvea, a pandemic medicine company that set the record for the fastest startup to take a drug candidate to Phase I clinical trial. She received a BS in biochemistry and BA in philosophy from the University of Arizona, and a law degree from Yale Law School.

About Foresight Institute

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Sam Rodriques | AI for Scientific Progress

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 11:28:03 GMT

Sam Rodriques is an inventor and entrepreneur. In 2023, he launched FutureHouse, a new research lab in San Francisco focused on building an AI Scientist. He previously ran the Applied Biotechnology Lab at the Francis Crick Institute. Before that, he did his PhD at MIT. Sam also proposed the Focused Research Organization model, which is now being used by a number of philanthropic funders and governments to facilitate scientific moonshots.

About Foresight Institute

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Tom Kalil | Renaissance Philanthropy: Agenda Setting is Underrated

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 12:30:49 GMT

Tom Kalil is the CEO of Renaissance Philanthropy. Tom served in the White House for two presidents (Obama and Clinton) and in collaboration with his team worked with the Senate to give every federal agency the authority to support incentive prizes for up to $50 million. Tom also designed and launched dozens of White House science and technology initiatives, including the $40 billion National Nanotechnology Initiative, announced by President Clinton; The BRAIN Initiative, announced by President Obama; The Next Generation Internet initiative, announced by President Clinton and Vice President Gore; and initiatives in advanced materials, robotics, smallsats, data science, and EdTech.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

The President and CEO of Foresight Institute, Allison Duettmann directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, alongside Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees. She has also been pivotal in co-initiating the Longevity Prize, pioneering initiatives like Existentialhope.com, and contributing to notable works like "Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy" and "Gaming the Future".

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Steven Pinker On Why the Future Looks Better Than You Think

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

In this episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, cognitive psychologist and bestselling author Steven Pinker explores why, despite massive gains in human progress, many people remain pessimistic about the future—and why that matters for shaping what comes next.

Steven argues that while progress isn’t automatic, it is real. By tracking long-term trends in violence, poverty, democracy, and innovation, we can see how human effort—driven by reason, science, and cooperation—has repeatedly pushed civilization forward. Yet, media narratives and cognitive biases often make us blind to these achievements, reinforcing a sense of stagnation or decline.

In this conversation, we explore:

The hidden progress shaping our world today—from rising literacy rates to declining poverty, and why these trends rarely make the news.
Why pessimism can be self-defeating—and how a more accurate understanding of history can help us build a better future.
The role of AI, biotech, and clean energy—and why they might unlock transformative improvements, if used wisely.
How to communicate ideas that inspire hope—including Steven’s advice on cutting through jargon and tribalism to make ideas stick.

If you’ve ever wondered whether humanity is on the right track—or how to ensure we stay on it—this episode is for you. Listen now to hear how we can move from existential dread to existential hope. 🚀

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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Jennifer Garrison | Healthy Longevity for Women

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT

Jennifer Garrison, PhD, is Co-Founder and Director of the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (GCRLE) and an Assistant Professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. She also holds appointments in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California (USC). She is a passionate advocate for women’s health and is pioneering a new movement to advance science that is focused on female reproductive aging. Her lab studies the role of mind-body communication in systemic aging, and how changes in the conversation between the ovary and brain during aging may lead to the onset of reproductive decline in females.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Existential Hope Special: Ada Palmer | On How Speculative Worlds Can Help Us Demand A Better Future

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

"We’ve saved the world so many times throughout history. Now we just have to do it again."

What if speculative fiction could do more than entertain—what if it could reshape how we think about governance, technology, and societal progress? In this episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, historian and sci-fi author Ada Palmer discusses how we can harness lessons from both history and fiction to reimagine what’s possible for humanity.

Ada argues that one of the most critical advantages we have over past generations is our ability to envision a future radically different from our present. Unlike Renaissance thinkers limited by their own history, today’s societies can draw from an endless array of speculative worlds—both utopian and dystopian—to expand the horizons of what we dare to demand.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Ada digs into everything from concrete ideas for how to govern in a more pluralistic, adaptable world, to the importance of storytelling in addressing existential risks, exploring:

Why pluralism might be the antidote to centralized, one-size-fits-all governance and how speculative fiction shows us ways to make it work.
How past and present technological advancements—like eradicating malaria—can inspire hope for tackling today’s most urgent challenges.
What makes despair the ultimate barrier to progress, and how celebrating successes can keep us moving forward.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abhishek Singh | Decentralizing Machine Learning

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Abhishek Singh is a Ph.D. student at MIT Media Lab. His research interests include collective intelligence, self-organization, and decentralized machine learning. The central question guiding his research is --- how can we (algorithmically) engineer adaptive networks to build anti-fragile systems? He has co-authored multiple papers and built systems in machine learning, data privacy, and distributed computing. Before joining MIT, Abhishek worked with Cisco for 2 years where he did research in AutoML and Machine Learning for systems.

An Abstract

The remarkable scaling of AI models has unlocked unprecedented capabilities in text and image generation, raising the question: why hasn't healthcare seen similar breakthroughs? While healthcare AI holds immense promise, progress has been stymied by fragmented data trapped in institutional silos. Traditional centralized approaches fall short in this domain, where privacy concerns and regulatory requirements prevent data consolidation. This talk introduces a framework for decentralized machine learning and discusses algorithms for enabling self-organization among participants with diverse resources and capabilities.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zach Weinersmith | A City on Mars

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 10:25:40 GMT

Zach Weinersmith is the cartoonist behind the popular geek webcomic, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. He writes popular science books with his wife Kelly, including the recent Hugo award-winning A City on Mars. His work has been featured by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Forbes, Science Friday, Foreign Policy, PBS, Boingboing, the Freakonomics Blog, the RadioLab blog, Entertainment Weekly, Mother Jones, CNN, Discovery Magazine, Nautilus and more.

Key Highlights

The future of space governance is explored, focusing on rocketry, space settlements, international law, and challenges like closed-loop ecology and human reproduction.
Zubrin's "The Case for Mars" is criticized for optimism, colonialist perspectives, and assumptions about sustainable environments on Mars.
Physiological risks of space travel, including radiation, reduced gravity, and the lack of reproduction data, are highlighted.
Lessons from Biosphere 2 and doubts about the economic and legal viability of Mars colonization are discussed.
Debates cover the Moon Treaty, anti-space settlement arguments, and testing reproduction in partial gravity.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

The President and CEO of Foresight Institute, Allison Duettmann directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs.

Get Involved:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Crawford, Roots of Progress | Career Counselling

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 11:52:59 GMT

Jason Crawford is the founder of The Roots of Progress, a nonprofit dedicated to establishing a new philosophy of progress for the 21st century. He writes and speaks about the history and philosophy of progress, especially in technology and industry.

Key Highlights

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Allison Duettmann & Beatrice Erkers | A Vision of Existential Hope for the New Year

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:23:09 GMT

Beatrice Erkers and Allison Duettmann

What if we could reimagine the future from a place of hope instead of fear?

In this special episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers turn the tables and interview each other instead of a guest, sharing insights into their journeys, hopes, and visions for humanity. Together, they explore big concepts like moral circle expansion, how neurotech could deepen empathy (even with animals!), and why worldbuilding in 2045 can help us envision and create better futures today. Prepare for the new year by diving into strategies for building a future worth striving for.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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Caleb Watney, Institute for Progress | Career Counselling

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:21:00 GMT

Caleb Watney is the co-founder and co-CEO of IFP. He manages the metascience, high-skilled immigration, and emerging technology policy teams at IFP. His research focuses on policy levers the U.S. could use to rebuild state capacity and increase long-term rates of innovation. Previously, Caleb worked as the director of innovation policy at the Progressive Policy Insitute, a technology policy fellow at the R Street Institute, and a graduate research fellow at the Mercatus Center.

Key Highlights

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zan Huang | Adapting Neurological Structures to AI

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 13:33:46 GMT

Zan Huang is a researcher with a passion for alternative computational models in artificial intelligence, mass social patterns, chaotic and emergent systems, and linguistics. Currently focused on scaling deep neural networks through neurologically inspired modularity, he explores critical questions around reducing parameter space, enhancing interpretability, and developing self-similar task divisions akin to brain functionality.

Key Highlights

Discussion of the adaptation of neurological structures for AI, proposing that neuroscience is crucial for understanding intelligence.
Argument that certain principles of physics and mathematics apply to biological systems, like the brain, and that these can inform foundational models for AI.
Exploration of concepts related to thermodynamics, information theory, and the fractal nature of intelligence. H
Presentation of a neuro AI framework that emphasizes self-supervision, streamification, and task prioritization inspired by brain functionality to create more robust AI systems.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Adam Marblestone | Solving Science’s Biggest Gaps

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:22:25 GMT

Adam Marblestone is the CEO of Convergent Research. He is working with a large and growing network of collaborators and advisors to develop a strategic roadmap for future FROs. Outside of CR, he serves on the boards of several non-profits pursuing new methods of funding and organizing scientific research including Norn Group and New Science, and as an interviewer for the Hertz Foundation. Previously, he was a Schmidt Futures Innovation Fellow, a Fellow with the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), a research scientist at Google DeepMind, Chief Strategy Officer of the brain-computer interface company Kernel, a research scientist at MIT, a PhD student in biophysics with George Church and colleagues at Harvard, and a theoretical physics student at Yale. He has also previously helped to start companies like BioBright, and advised foundations such as Open Philanthropy.

Session Summary

In this episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, our guest is Adam Marblestone, CEO of Convergent Research. Adam shares his journey from working on nanotechnology and neuroscience to pioneering a bold new model for scientific work and funding: Focused Research Organizations (FROs). These nonprofit, deep-tech startups are designed to fill critical gaps in science by building the infrastructure needed to accelerate discovery. Tune in to hear how FROs are unlocking innovation, tackling bottlenecks across fields, and inspiring a new approach to advancing humanity’s understanding of the world.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Michael Levin | Agential Interventions

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 13:56:10 GMT

Michael Levin is an American developmental and synthetic biologist at Tufts University, where he is the Vannevar Bush Distinguished Professor. Levin is a director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University and Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology.

Key Highlights

Discussion of diverse intelligence in biological systems and its biomedical potential
Insights into planarian regeneration and collective problem-solving
Anatomical plasticity and the role of bioelectric interfaces
Applying these principles to regenerative medicine and synthetic biology
How living structures can adapt and solve complex problems – leading to breakthroughs in organ regeneration, cancer treatment, and mental health

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

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Sam Jardine | The Dawn of Astropolitics?

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 12:00:31 GMT

Samuel Jardine is a Geopolitical Risk Consultant and Historian specializing in space, polar regions, and seabed security, utilizing Applied History and OSINT. He has lectured for institutions like RUSI and the Royal Navy, with publications by Routledge. Currently, he leads research at London Politica, advises Luminint, and contributes to the Lunar Policy Platform.

Main Points

Context and an overview of Astropolitics
Space law and governance: geopolitical issues, a Multipolar world, and competition
The effects of the decoupling of US and China
Competing Space Blocks: The Artemis Accords vs. ILRS
Challenges and Opportunities in Space Cooperation

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

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Join our in-person events and workshops
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Anna Chekovisch | Bitcoin as a Path to Freedom

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 17:00:22 GMT

Anna Chekhovich is the financial director of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) from Russia. Targeted by Putin’s regime, the foundation has gradually lost access to financial institutions. FBK has been using Bitcoin since 2015 to help overcome financial repression. At that time the Russian government began blocking the bank accounts of various foundations, even those very loosely connected to the FBK. Navalny and his family have also had their personal accounts frozen as did many people who worked on the FBK team. Bitcoin has given them a financial tool away from the reach of Putin’s regime.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

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Eric Drexler | Advanced Nanotechnology

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 17:00:17 GMT

Eric Drexler is a visionary scientist and engineer thought of as one of the “Founding fathers of nanotechnology”, the science of engineering on a molecular level. He is most known for being the driving force behind the concept of molecular nanotechnology (MNT) and its potential benefits for humans. His 1981 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences established fundamental principles of molecular design, protein engineering, and productive nanosystems. Drexler’s research in this field has been the basis for numerous journal articles and for books including Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, 1986, which is written for a general audience, and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation.

This talk discusses the potential of advanced nanotechnology's potential, focusing on:

• Atomic-level manipulation for diverse applications

• AI's role in accelerating molecular engineering

• Environmental and space exploration implications

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

The President and CEO of Foresight Institute, Allison Duettmann directs the technical programs alongside Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees. She has also been pivotal in co-initiating the Longevity Prize, pioneering initiatives like Existentialhope.com, and contributing to notable works like "Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy" and "Gaming the Future".

Get Involved with Foresight:

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Existential Hope Podcast: Dr Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston | The Future Loves You

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 09:54:15 GMT

Speaker

Dr Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston is a neuroscientist at Monash University, Australia, where he investigates methods for characterising the nature of conscious experiences. In 2019, he obtained his PhD from The University of Melbourne, where he researched how genetic and environmental factors affect cognition. His research interests range from the decline, preservation and rescue of cognitive function at different stages of the lifespan, through to comparing different people’s conscious experience of colour.

Session Summary

In this edition of the Hope Drop, we dive into a thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston, neuroscientist and author of The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death. Ariel explores the science and philosophy of brain preservation, questioning long-held beliefs about life, death, and personal identity. We explore how neuroscience might redefine what it means to truly live—and challenge assumptions around mortality.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Molly MacKinlay | New Decentralized Mechanisms for Funding Public Goods

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 16:00:47 GMT

Molly Mackinlay has extensive work experience in various roles at different companies. She is currently the Head of Engineering, Product, & Research Development at Protocol Labs, where they lead teams working on the IPFS Project. Prior to this, Molly worked at Google where they held multiple roles including Google Search PM II, Google Forms PM, Google Classroom PM, and Associate Product Manager for Chrome Native Client. Before joining Google, she obtained their Bachelor's degree in Computer Science with a concentration in Human Computer Interaction from Stanford University.

Key Highlights

Explores decentralized mechanisms for funding public goods
Presents three web3 experiments: Quadratic Funding, DAO treasuries, and Retroactive Public Goods Rewards
Introduces Open Impact Foundation as a legal structure for public goods funding

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

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Join our in-person events and workshops
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Anders Sandberg | Whole Brain Emulation Ethics

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 16:00:31 GMT

Anders Sandberg's research centres on estimating the capabilities and underlying science of future technologies, methods of reasoning about long-term futures, existential and global catastrophic risk, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), as well as societal and ethical issues surrounding human enhancement.

Topics of particular interest include management of systemic risk, reasoning under uncertainty, enhancement of cognition, neuroethics and public policy. He has worked on this within the EU project ENHANCE, where he was also responsible for public outreach and online presence, and the ERC UnPredict project.

Besides scientific publications in neuroscience, ethics and future studies he has also participated in the public debate about human enhancement, existential risk and SETI internationally.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

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Join our in-person events and workshops
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Barbara Diehl | Innovation and Funding Mechanisms at SPRIND

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 16:00:53 GMT

Barbara Diehl is a proven expert in entrepreneurship, innovation and education and has been facilitating partnerships with science and business at SPRIND since 2020. Prior to joining SPRIND, she had a successful career in the UK and Ireland for 10 years at the Oxford University Entrepreneurship Centre and the Innovation Academy at University College Dublin. In Oxford, she led early-stage investment programs and an executive education program for fast-growing small businesses (Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses growth program).

Key highlights:

The work of SPRIND: an initiative by the German government to develop breakthrough innovations, priority areas being circular biome manufacturing, antivirals, long-duration energy storage, and tissue engineering.
Plans to improve data availability and advocate for policy changes within universities.
The importance of mutual discovery between the US and European innovation ecosystems.
The need for flexible and agile funding mechanisms and people funding rather than project funding.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply to our virtual technical seminars
Join our in-person events and workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Existential Hope Podcast: Eli Dourado, Abundance Institute | Accelerating Progress

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:11:50 GMT

Eli Dourado is the Chief Economist at the Abundance Institute. He is a former Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and he has studied and written about a wide range of technology policy issues, including Internet governance, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and cryptocurrency.

Session Summary

This episode covers topics including Dourado’s efforts to accelerate economic growth in the U.S., his views on policy reforms in key sectors such as health, housing, energy, and transportation, and the challenges of regulatory complacency. We also explore the potential of new technologies such as AI and biotechnology. Dourado shares his vision of a future with scalable healthcare solutions, more efficient housing, rapid deployment of energy technologies, and advancements in transportation like supersonic flights and electric vehicles. The conversation concludes on the importance of broad literacy and continuous writing in supporting progress.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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Amanda Ngo | Innovating With AI for Wellbeing

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 08:00:57 GMT

Speaker

Amanda Ngo is a 2024 Foresight Fellow. Recently, she has built Elicit.org from inception to 100k+ monthly users, leading a team of 5 engineers and designers, presented on forecasting, safe AI systems, and LLM research tools at conferences (EAG, Foresight Institute), ran a 60-person hackathon with FiftyYears using LLMs to improve our wellbeing (event, write up), analyzed Ideal Parent Figure transcripts and built an automated IPF chatbot (demo), and co-organized a 400-person retreat for Interact, a technology for social good fellowship.

Session Summary

“Imagine waking up every day in a state of flow, where all the knots and fears are replaced with a deep sense of ease and joy.”

This week we are dropping another special episode of the Existential Hope podcast, featuring Amanda Ngo, a Foresight Institute Existential Hope fellow specializing in AI innovation for wellbeing. Amanda speaks about her work on leveraging AI to enhance human flourishing, sharing insights on the latest advancements and their potential impacts. Her app: https://www.mysunrise.app/

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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Jeffrey Ladish | AI Threat Models, Hacking, Deception, and Manipulation

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 13:15:05 GMT

Jeffrey Ladish

Before starting Palisade, Jeffrey helped build out the information security program at Anthropic through his security consulting company, Gordian. Jeffrey has also helped dozens of tech companies, philanthropic organizations, and existential-risk-focused projects get started with secure infrastructure.

Summary

Ladish discusses the increasing sophistication and proliferation of deepfake technology, which allows AI to mimic human voices and faces, and its potential for widespread deception. He argues that this increasingly capable technology is and will be used to spread fake information, manipulate elections or markets, create deepfake pornography, and generate fake endorsements from actors or organizations.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Kristian Rönn | The Darwinian Trap That Explains Our World

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 13:12:00 GMT

Speaker

Kristian Rönn is the CEO and co-founder of Normative. He has a background in mathematics, philosophy, computer science and artificial intelligence. Before he started Normative he worked at the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute on issues related to global catastrophic risks.

Session Summary

When people talk about today’s biggest challenges they tend to frame the conversation around “bad people” doing “bad things.” But is there more to the story?

In this month’s Hope Drop we speak to Kristian Rönn, an entrepreneur formerly affiliated with the Future of Humanity Institute. Kristian calls these deeply rooted impulses “Darwinian demons.” These forces, a by-product of natural selection, can lead us to act in shortsighted ways that harm others—and even imperil our survival as a species. In our latest episode, Kristian explains how we can escape these evolutionary traps through cooperation and innovative thinking. Kristian's new book, The Darwinian Trap, is being published on September 24th. Be sure to preorder it today!

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Divya Siddarth | Collective Intelligence for Collective Progress

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 12:00:54 GMT

Speaker

Divya is the co-founder of the Collective Intelligence Project, which advances collective intelligence capabilities for the democratic and effective governance of transformative technologies. She serves as Associate Political Economist and Social Technologist at Microsoft’s Office of the CTO. She also holds positions as a research director at Metagov and a researcher in residence at the RadicalXChange Foundation.

Key Highlights

In today’s rapidly evolving world, where technology is at the forefront of progress, the need for effective collaboration between humans and artificial intelligence is more crucial than ever. In this engaging and thought-provoking talk, we will explore the concept of collective intelligence and discuss how it can be harnessed to drive collective progress in various domains, including science, technology, and social innovation.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Siméon Campos | Governing AI for Good

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 08:00:36 GMT

Speaker

Siméon Campos is president and founder of SaferAI, an organization working on developing the infrastructure for general-purpose AI auditing and risk management. He worked on large language models for the last two years and is highly committed to making AI safer.

Session Summary

“I think safe AGI can both prevent a catastrophe and offer a very promising pathway into a eucatastrophe.”

This week we are dropping a special episode of the Existential Hope podcast, where we sit down with Siméon Campos, president and founder of Safer AI, and a Foresight Institute fellow in the Existential Hope track. Siméon shares his experience working on AI governance, discusses the current state and future of large language models, and explores crucial measures needed to guide AI for the greater good.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that we can have more people commit to creating a brighter future, and to begin mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project.

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Dean Woodley Ball | Humanity’s Next Leap: Thoughts on the Frontiers of Neural Technology

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 12:00:44 GMT

Speaker

Dean Woodley Ball is a Research Fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center and author of the Substack Hyperdimensional. His work focuses on artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and the future of governance. Previously, he was Senior Program Manager for the Hoover Institution's State and Local Governance Initiative.

Key Highlights

Based on engagement with the neuroscience and machine learning literatures, this talk will focus on how technologies such as virtual reality, large language models, AI agents, neurostimulation, and neuromonitoring may converge in the coming decade into the first widespread consumer neural technology. The talk will focus on technical feasibility, public policy, and broader societal implications.

In terms of the challenge, I think the big one for me is probably building the datasets we’ll need for the foundational AI models undergirding all of this.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
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Dana Watt | A Neuroscientist's Guide to Starting a Company

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 10:20:30 GMT

Dr. Watt is an investment associate at Ascension Ventures, an investment firm specializing in healthcare technology. She previously co-founded and served as CSO of Pro-Arc Diagnostics, a personalized medicine company operating in St. Louis.

Key Highlights

Watt discusses her career journey and insights into venture capital investing in neuroscience and neurotech companies. She explains her role as a VC, which involves making profitable investments, underwriting risk, and structuring deals. Dana highlights key attributes of venture-backable companies, such as exceptional teams, large addressable markets, defensibility, and differentiation. She also discusses challenges and biases in neuroscience investing, including the complexity of brain science, hardware difficulties, long clinical timelines, and subtle readouts.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Existential Hope Podcast: James Pethokoukis | Conservatism Meets Futurism

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 08:05:42 GMT

James Pethokoukis is a senior fellow and the DeWitt Wallace Chair at the American Enterprise Institute, where he analyzes US economic policy, writes and edits the AEIdeas blog, and hosts AEI’s Political Economy podcast. He is also a contributor to CNBC and writes the Faster, Please! newsletter on Substack. He is the author of The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised (Center Street, 2023). He has also written for many publications, including the Atlantic, Commentary, Financial Times, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review, New York Post, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Week.

Session Summary

In this episode, James joins us to discuss his book, The Conservative Futurist, and his perspectives on technology and economic growth. James explores his background, the spectrum of 'upwing' (pro-progress) versus 'downwing' (anti-progress), and the role of technology in solving global challenges. He explains his reasoning for being pro-progress and pro-growth as well as highlighting the importance of positive storytelling and education in developing a more advanced and prosperous world.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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Existential Hope: The Flourishing Foundation at the Transformative AI Hackathon

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 14:56:40 GMT

The Flourishing Foundation

In February 2024, we partnered with the Future of Life Institute on a hackathon to design institutions that can guide and govern the development of AI. The winner of the hackathon was the Flourishing Foundation, who are focused on our relationship with AI and other emerging technologies. They challenge innovators to envision and build life-centered products, services, and systems, specifcially, to enable TAI-enabled consumer technologies to promote human well-being by developing new norms, processes, and community-driven ecosystems.

At their core, they explore the question of "Can AI make us happier?"

Connect: https://www.flourishing.foundation/

Read about the hackathon: https://foresight.org/2024-xhope-hackathon/

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Existential Hope Podcast: Roman Yampolskiy | The Case for Narrow AI

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 08:56:21 GMT

Dr Roman Yampolskiy holds a PhD degree from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University at Buffalo. There he was a recipient of a four year National Science Foundation IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) fellowship. His main areas of interest are behavioral biometrics, digital forensics, pattern recognition, genetic algorithms, neural networks, artificial intelligence and games, and he is an author of over 100 publications including multiple journal articles and books.

Session Summary

We discuss everything AI safety with Dr. Roman Yampolskiy. As AI technologies advance at a breakneck pace, the conversation highlights the pressing need to balance innovation with rigorous safety measures. Contrary to many other voices in the safety space, argues for the necessity of maintaining AI as narrow, task-oriented systems: “I'm arguing that it's impossible to indefinitely control superintelligent systems”. Nonetheless, Yampolskiy is optimistic about narrow AI future capabilities, from politics to longevity and health.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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Existential Hope Worldbuilding: 1st place | Cities of Orare

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 14:56:12 GMT

This episode features an interview with the 1st place winners of our 2045 Worldbuilding challenge!

Why Worldbuilding?

We consider worldbuilding an essential tool for creating inspiring visions of the future that can help drive real-world change. Worldbuilding helps us explore crucial 'what if' questions for the future, by constructing detailed scenarios that prompt us to ask: What actionable steps can we take now to realize these desirable outcomes?

Cities of Orare – our 1st place winners

Cities of Orare imagines a future where AI-powered prediction markets called Orare amplify collective intelligence, enhancing liberal democracy, economic distribution, and policy-making. Its adoption across Africa and globally has fostered decentralized governance, democratizing decision-making, and spurring significant health and economic advancements.

Read more about the 2045 world of Cities of Orare: https://www.existentialhope.com/worlds/beyond-collective-intelligence-cities-of-orare

Access the Worldbuilding Course: https://www.existentialhope.com/existential-hope-worldbuilding

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Christian Schroeder de Witt | Secret Collusion Among Generative AI Agents: Toward Multi-Agent Security

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 09:15:42 GMT

Christian is a researcher in foundational AI, information security, and AI safety, with a current focus on the limits of undetectability. He is a pioneer in the field of Multi-Agent Security (masec.ai), which aims to overcome the safety and security issues inherent in contemporary approaches to multi-agent AI. His recent works include a breakthrough result on the 25+ year old problem of perfectly secure steganography (jointly with Sam Sokota), which was featured by Scientific American, Quanta Magazine, and Bruce Schneier’s Security Blog.

Key Highlights

How do we design autonomous systems and environments in which undetectable actions cannot cause unacceptable damages? He argues that the ability of advanced AI agents to use perfect stealth will soon be AI Safety’s biggest concern. In this talk, he focuses on the matter of steganographic collusion among generative AI agents.

About Foresight Institute

Foresight Institute is a non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Existential Hope Worldbuilding: 2nd Place | Rising Choir

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 14:55:53 GMT

This episode features an interview with the 2nd place winners of our 2045 Worldbuilding challenge!

Why Worldbuilding?

Rising Choir – our 2nd place winners

Rising Choir envisions a 2045 where advanced AI and robotics are seamlessly integrated into everyday life, enhancing productivity and personal care. The V.O.I.C.E. system revolutionizes communication and democratic participation, developing a sense of inclusion across all levels of society. Energy abundance, driven by solar and battery advancements, addresses climate change challenges, while the presence of humanoid robots in every household marks a new era of economic output and personal convenience.

Read more about the 2045 world of Rising Choir: https://www.existentialhope.com/worlds/rising-choir-a-symphony-of-clashing-voices

Access the Worldbuilding Course: https://www.existentialhope.com/existential-hope-worldbuilding

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Existential Hope Instagram

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Evelyn Yehudit Bischof | Healthy Longevity Medicine in the Clinical Practice

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 09:30:55 GMT

Evelyne Yehudit Bischof, MD, MPH, FEFIM, FMH is Associate Professor at the Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences, Chief Associate Physician of Internal Medicine and Oncology at the University Hospital Renji of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and Emergency Medicine Physician at the Shanghai East International Medical Center. She is a specialist in Internal Medicine with a research focus on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health.

Key Highlights

Longevity medicine is an AI and data-driven field evolving from precision medicine, lifestyle medicine, and geroscience that aims to elongate patients' healthy lifespan. Using biomarkers of aging, aging clocks, and continuous data monitoring, longevity physicians can bring the patient's health from "within norms" to "optimal" or even best performance.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

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Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Existential Hope Worldbuilding: 3rd Place | FloraTech

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 08:00:38 GMT

This episode features an interview with the 3rd place winners of our 2045 Worldbuilding challenge!

Why Worldbuilding?

FloraTech – our 3rd place winners

In the world of 2045, a network of bounded AI agents, imbued with robust ethical constraints and specialized capabilities, has become the backbone of a thriving, harmonious global society. These AI collaborators have unlocked unprecedented possibilities for localized, sustainable production of goods and services, empowering communities to meet their needs through advanced manufacturing technologies and smart resource allocation.

Access the Worldbuilding Course: https://www.existentialhope.com/existential-hope-worldbuilding

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Existential Hope Podcast: Stuart Buck | What is Good and Bad Science

Thu, 30 May 2024 08:00:24 GMT

Speaker

Stuart Buck is the Executive Director of the Good Science Project, and a Senior Advisor at the Social Science Research Council. Formerly, he was the Vice President of Research at Arnold Ventures. His efforts to improve research transparency and reproducibility have been featured in Wired, New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, The Economist, and more. He has given advice to DARPA, IARPA (the CIA’s research arm), the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team on rigorous research processes, as well as publishing in top journals (such as Science and BMJ) on how to make research more accurate.

Session Summary

Working in the field of meta-science, Stuart cares deeply about who gets funding and how, the engulfment of bureaucracy for researchers, everywhere, how we can fund more innovative science, ensuring results are reproducible and true, and much more. Among many things, he has funded renowned work showing that scientific research is often irreproducible, including the Reproducibility Projects in Psychology and Cancer Biology.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

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Tom Burns, Cornell University | At the Interface of AI Safety and Neuroscience

Fri, 24 May 2024 16:00:00 GMT

Speaker

Tom Burns graduated with First Class Honours in his Bachelor of Science from Monash University in 2013, exploring the mathematical features of human perception of non-linguistic sounds. Shifting to philosophy, he completed a Master of Bioethics in 2014, analyzing the ethics of euthanasia legislation in Australia, followed by a World Health Organization Bioethics Fellowship in 2015, contributing to the Ebola epidemic response. In 2023, as a Fall Semester Postdoc at Brown University's ICERM, he contributed to the 'Math + Neuroscience' program. Recently affiliated with Timaeus, an AI safety organization, Tom is continuing his research at Cornell University's new SciAI Center from March 2024.

Session Summary

Neuroscience is a burgeoning field with many opportunities for novel research directions. Due to experimental and physical limitations, however, theoretical progress relies on imperfect and incomplete information about the system. Artificial neural networks, for which perfect and complete information is possible, therefore offer those trained in the neurosciences an opportunity to study intelligence to a level of granularity which is beyond comparison to biological systems, while still relevant to them. Additionally, applying neuroscience methods, concepts, and theory to AI systems offers a relatively under-explored avenue to make headwind in the daunting challenges posed by AI safety — both for present-day risks, such as enshrining biases and spreading misinformation, and for future risks, including on existential scales.

In this talk, Tom presents two emerging examples of interactions between neuroscience and AI safety. In the direction of ideas from neuroscience being useful for AI safety, he demonstrates how associative memory has become a tool for interpretability of Transformer-based models. In the opposite direction, he discusses how statistical learning theory and the developmental interpretability research program have applicability in understanding neuroscience phenomena, such as perceptual invariance and representational drift.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

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Jason Crawford, Roots of Progress | Sustainable Technological Futures | Xhope Worldbuilding Course

Fri, 17 May 2024 15:00:34 GMT

Jason Crawford is the founder of The Roots of Progress, where he writes and speaks about the history of technology and the philosophy of progress. Previously, he spent 18 years as a software engineer, engineering manager, and startup founder.

Worldbuilding Course

This session is a part of THE WORLDBUILDING CHALLENGE: CO-CREATING THE WORLD OF 2045. In this virtual and interactive course, we engage with the most pressing global challenges of our age—climate change, the risks of AI, and the complex ethical questions arising in the wake of new technologies. Our aim is to sharpen participants’ awareness and equip them to apply their skills to these significant and urgent issues.

Existential Hope

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Robert Lempert, RAND | On the How & Why of Worldbuilding | Xhope Worldbuilding Course

Fri, 10 May 2024 15:00:33 GMT

Robert Lempert (Ph.D., Applied Physics, Harvard University) is a senior physical scientist at RAND. He is the director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition, a principal researcher at RAND, and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His research focuses on risk management and decision-making under conditions of deep uncertainty. Lempert's work aims to advance the state of art for organizations managing risk in today's conditions of fast-paced, transformative, and surprising change and help organizations adopt these approaches to help make proper stewardship of the future more commonly practised.

Worldbuilding Course

Existential Hope

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Anthony Aguirre, FLI | Why Worldbuilding? | Xhope Worldbuilding Course

Fri, 03 May 2024 15:00:21 GMT

Speaker

Anthony is the Executive Director & Secretary of the Board at the Future of Life Institute, and the Faggin Presidential Professor for the Physics of Information at UC Santa Cruz. He has done research in an array of topics in theoretical cosmology, gravitation, statistical mechanics, and other fields of physics. He also has strong interest in science outreach, and has appeared in numerous science documentaries. He is a creator of the science and technology prediction platform Metaculus.com, and is founder (with Max Tegmark) of the Foundational Questions Institute.

Worldbuilding Course

Existential Hope

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Existential Hope Podcast: Hannu Rajaniemi | On Being a Sci-Fi Author and Biotech Entrepreneur

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 16:22:16 GMT

Speaker

Hannu Rajaniemi is a Finnish American author of science fiction and fantasy, who writes in both English and Finnish. He lives in Oakland, California, and was a founding director of a commercial research organisation ThinkTank Maths.

Episode

Perhaps most famously known for his 2010 release, The Quantum Thief, Rajaniemi is settled firmly in both the science-fiction and the biotech startup worlds. Away from writing, Rajaniemi is the co-founder of Helix Nanotechnologies, a startup building the world's most advanced mRNA platform to create a unified interface to the immune system.

We’ll discuss his ideas on the impact of sci-fi on the real world and explore his views on the upcoming biotechnology wave, including gene editing and biohacking. We then address how these new technologies could be implemented and governed, before finally focusing on an idea that is, at present, only in sci-fi: the immune-computer interface.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Allison Duettmann | On Existential Hope & Existential Risk | Xhope Worldbuilding Course

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:00:52 GMT

Speaker

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize. She advises companies and projects, such as Cosmica, and The Roots of Progress Fellowship, and is on the Executive Committee of the Biomarker Consortium. She holds an MS in Philosophy & Public Policy from the London School of Economics, focusing on AI Safety.

Worldbuilding Course

This session is a part of THE WORLDBUILDING CHALLENGE: CO-CREATING THE WORLD OF 2045. In this virtual and interactive course, we engage with the most pressing global challenges of our age—climate change, the risks of AI, and the complex ethical questions arising in the wake of new technologies. Our aim is to sharpen participants’ awareness and equip them to apply their skills to these significant and urgent issues.

Existential Hope

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Jeff Sebo | Investigating Digital Minds

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 15:00:50 GMT

Jeff Sebo is an American philosopher. He is a clinical associate professor of environmental studies, director of the animal studies MA program, and affiliated professor of bioethics, medical ethics, and philosophy at New York University.

Summary

In this episode, Jeff discusses the consciousness, sentience, agency, and moral and legal status of non-humans – particularly invertebrates and AI systems. He acknowledges the controversy surrounding AI systems' future consciousness and rights, and emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the difficulty of the problem.

About Foresight Institute

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Jules Hedges | Compositional Game Theory – Towards Incentives Modelling at Scale

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 15:00:00 GMT

Jules Hedges is a mathematician and computer scientist who was a pioneer of the recently developed field of applied category theory. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Categorical Cybernetics (https://cybercat.institute), a nonprofit organization for research and open-source software development, and 20squares (https://20squares.xyz/), a startup specializing in applied mechanism design and economic modelling in the blockchain space. By day he is a lecturer in computer science at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

Key Highlights

Compositional game theory is an approach to modelling interactions of strategic agents which is designed to be inherently scalable, in contrast to traditional normal-form and extensive-form games that are unsuitable for anything larger than toy problems. It supports a model-is-code paradigm and reuse of model components, inspired by software engineering. This will be a taster of what it looks like and what it can do, ie in applied mechanism design, smart contract analysis and the theory of institution design.

Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

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Existential Hope Podcast: David Pearce | A Future without Suffering

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 05:21:28 GMT

This month, we talk to David Pearce, a thought leader who is always pushing the boundaries of human potential. Pearce, a philosopher and bioethicist, is best known for his advocacy of transhumanism – the movement that seeks to enhance human capabilities through technology.

We'll explore his ideas on overcoming aging, achieving radical life extension, embracing cognitive enhancement, adn ending all suffering. Join us as we unpack the ethics and possibilities of the future, and discover Pearce's vision for a world where humanity transcends its biological limitations

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Sumner Norman | Neurotech for Mental Health

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 16:00:26 GMT

Sumner Norman is a pioneering figure at the nexus of neuroscience, engineering, and impact-driven entrepreneurship. His research in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) is forging new paths in neurotechnology to transform the lives of those with neurological injuries or diseases. Sumner is the co-founder and CEO of Forest Neurotech, a non-profit “focused research organization” that was founded on ultrasound-based BCIs – a high-performance technique that offers a less invasive approach to sensing and modulating brain function.

Key Highlights

Norman would like to see the barriers of entry to our field significantly lowered to empower researchers and clinicians to contribute new and impactful methods for diagnostics, monitoring, and ultimately better therapies for people living with brain-related disorders.

Forest Neurotech is developing an ultrasound-based interface to sense and stimulate function throughout much of the human brain, bringing hope to the study and treatment of mental health disorders and beyond. To maximize impact, Forest was created as a focused research organization, a novel form of nonprofit startup for science.

Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

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Trent McConaghy | A Solarpunk Vision from AI, Web3 & BCI

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 17:30:09 GMT

Trent McConaghy is the Founder and CTO of Ocean Protocol and BigchainDB, specializing in AI and blockchain technology to democratize data and AI. His work includes advancing decentralized data solutions and ensuring equitable access to AI technologies. McConaghy also contributes to the IPDB Foundation and advises the Estonian E-residency program

Key Highlights

McConaghy presented a solarpunk future, envisioning an optimistic trajectory for humanity. He covered three topics: web3 to sovereign agents, AI to human superintelligence, and defining human goals.
He covered topics including AI superintelligence, humanity's goals, and the transition from web3 to sovereign agents.
McConaghy emphasized the importance of aiming for an optimistic future beyond mere survival – proposing reshaping the cosmos at a macro scale as a potential human endeavour. However, he highlighted the challenge of interstellar travel, noting the time it takes to reach the nearest star beyond our sun.
Discussed established technologies like Bitcoin, decentralized data storage, and decentralized compute platforms like Ethereum; and explored the concept of sovereign agents through smart contracts on Ethereum, emphasizing their autonomous and ungoverned nature.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

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Vision Weekend France: Biotech Panel

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 17:00:25 GMT

Panellists: Alex Fedintsev, Leon Peshkin, Yuri Deigin, and Aleksandra Singer.

Recorded at Vision Weekend France 2023.

Key Highlights

They discussed the field's growth in public acceptance and funding over the past five years – they noted that, whilst reprogramming and longevity research are advancing, overall outcomes in the field haven't been as fruitful as hoped. For example, no groundbreaking concepts have emerged since reprogramming. However, they expressed optimism about the field's future, expecting gradual progress.
The panellists identified organ replacement, including preemptive strategies, as a key research area, as well as the potential for growth in artificially creating organs.
The potential integration of AI and machine learning in longevity biotech, particularly in projects like Alto Labs, was discussed.
They raised questions about the timeline and impact of ageing on future generations.
The discussion ended with an acknowledgement that, despite the optimism, much work remains in longevity biotech research.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

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Vision Weekend France: Energy and Space Panel

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 17:30:49 GMT

Panellists: Andre Losekrug, Michael Gibson, Anders Sandberg, and Robin Hanson.

Recorded at Vision Weekend France 2023.

Energy Key Highlights:

Excitement about energy advancements, specifically in the field of fusion. This could lead to an increased focus on policy changes to address climate change and the building of reactors.
The growing entrepreneurial revolution in fusion, with various start-ups and innovative reactor designs emerging. China's recent approval of a molten salt thorium breeder reactor was highlighted as a further acceptance of nuclear power.

Space Key Highlights:

Advancements in satellite technology and constellations are anticipated, along with the need to explore intermediate solutions between current space exploration and future ambitious projects.
It is noted that space exploration offers opportunities for freedom and innovation, with new approaches to manufacturing and remote sensing potentially leading to breakthroughs in various industries.

Other Topics:

Offshore water restoration, international disputes, prioritizing space development, launch services, space tourism, addressing space debris, and the prediction of detecting extraterrestrial intelligent life within the next century.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

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Existential Hope: Danielle Strachman | Education, Agency, and the Ability to Experiment

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 09:23:50 GMT

Danielle Strachman is a cofounder and general partner of 1517. She has worked with young entrepreneurs for about a decade. In 2010, during the founding of the Thiel Fellowship, Danielle joined to lead the design and operations. She's worked with some of the most prestigious founders, such as Vitalik Buterin and Ritesh Agarwal. Previous to her work with Peter Thiel, Danielle founded and directed Innovations Academy in San Diego, a K-8 charter school serving 400 students, with a focus on student-led project-based learning and other alternative programs.

Session Summary

Danielle envisions a world where fostering personal agency and curiosity is the key to progress. She imagines a future where technology, particularly AI, catalyzes human potential and societal transformation, emphasizing the importance of environments that champion experimentation and a fail-forward mentality.

Specifically, she advocates for special economic zones as laboratories for innovation, suggesting governance that adapts to technological advancements. She dreams of a solarpunk future, where sustainability is achieved through technological and natural harmony. Acknowledging the complexities ahead, she views the journey to this future as requiring a balance between innovation and ethics. Her vision is grounded in the belief in human capacity to navigate the unknown and transform existential risks into opportunities for growth.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

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Vision Weekend France: Intelligent Cooperation Panel

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 17:00:24 GMT

Panellists: Divya Siddarth, Jonathan Prasserat-Palmbach, Lewis Hammond, Primavera De Filippi, Stuart Armstrong, and Trent Mcconaghy.

Recorded at Vision Weekend France 2023.

Key Highlights

Panellists discussed the potential development of intelligent cooperation between humans and AI, focusing on secure collaboration and cryptography methods.

Concerns about AI's impact on society and the economy also arose, and an acknowledgement of the importance of designing AI systems for collaboration with humans and nature was made.
Open source versus closed AI was debated – the risks of opening powerful technologies to a large number of developers vs. the potential for public collaboration and counteracting evil AI models.
Other topics included concerns about governmental control of AI and data, potential risks of AI accidents, abuse, and misalignment, and the intersection of blockchain and AI to create decentralized and sovereign AI systems.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

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Vision Weekend France: Neuotech Panel

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:00:40 GMT

Panellists: Anders Sandberg, Bradley Love, Robin Hanson, Brett Kagan

Recorded at Vision Weekend France 2023.

Key Highlights

The panel explored how brain emulation is increasingly becoming a viable possibility with technological advancements.
They discussed the availability of tools that help understand the neurochemistry and biology of cells, which is crucial for brain emulation. For example, the use of expansion microscopy for imaging neurons on a larger scale was highlighted, showcasing its importance in brain emulation research.
However, they also note that the mapping efforts required for brain emulation are proving to be more complex than initially anticipated.
It was emphasized that there is a critical need for collaboration between biologists and computer scientists in advancing brain emulation research.
They explored the potential of using neurons as an engineering resource to create intelligent devices.
The panel concluded that achieving smaller milestones is crucial before envisioning the broader potential of brain emulation technology.

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Vision Weekend France: Molecular Machines Panel

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 17:30:12 GMT

Panellists: Alexis Courbet, Erik Benson, Stephane Redon, Dean Thomas. Recorded at Vision Weekend France.

Key Highlights

The panel discusses molecular nanotechnology and the potential for compact machines to replace industrial facilities.
They discuss advances in the field, which include protein design, protein folding, and dynamic structures that respond to stimuli.
It is noted how molecular machines can automate the synthesis of other machines, similar to biology – computational protein design allows for the creation of new machines from scratch.
The panel concluded by highlighting the potential for molecular nanotechnology to bridge the gap between organic chemistry and automation.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Gus Docker | Beyond Survival

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 15:44:41 GMT

Gus Docker hosts The Future of Life Institute podcast, which features conversations with prominent researchers, policy experts, philosophers, and influential thinkers of all kinds. Gus studied philosophy and computer science at the University of Copenhagen and is active in Effective Altruism Denmark.

Despite the ongoing threat of existential risks from AI, Gus discusses his excitement about the future's potential. He acknowledges the difficulty in envisioning the far future's technological changes, comparing the gap to that between the Stone Age and today – however, he remains excited about technologies enabling diverse experiences and consciousness exploration. Optimistic, Gus foresees a major positive shift in mental health, where individuals easily manage and enhance their mental well-being, harmonizing happiness and productivity, thus contributing to societal welfare.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Dr. Scott Hubbard | Exploring Mars: Following the Water

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 16:00:57 GMT

Dr. Scott Hubbard has been a leader in space exploration for almost 50 years. His career includes a National Lab, a start-up venture, NASA, and Stanford. At NASA, Dr. Hubbard is best known as Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center, the first Mars Program Director (aka the "Mars Czar"), and the founder of NASA's Astrobiology Institute.

Key Highlights

Hubbard shared his deep passion for Mars and recounted his role in restructuring the Mars program.
He described Mars as the most Earthlike planet, highlighting its potential for past or present life evidence.
The exploration of Mars, as explained by Hubbard, focuses on life, climate, solid rock geology, and human exploration.
Emphasizing the mantra "follow the water," Hubbard underscored water's essential role in supporting all known life forms.
He pointed out the challenges posed by Mars' launch window, occurring every 26 months, which significantly impacts the mission's rocket science and budget.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

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Mark Hamalainen | A Coherent, Executable Plan to Achieve Unlimited Healthy Lifespan

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:00:24 GMT

Mark Hamalainen is cofounder of the Longevity Biotech Fellowship. His career has progressed from manual bench work in academia, to lab automation at Synthego, to longevity movement building - always seeking better methods and higher leverage ways to accelerate progress.

He shares an actionable roadmap for an unlimited healthy lifespan, divided into four promising areas for progress.
He shares updates and information regarding The Longevity Biotech Fellowship, whose mission is to enable a future where everyone can access a healthy, unlimited lifespan.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

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Existential Hope Podcast: Jason Crawford | Progress: An Ever-Evolving Journey

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 10:00:37 GMT

Session Summary: Jason envisages a future marked by dynamic, continuous progress, encapsulated in the concept of protopia. This vision diverges from a traditional notion of a utopia, and instead embraces a reality of constant, incremental improvement. In Jason's view, progress is an ever-evolving journey, not a destination. It's a series of small, significant steps that, over time, lead to profound transformations in our world.

Central to Jason's perspective is the transformative potential of AI, paralleling historical technological leaps like the steam engine and personal computing. He views AI as a catalyst for a new era in human history, one that could redefine societal structures by making high-quality services accessible to a broader demographic. This democratization of resources, akin to services becoming as affordable as a Netflix subscription, could bridge societal gaps. However, Jason emphasizes that this protopian future requires collective agency, responsibility, and a balanced understanding of our role in shaping it. He believes that progress accelerates over time, with each innovation building upon the last, thus speeding up future advancements.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

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Casey Handmer | Why Mars is Hard

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 17:00:35 GMT

Casey Handmer is the founder of Terraform Industries, a company dedicated to gigascale atmospheric hydrocarbon synthesis. His method of creating hydrocarbons promises to be a cheaper and cleaner alternative to traditional oil wells.

Known for his work as an astrophysicist, innovator, and Mars aficionado, Casey is eager to guide us through the intricate landscape of Martian exploration. This presentation explores the scientific, technological, and logistical hurdles that make Mars such a challenging destination. Casey offers an insider’s perspective on our journey towards making human life sustainable on Mars.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

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Matjaz Leonardis | Interpretability and Security of AI Models

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 16:00:31 GMT

Matjaž Leonardis, in collaboration with David Deutsch at the University of Oxford, is advancing the understanding of a theorem by Popper and Miller from 1983, offering new insights into Bayesian updating and its standard interpretations. His research interests span learning and creativity in both humans and machines. Beyond his academic pursuits, Matjaž engages with a wider audience through social media on topics ranging from education to computation.

Key Highlights

The use of ML models for critical decisions and the inherent risks of undetectable back doors influencing results.
Matjaz's paper on the practicality of inserting concealed back doors during ML training and their impact on model integrity.
Challenges to model interpretability and robustness posed by these back doors, alongside their relevance to AI safety.
The call for deeper research into complex ML model vulnerabilities, integrating cryptography to enhance computational clarity.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

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Dr. Anders Sandberg | WBE History and Overview

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 16:00:53 GMT

Dr. Anders Sandberg is a Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, where he specializes in the management of low-probability, high-impact risks and future technology capabilities. With a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience from Stockholm University, his expertise spans computer science, neuroscience, and medical engineering. A cofounder of the think tank Eudoxa and former chairman of the Swedish Transhumanist Association, Sandberg is recognized for his contributions to neuroethics, cognitive enhancement, and global catastrophic risk.

Key Highlights

The impact and growth of the mind uploading research field since its foundational workshop.
The influence of the workshop's roadmap, evidenced by citations across disciplines from humanities to AI safety.
The astounding advancements in biotech, signaling qualitative leaps beyond traditional tech scaling.
Neurotech achievements in setting clear goals, enhancing data interoperability, and developing detailed brain structure simulations.

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

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Kipply Chen | Fireside Chat on AI Alignment

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 16:00:54 GMT

Kipply Chen is part of the data team at Anthropic.

Key Highlights

The swift pace of alignment potentially outpacing AI advancements.
Challenges of coordinating predictive and base model alignment across labs.
Security and policy's critical role in AI safety.
A likely surge in legal issues concerning training data misuse.
The push for an open-source, community-drive alignment community.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
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Existential Hope Podcast: Trent McConaghy | From Starships to Tokens: Pioneering Futures

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 11:39:24 GMT

Trent McConaghy is the founder of Ocean Protocol, a decentralized platform aimed at democratizing AI data sharing while maintaining privacy. With a career starting in AI research for national defence, McConaghy transitioned to entrepreneurship, where his first startup, ADA, was acquired by Synopsys in 2004. His work continued with Solido, an AI venture aiding Moore's Law, culminating in an acquisition by Siemens in 2017. His current venture, Ocean Protocol, follows earlier initiatives like the ascribe NFT platform and BigchainDB. McConaghy's enduring mission is to equalize AI opportunities and ensure humanity's significance in a future of autonomous technology.

Session Summary

This podcast episode delves into Trent McConaghy's integration of AI with global challenges, highlighting his innovative strategies in technology and environmentalism.

The Map: Trent discusses the need for a resource like Wikipedia to show potential technological outcomes – his "Starships and Tokens" outlines pathways to major goals of humanity, from superhuman intelligence to reshaping the cosmos.
AI Evolution and Impact: He highlights AI's growth, especially in creative fields and CAD. Discusses AI-induced job displacement, with UBI as a potential solution. He mentions projects like Nature 2.0 for surplus wealth generation.
AI Superintelligence Challenge: Focuses on keeping humans competitive with AI through high-bandwidth BCIs and addressing regulatory challenges.
Climate Change Strategy: He emphasizes addressing climate change impacts on society, exploring special zones for BCI research and governance adaptations, and stresses the need for aggressive BCI development and jurisdictional arbitrage for research and climate adaptation. He also proposes a climate-focused DAO for legal actions and addressing investment risks in flood-prone areas like Miami.
Vision of Eucatastrophe: Trent's long-term goals for humanity include developing Dyson spheres and achieving human superintelligence.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that we can have more people commit to creating a brighter future and to begin mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project.

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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David Dalrymple | Rethinking Uploading Given 10-Year AI Timelines

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 16:00:10 GMT

David Dalrymple, with a background from MIT and Harvard, is known for his study on Caenorhabditis elegans' nervous system, featured in Nature Methods. At Oxford University, his work spans neuroinformatics, machine learning, and software engineering. He is also a co-inventor of Filecoin.

Key Highlights

A 10-year plan for brain uploading, dismissing certain techniques like neural dust, while highlighting expansion microscopy and immunofluorescence as promising.
The use of AI for parameter estimation from destructive imaging, with a focus on automation for scalability.
Validation techniques involving human brain slices and the application of advanced imaging and experimental methods.
The challenges of dense brain data transfer and the potential solutions through mapping algorithms and axon tracing.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Existential Hope Special: Six Hopeful Visions of the Future

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 16:00:06 GMT

Speaker

Beatrice Erkers reads six Existential Hope Scenarios. Beatrice is the program manager of the Existential Hope program, and Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute. The positive scenarios were a collaborative output from our 2023 Existential Hope Day attendees.

Session Summary

This podcast has been created from our 2023 Existential Hope Day, held earlier this year. This workshop aimed to provide a forum for enhancing our conceptual clarity of what positive futures might look like. This includes understanding the what, how, and why of various ideas to determine their relevance and potential impact. The discussions aimed to deepen our understanding of the term ‘Existential Hope’ and similar concepts, probe why these concepts might have been sidelined, and delve into specific future visions.

The Scenarios

AI-Enabled Personal Flourishing
Multigenerational Habitat in Space
Epistemic Revolution
Good Singularity
Flying Cows
Human-AI Partnership / Paretopia

Dive into our 2023 Existential Hope Day: Report

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that more people can commit to creating a brighter future, and to begin mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project.

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm.

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Jan Leike | Superintelligent Alignment

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 16:00:00 GMT

Jan Leike is a Research Scientist at Google DeepMind and a leading voice in AI Alignment, with affiliations at the Future of Humanity Institute and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. At OpenAI, he co-leads the Superalignment Team, contributing to AI advancements such as InstructGPT and ChatGPT. Holding a PhD from the Australian National University, Jan's work focuses on ensuring AI Alignment.

Key Highlights

The launch of OpenAI's Superalignment team, targeting the alignment of superintelligence in four years.
The aim to automate of alignment research, currently leveraging 20% of OpenAI's computational power.
How traditional reinforcement learning from human feedback may fall short in scaling language model alignment.
Why there is a focus on scalable oversight, generalization, automation interpretability, and adversarial testing to ensure alignment reliability.
Experimentation with intentionally misaligned models to evaluate alignment strategies.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Emilia Javorsky | The Future of AI, Bioengineering, and Human Empathy

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 06:00:11 GMT

Emilia Javorsky, MD, MPH, is the Director of the Futures Program at the Future of Life Institute. A physician-scientist and entrepreneur, she specializes in the development of medical technologies and is a mentor at Harvard's Wyss Institute. Recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 and a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum, Javorsky is committed to guiding emerging technologies towards ethical, safe, and beneficial applications. With a strong foundation in AI, biotech, and nuclear risk management, she champions the responsible evolution of transformative tech for humanity's advancement.

Session Summary

Emilia envisions a future where our innate talents join forces with artificial intelligence to tackle global challenges. This isn't merely about the speed of AI advancements, but how they harmonise with human goals. Emilia stresses the importance of creating positive narratives, ones that integrate AI with genuine human empathy, pointing towards a world where technology complements, not replaces, our connections. To get here, however, she emphasises the need for thoughtful regulation, which moves away from only-theoretical approaches, and promotes an inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach. Emilia sees this pathway as a means to harness AI's capabilities fully. Looking ahead, she believes AI can better human health, pioneer bioengineering, and aid in space exploration, whilst enhancing human connection. For her, it’s more than just mitigating risk – it's about unlocking the vast potential that AI and human collaboration promise.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Hosted by Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Existential Hope Instagram

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Mark Miller | Paperclips and Pyramids: Misdiagnosing AI Risks

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 15:00:29 GMT

Mark S. Miller is the Chief Scientist at Agoric. He is a pioneer of agoric (market-based secure distributed) computing and smart contracts, the main designer of the E and Dr. SES distributed persistent object-capability programming languages, inventor of Miller Columns, an architect of the Xanadu hypertext publishing system, a representative of the ECMAScript committee, a former Google research scientist, and member of the WebAssembly (Wasm) group.

Key Highlights

This podcast addresses common misconceptions about the risks of advanced AI – an example being the paper clip scenario
How more pressing concerns regard one entity gaining unchecked power and that solutions lie not in just dispersing power but in structuring institutions effectively – similar to the separation of powers principle.
The blend of human and AI intelligence is the cornerstone of future civilization, demanding innovative governance to ensure harmony.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

The Foresight Institute

A research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 with a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as your donations fund us entirely!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Dr. Thomas Macrina | AI for Whole Brain Circuit Mapping

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 12:44:54 GMT

Dr. Thomas Macrina, CEO of Zetta AI and possessing a rich background in deploying deep learning to map neural circuits via 3D electron microscopy datasets, explores the rapid advancements in AI-analyzed neuroimaging, offering insights into the accelerated recovery of synaptic-level neural circuits.

Key Highlights

Substantial progress has been realized in the recovery of petascale cortical circuits, with an impending delivery of a whole brain connectome for fruit flies on the horizon.
The talk delves into the intricacies of AI that empower these developments, probing potential pathways to realize the exascale whole-brain connectome of a mouse.

Dive deeper into the session: Full Summary

About Foresight Institute

Allison Duettmann

Get Involved with Foresight:

Apply: Virtual Salons & in-person Workshops
Donate: Support Our Work – If you enjoy what we do, please consider this, as we are entirely funded by your donations!

Follow Us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Note: Explore every word spoken on this podcast through Fathom.fm, an innovative podcast search engine.

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Robert Zubrin | The Mars Society

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for human exploration of Mars. He and his colleague at Martin Marietta, David Baker, were the driving force behind Mars Direct, a proposal in a 1990 research paper intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission.

Summary
Zubrin recaps his early interest and hopes for space exploration. He speaks about the mission creep that plagued space travel efforts in the 90’s and his efforts to make Mars the focus of space travel once again. He is adamantly against on-orbit assembly and the generally more complex plans that people come up with for Mars bases.

He also touched on his interactions with Elon Musk and SpaceX. After founding the Mars Society, Zubrin needed money to develop practice locations for Mars colonization. He held a fundraiser where they met, and from there, Musk was all-in on getting humanity to Mars.

Robert continues to create innovative technologies with his independent company. Even with his success at stimulating SpaceX and other organizations to explore Mars, he continues to push for more progress toward the red planet.

Full session summary: https://foresight.org/summary/robert-zubrin-the-mars-society/

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Existential Hope Podcast: Joe Carlsmith | Infite Ethics and the Sublime Utopia

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Joe Carlsmith is a writer, researcher, and philosopher. He works as a senior research analyst at Open Philanthropy, focusing on existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence. He also writes independently about various topics in philosophy and futurism and has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford.

Much of his work is about trying to help us orient wisely towards humanity’s long-term future. He delves into questions about meta-ethics and rationality at the foundation, feeding into questions about ethics (and especially about effective altruism), which motivate concern for the long-term future.

Session Summary
Join us to explore Joseph Carlsmith’s insights into his ongoing work and thoughts on issues including AI alignment, lesser-known future risks, infinite ethics and digital minds, and the sublime utopia.

Carlsmith shares his concerns in ensuring that advanced AI systems behave beneficially for humanity. However, he emphasizes the importance of broadening the horizon to identify and address other critical factors beyond technical AI alignment. For instance, he delves into infinite ethics, addressing the ethical considerations involving infinite impacts and numbers of people – necessary if we are going to meet future realities.

Despite the challenges, this episode is devoted to the exploration of utopia. Beyond the lesser boundary of a concrete utopia, Carlsmith envisions the sublime utopia: a realm of aspirational goals and visions. Although filled with vulnerabilities tied to hoping for extraordinary and unprecedented outcomes, Carlsmith lays out the essential nature of such a pursuit.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future, so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and to start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here, always featuring a full transcript, artwork inspired by the episode, and a list of recommended resources from the podcast. Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project.

Allison Duettmann is the president and COO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edit

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Sumner Norman | What To Expect From The Next Generation Of Brain-Computer Interfaces

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Sumner is a research scientist with a decade of experience designing brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and neuroprosthetics for people with neurological injury or disease. His research has leveraged existing BCI techniques to awaken new pathways in the brain, restoring movement to people with paralysis.

Summary
Brain computer interfaces have been getting a lot of attention – but what do the next generation of these devices look like? A brain computer interface, or BCI, consists of some kind of brain sensor that feeds information into a decoder to translate into commands. Adoption of these devices could grow exponentially if they can be used to treat depression, anxiety, pain, OCD, and other brain circuit disorders. Current BCI’s can read rudimentary brain activity to allow people to play pong, write words, and play video games. Neuralink has gone a step further and created wireless neural implants that allow the patient to untether themselves from cumbersome machines.

However, the current generation of BCI’s falls short in the categories of longevity and coverage. These devices last around 5 years, and the invasive surgery required to fix the implant is dangerous and probably untenable for most people. They also only cover a very small portion of the brain, less than one half of one percent, so their usefulness is limited.

Sumner proposes that ultrasound might be used to create a BCI that is non-invasive, long lasting, that operates at scale to interact with large swaths of the brain at once. He’s not talking about the ultrasound used for pregnancy tests – a method called functional ultrasound can get down to 100 micron resolution. They detect red blood cell motion and by tracking metabolism they infer neuronal activity. His group has some initial success and believes its possible to use ultrasound to write to the brain along with reading it.

Session summary: https://foresight.org/summary/sumner-norman-what-to-expect-from-the-next-generation-of-brain-computer-interfaces/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

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Stuart Russel | Human Compatible AI

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Stuart Jonathan Russell is a British computer scientist known for his contributions to artificial intelligence. He is a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley and was from 2008 to 2011 an adjunct professor of neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. He holds the Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He founded and leads the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence (CHAI) at UC Berkeley. Russell is the co-author with Peter Norvig of the most popular textbook in the field of AI: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach used in more than 1,500 universities in 135 countries.

Summary
This episode explores the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential impact on humanity. Russel emphasizes the importance of aligning AI systems with human values to ensure their compatibility and avoid unintended consequences. He discusses the risks associated with AI development and proposes the use of provably beneficial AI, which prioritizes human values and addresses concerns such as safety and control. Russel argues for the need to reframe AI research and policymaking to prioritize human well-being and ethical considerations.

Computation: Intelligent Cooperation Foresight Group– Info and apply to join!
https://foresight.org/technologies/computation-intelligent-cooperation/

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Nathan Johnson, Space Court Foundation | Space Court Foundation’s Research Into Foundations and Evolution of Space Law

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Nathan Johnson, a licensed attorney in Washington DC, is the author of the blog and podcast AstroEsq. With expertise in Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law, he has worked at the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation and the US House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Nathan has published articles on topics including orbital debris removal, on-orbit liability, and outer space property rights. He also serves as the Regional Organizer for the Manfred Lachs North America Space Law Moot Court Competition.

Summary
Space Law encompasses international law, treaties, agreements, national laws, regulations, norms, and state practices. The Space Court Foundation, established in 2018, aims to create an updated and inclusive Space Law Library, enabling research on different concepts, rights, and responsibilities. This benefits academics, researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, states, and IGOs applying current law to future activities.

Space: Expanding Outwards Group: https://foresight.org/technologies/space-expanding-outward/

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Steven Byrnes, Astera Institute | Challenges for Safe and Beneficial Brain Like AGI

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Steven Byrnes

Steven Byrnes is a Research Fellow at the Astera Institute, where he is doing research at the intersection of neuroscience and Artificial General Intelligence Safety. His public writing on this topic is listed here.

Before working on AGI Safety, he was a physicist in academia and industry. He has a Physics PhD from UC Berkeley.

Session summary
Researchers will soon develop brain-like algorithms, enabling computers to possess understanding, collaboration, problem-solving abilities, and innovation. To ensure a positive outcome, we must address the challenge of fostering a desirable intelligent species and establishing mutual willingness to coexist. By leveraging our understanding of brain algorithms, we can shape this future. Steven proposes a scenario where ~96% of the human brain is dedicated to scaled-up learning algorithms, where AGI could be achieved in decades – with the continued issue of ensuring prosocial motivations.

https://foresight.org/summary/steven-byrnes-astera-institute-challenges-for-safe-and-beneficial-brain-like-agi/

Neurotech Group: https://foresight.org/technologies/neurotech-improving-cognition/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Liv Boeree | Game Theory, Moloch & Our Hopeful Future

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Liv Boeree is a British science communicator, television presenter and former professional poker player. She is a World Series of Poker and European Poker Tour champion, and is the only female player in history to win both a WSOP bracelet and an EPT event.

In this episode, we explore the intellectual and ethical journey of Liv Boeree. A former professional poker player, Liv has transitioned into the realm of effective altruism, motivated by a desire for meaningful social impact. We discuss her early interest in science, the competitive allure of poker, and the ethical questions that led her to reevaluate the zero-sum dynamics of the game. The conversation also delves into broader issues such as misaligned incentives in competitive settings and collective action problems. Tune in for a look at the complexities of competition and cooperation in modern society.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute, and program manager of the Existential Hope group. Her special interest in the integration of technology and society has led her to work for Foresight Institute.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our&

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Sonia Arrison, Longevity Mentorship | Career Counselling

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 15:00:00 GMT

Sonia is a longevity investor via her company 100+ Capital, a women’s investor group called Portfolia, and advises BioVerge here in Silicon Valley. She also spends time helping the Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4LI). She is helping A4LI streamline the political processes for advancing longevity research and therapies. When Sonia first moved to California from Canada in 1999, she helped educate congresspeople about the internet and digital technologies. She soon became interested in nanotechnology, and by extension the Foresight Institute. Her interests then turned toward longevity, and she began writing articles here and there about the topic. Peter Thiel convinced her to turn those articles into a book, “100+: how the coming age of longevity will change everything”.

This podcast explores valuable insights and guidance on career choices in the context of emerging technologies. Sonia Arrison shares her expertise and advice on navigating career paths in a rapidly evolving world. The discussion delves into topics such as the impact of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and other emerging fields on the job market, as well as strategies for finding fulfilling and impactful careers in these areas.

Session Summary: https://foresight.org/summary/career-counseling-with-sonia-arrison/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-s

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Lewis Hammond, Cooperative AI | Introduction to Cooperative AI

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Lewis is based at the University of Oxford where he is a DPhil candidate in computer science and a DPhil affiliate at the Future of Humanity Institute. He is also the acting executive director of the Cooperative AI Foundation, an affiliate at the Centre for the Governance of AI, and a fellow at the Foresight Institute. His research concerns safety, control, and incentives in multi-agent systems and in practice spans game theory, formal methods, and machine learning. Before coming to Oxford he obtained a BSc in mathematics and philosophy from the University of Warwick and an MSc in artificial intelligence from the University of Edinburgh.

In this talk I will provide an introduction to cooperative AI – a growing subfield of AI (safety) research that seeks to improve the cooperative intelligence of artificial agents and thus their ability to increase the joint welfare of humans, machines, and groups thereof. After motivating the importance of cooperation in the context of AI, I will highlight the location of cooperative AI within the broader landscape of AI safety research (most of which considers only single-agent settings) and provide several examples of problems and progress in this area. I will also provide a brief introduction to the Cooperative AI Foundation, a new charitable organisation that seeks to build the field.

Session summary

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Daron Acemoglu | New Paths For Human-Technology Synergy

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 22:00:00 GMT

In this episode we welcome renowned academic and author, Daron Acemoglu, Institute professor and Economist at MIT.

Drawing upon his rich experiences and his forthcoming book 'Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity,' Acemoglu navigates the complex landscape of technological progress. He sheds light on how technology can either sideline or empower humans, depending on how it's harnessed. With a focus on the potential for technological disparity and the importance of steering advancements towards inclusivity, Acemoglu's insights provoke thoughtful reflection.

Whether you're a technologist, an economist, or simply someone intrigued by the future of our society, this episode with Daron Acemoglu will offer you fresh perspectives on the intersection of technology, economics, and power dynamics.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies.

Allison Duettmann is the president and COO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public.

Beatrice Erkers is Director of the Existential Hope project at Foresight Institute. Her special interest in the integration of technology and society has led her to work for Foresight Institute.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Joseph Mascaro | The Evolution of Space Technology: From Spin-offs to Exaptation

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Joseph Mascaro

Joe Mascaro is a tropical ecologist and Director, Science Strategy & Programs at Planet, a public benefit corporation that operates the largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites. Joe works with scientists, universities and space agencies to utilize Planet’s unprecedented imaging resources to enhance primary research and education, improve forest monitoring and conservation, expand food security, and promote ecological resilience for some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Joe discusses transfer of innovations from one segment to another; these “exaptations” in technology occur when an innovation, designed to solve a problem, becomes important in solving a different problem. Originally defined in the context of evolutionary biology, exaptation may be one of the most important outcomes of space exploration and space-based Earth observation science. In the effort to image the whole Earth every day, for example, Planet innovated novel solutions to Earth imaging payloads, which have had important follow on effects in Earth science that were not anticipated—including improving our understanding of hydrology, cryosphere dynamics and geomorphology. These examples are likely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Farer-flung examples from the human spaceflight industry are also discussed.

See here: https://foresight.org/summary/joseph-mascaro-the-evolution-of-space-technology-from-spin-offs-to-exaptation/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Divya Siddarth | Collective Intelligence for Collective Progress

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Divya Siddarth

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Chris Eliasmith, University of Waterloo | How to Build a Brain

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Dr. Chris Eliasmith is jointly appointed in Philosophy and Systems Design Engineering, and cross-appointed to Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. He has supervised students in each of these departments as well as Biology and Psychology.

Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience (CTN)
He is currently the director of this Centre. The Centre is a focal point for researchers across faculties (math, engineering, arts, science) interested in computational and theoretical models of neural systems.

The Computational Neuroscience Research Group (CNRG) is his research lab, and is part of the CTN. He is the head of the lab.

Dr Eliasmith's most recent book is called 'How to build a brain' (Oxford University Press, Amazon link). Work described there has been widely covered in the popular press.

Session summary

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Sara Walker | Unraveling Life's Beginnings with the Cosmic Perspective

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 22:00:00 GMT

In this episode we engage with renowned physicist Sara Walker on topics of life's origin, artificial intelligence, and our cosmic future. We delve into Walker's career journey, which starts from her fascination with physics at a community college and leads her to question the origin of life as a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University.

Walker talks about how understanding life's origins is an open frontier that could potentially reshape our perspective of ourselves and our future, the role of AI in comprehending life's structure and origins, and its planetary-scale implications for humanity.

We also hear Walker's advice for young researchers stepping into this field. Tune in for a captivating exploration into life's deepest enigmas!

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute, and program manager of the Existential Hope group. Her special interest in the integration of technology and society has led her to work for Foresight Institute.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reason, Fight Aging | Towards Biotechnology to Finally Defeat Cholesterol

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Reason is co-founder and CEO of Repair Biotechnologies. He has been an active angel investor in the longevity industry since its earliest days, with investments including Oisin Biotechnologies and Leucadia Therapeutics. He is a long-standing and well-connected patient advocate for aging research, involved in numerous fundraising and outreach initiatives conducted by organizations such as the Methuselah Foundation and SENS Research Foundation since the early 2000s. He is also the founder and writer of Fight Aging!, a noted news and commentary website in the biotechnology community.

Cholesterol is presented as much an enemy as a friend in this look at how direct clearance of localized excess cholesterol outperforms other strategies in a number of important medical conditions.

Session summary: Reason, Fight Aging | Towards Biotechnology to Finally Defeat Cholesterol - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Kevin Kelly | Pioneering Visions of a High-Tech Future

Thu, 25 May 2023 22:00:00 GMT

In this episode of Foresight’s Existential Hope Podcast, our special guest is Kevin Kelly, an influential figure in technology, culture, and optimism for the future. As the founding executive editor of Wired and former editor of Whole Earth Review, Kelly's ideas and perspectives have shaped generations of thinkers and technologists.

Join our hosts Allison Duettmann and Beatrice Erkers as they delve into Kelly's philosophies and experiences, from witnessing technological shifts over the decades to fostering optimism about the future. Kelly shares details about his latest book, a collection of optimistic advice in tweet form, and talks about his current project envisioning a desirable hi-tech future 100 years from now.

He also discusses the transformative power of the internet as an accelerant for learning, the underestimated long-term effects of being online, and the culture-changing potential of platforms like YouTube. If you're interested in the intersection of technology, optimism, and the future, this podcast episode is a must-listen.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece here.

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future, so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and to start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here, always featuring a full transcript, artwork inspired by the episode, and a list of recommended resources from the podcast.

Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project. The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Beatrice Erkers is COO at Foresight Institute, and program manager of the Existential Hope group. Her special interest in the integration of technology and society has led her to work for Foresight Institute.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Career Advice from Jaan Tallinn | Future of Life Institute, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk

Thu, 18 May 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Jaan Tallinn is a co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk in Cambridge, the Future of Life Institute in Cambridge and a founding engineer of Skype.

Session summary: Foresight Mentorship with Jaan Tallinn - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zaki Manian, Iqlusion | Shielded Transaction Special

Wed, 10 May 2023 22:00:00 GMT

How can #shieldedtransactions/#privacy-protecting initiatives change the way we interact in society? What can we do to safeguard our identities in the future of this #crypto economy? Are there certain utopias and dystopias to embrace or to avoid?

Zaki Manian wears many hats in the blockspace. He is currently a cofounder of the iqlusion. They are working Armistice, an open source hardware security solution. Iqlusion advises, and supports a number of blockchain projects. He is also an advisor to the Electric Coin Company. He taught himself after college software engineering, programming and computer science. From 2008-2013, he was tech lead on scientific instrumentation product at ReaMetrix. He started an enterprise blockchain company called Skuchain in 2014 and started teaching himself cryptography.

In 2017, Zaki co-founded the Trusted IoT Alliance and iqlusion, and also started contributing more to Cosmos. He helped build the first validator dashboard and then Figment ran with the idea. He helped launch the first public Cosmos testnets. He spent a lot of 2018 working part time at All In Bits, building out the validator ecosystem, and figuring how to do quality assurance to enable the Cosmos launch.

After All In Bits proved too unstable to finish the work, he resigned in Feb 2019 and is completing the IBC work with the community from contributors from Agoric, Interchain Berlin and Informal.
https://zaki.manian.org/

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

The host, Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natalie Dullerud | CaPC – Confidential and Private Collaborative Learning

Thu, 04 May 2023 22:00:00 GMT

Natalie Dullerud is a first-year PhD student at Stanford University and recently received her Master’s from University of Toronto. She previously graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from University of Southern California, with minors in computer science and chemistry. Natalie’s research largely focuses on machine learning through differential privacy, algorithmic fairness, and applications to clinical and biological settings.

Machine learning benefits from large training datasets, which may not always be possible to collect by any single entity, especially when using privacy-sensitive data. In many contexts, such as healthcare and finance, separate parties may wish to collaborate and learn from each other’s data but are prevented from doing so due to privacy regulations. This talk will describe Confidential and Private Collaborative (CaPC) Learning, a recently published framework that allows entities to collaborate via privacy-preserving mechanisms in order to improve their own local models and maintain data privacy, from both a cryptographic and differentially private definition. The talk will encompass current definitions, concerns and techniques in the private distributed learning setting, then turn to the technical details and advantages to CaPC in practical settings.

Session summary: Natalie Dullerud | CaPC - Confidential and Private Collaborative Learning - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Existential Hope Podcast: David Deutsch | On Beauty, Knowledge, and Progress

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 12:00:00 GMT

David Deutsch, a physicist and writer, has a broad interest in fundamental concepts. He is credited with discovering the first quantum algorithm and, together with Richard Jozsa, discovering the first quantum algorithm capable of solving certain problems exponentially faster than classical computer science.

Deutsch discusses the intersection of beauty, knowledge, and progress in this episode of Foresight's Existential Hope Podcast. Deutsch's innovative work on quantum algorithms and constructor theory is explored, along with his insights on critical thinking, AI alignment, education, and human progress. The conversation is enlightening and thought-provoking, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in cutting-edge ideas and research.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: https://www.existentialhope.com/podcasts

Beatrice Erkers is COO at Foresight Institute, and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in the publishing industry and has several years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house. Her special interest in the integration of technology and society has led her to work for Foresight Institute.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avichal Garg, Electric Capital | What does the future hold for shielded transactions?

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 12:00:00 GMT

What does the future hold for shielded transactions? How can #shieldedtransactions/#privacy-protecting initiatives change the way we interact in society? What can we do to safeguard our identities in the future of this #crypto economy? Are there certain utopias and dystopias to embrace or to avoid?

*Avichal Garg, Electric Capital | Shielded Transaction Special | Trailer*
Avichal Garg is a co-founder and partner on the investment team at Electric Capital. He is a successful serial entrepreneur with executive experience at Google and Facebook, which acquired his previous company in 2012. At Facebook he was Director of Product Management for the Local product group, a team of 400 engineers responsible for billions in revenue.

Prior to Electric, Avichal was an investor in crypto projects such as Anchorage, Bitwise, Celo, dYdX, Lightning Labs, and OpenSea and unicorns such as Airtable, Boom Supersonic, Color Genomics, Cruise, Deel, Figma, Material Secutiy, Newfront Insurance, Notion, Nova Credit, and Pulley.
https://avichal.com/

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

V. Gladyshev, M. Moqri, V.Sebastiano | Quantifying Aging

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 12:00:00 GMT

Vadim Gladyshev is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Center for Redox Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Associate Member of the Broad Institute.

Mahdi Moqri is an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in Aging Research at the Sebastiano Lab at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford, and a visiting scholar at the Gladyshev Lab at Harvard Medical School.

Mahdi Moqri is an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in Aging Research at the Sebastiano Lab at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford, and a visiting scholar at the Gladyshev Lab at Harvard Medical School.

With the rapid expansion of aging biology research, identification and evaluation of longevity interventions in humans have become key goals of this field. Biomarkers of aging are critically important tools in achieving these objectives over realistic timeframes. Here, we advance a framework for characterizing and assessing biomarkers of aging, including consensus terminology for several key concepts in this space. We propose classification of existing biomarkers and evaluate their feasibility, age-sensitivity, mechanistic underpinnings, and response criteria.

Session summary: V. Gladyshev, M. Moqri, V.Sebastiano | Quantifying Aging - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neurotech Special: Whole Brain Emulation and Artificial General Intelligence

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 22:00:00 GMT

This Neurotech Special: Whole Brain Emulation and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Virtual Meeting Seminar brings together leading researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs to discuss the latest advances in whole brain emulation (WBE) and its implications for AGI. This seminar aims to explore the technical, ethical, and societal challenges that emerge as we venture into the realm of replicating and augmenting human intelligence.

Session summary: https://foresight.org/summary/neurotech-special-wbe-agi-virtual-seminar-meeting/

Upcoming workshop on the topic: https://foresight.org/whole-brain-emulation-workshop-2023/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Anders Sandberg | Grand Futures & The Post-Human Coral Reef

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 16:00:00 GMT

In this episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, we have the pleasure of interviewing Anders Sandberg, a Swedish philosopher, and researcher at the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University.

During our conversation with Anders, we explore the concept of grand futures and what it means to strive for them as a society. We discuss the potential benefits and risks of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and biotechnology, and how we can navigate these developments responsibly.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Anders Sandberg | Grand Futures & The Post-Human Coral Reef

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute, and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in publishing and years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marta Belcher, Filecoin Foundation | Privacy & Law in the Age of AI | Shielded Transaction Special

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 19:00:00 GMT

How can #shieldedtransactions/#privacy-protecting initiatives change the way we interact in society? What can we do to safeguard our identities in the future of this #crypto economy? Are there certain utopias and dystopias to embrace or to avoid?

Marta Belcher, Filecoin Foundation - Shielded Transaction Special
Marta Belcher is president and chair of the Filecoin Foundation and head of policy at Protocol Labs. Marta also serves on the Boards of the Zcash Foundation and the Blockchain Association, and is a member of Paradigm’s Policy Council. Marta is a pioneer in blockchain law and policy, and has testified in Congress and state legislatures as well as speaking in European Parliament.

Marta has submitted briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. appellate courts for high-profile public interest organizations, including EFF, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Public Knowledge, the Cato Institute, the National Consumers' League, Project Gutenberg, and the Blockchain Association. Marta has been recognized by the Financial Times Innovative Lawyer awards, by Law360’s list of Top Attorneys Under 40, by CryptoWeekly’s list of Most Influential Women in Crypto, and as Business Intelligence Group’s Woman of the Year.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bryan Johnson | Blueprint Rejuvenation Athlete

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 23:00:00 GMT

Bryan Johnson, Kernel

Bryan Johnson is founder & CEO of Kernel, creator of the world’s first mainstream non-invasive neuroimaging system; OS Fund, where he invested $100M in the predictable engineering of atoms, molecules, and organisms into companies now collectively valued over $6B; and Blueprint, an endeavor to achieve humanity and earth scale cooperation starting within Self.

Bryan Johnson and Allison Duettmann discuss Kernel, BluePrint, and the Rejuvenation Olympics. Bryan shares the connection between the projects, the principles that made BluePrint a success for him, surprising findings he encountered, why it’s vegan, and how to do an MVP version of the program. They discuss how Bryan is planning on scaling rejuvenation efforts via the rejuvenation olympics, and how both BluePrint, and the Rejuvenation Olympics fit into his larger plan of updating humanity via self reflection, evolving ourselves, new economic incentives, embracing AI, a global immune system, working on hard problems, and updating our belief systems. The seminar finishes with an audience Q&A.

Session summary: Bryan Johnson | Blueprint Rejuvenation Athlete - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robin Hanson, George Mason University | Deflecting The Sacred

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 23:00:00 GMT

Robin Dale Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University and a research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. He is known as an expert on idea futures and markets, and he was involved in the creation of the Foresight Exchange and DARPA’s FutureMAP project. He invented market scoring rules like LMSR (Logarithmic Market Scoring Rule) used by prediction markets such as Consensus Point (where Hanson is Chief Scientist), and has conducted research on signaling.

When attempting to affect change in the world, you will inevitably run up against concepts that others consider sacred. This creates a very tough barrier to change, especially if you are trying to change something like democracy, family, or religion. The essence of sacred is the bond shared between those who consider a particular idea sacred. It’s difficult to see things the same when seeing them in high resolution, so sacred things tend to be seen in abstract detail, even when looking at them up close, to allow for concensus.

Session Summary: Robin Hanson, George Mason University | Deflecting The Sacred - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Lee Cronin | Catalyzing Progress through Chemistry

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 23:00:00 GMT

Lee Cronin is a Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, with a passion for science and technology since childhood.

In this thrilling episode of the podcast, we sit down with the brilliant Lee Cronin, an acclaimed scientist, and researcher in the field of chemical synthesis and molecular self-assembly. With his groundbreaking work at the forefront of synthetic chemistry, Lee Cronin offers us an unparalleled glimpse into the world of creating new forms of matter and pushing the boundaries of scientific exploration.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Lee Cronin | Catalyzing Progress through Chemistry (existentialhope.com)

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute, and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in the publishing industry and has several years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!
We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.
Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Allison Duettmann, Foresight Institute | The Long term Potential of Cryptocommerce

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 23:00:00 GMT

Allison Duettmann, Foresight Institute

Alison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Groups, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees. She shares Foresight’s work with the public, for instance at the Wall Street Journal, SXSW, O’Reilly AI, WEF, The Partnership on AI, Effective Altruism Global, and TEDx. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize…
Allison gave opening remarks about the potential for cryptocommerce. Although opportunities for bright futures enabled by bio, nano, and AI technologies are now within our reach, their proliferation also comes with risks and authoritarian attempts at control. Cryptographic tools can help us navigate the traps because they enable decentralized, secure cooperation, thereby unlocking a path of high technology, security, and freedom.

Allison Duettmann, Foresight Institute
The Long-term Potential of Cryptocommerce

This was recorded at the Foresight Crypto, Security & AI Workshop,
October 4-5 @50 Years in San Francisco.

Session summary: Allison Duettmann, Foresight Institute | The Long term Potential of Cryptocommerce - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable us

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Mark S. Miller, Agoric | Computational Markets & Agoric Systems

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 23:00:00 GMT

Mark Miller, Agoric

Mark S. Miller is a Chief Scientist at Agoric. He is a pioneer of agoric (market-based secure distributed) computing and smart contracts, the main designer of the E and Dr. SES distributed persistent object-capability programming languages, inventor of Miller Columns, and an architect of the Xanadu hypertext publishing system.

Humans cooperate through institutions to solve problems that could not be solved individually. Civilization as a whole is the superintelligent ecosystem emergent of those interactions. However, the infrastructure that enables cooperation has extremely bad security. The exploitation of these vulnerabilities are currently still limited by human effort, but AI is already changing the ability to exploit these systems. Securing the foundation for cooperation is necessary if we want civilization to be resistant to emerging technologies, and there are promising projects we can support today.

This was recorded at the Foresight Crypto, Security & AI Workshop,
October 4-5 @50 Years in San Francisco.

Session summary: Mark S. Miller, Agoric | Computational Markets & Agoric Systems - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Juan Benet, Filecoin | Crypto Tools for Paretotopia

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 23:00:00 GMT

What types of crypto tools can help enable paretotopian futures? Listen to Juan Benet present on what he considers to be the most promising tools.

This video was recorded at the Foresight Crypto, Security & AI Workshop,
October 4-5 @50 Years in San Francisco.

Juan Benet is the inventor of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a new protocol to make the web faster, safer, and more open, and Filecoin, a cryptocurrency-incentivized storage network. The IPFS Project has grown into a large open-source movement to re-decentralize the web, safeguard our data, and improve our applications. Juan is the founder of Protocol Labs, the internet tech R&D lab that develops IPFS and Filecoin. He studied Computer Science at Stanford University and is obsessed with knowledge, science, and technology.

Crypto can be used as a massive lever to move us toward paratotopia. The concept of paratotopia is based off of an ideal outcome between two competing interests. Juan believes the pie of resources can be grown via crypto technology to produce better cooperation. Altering incentive structures could stimulate large untapped resources to be deployed toward the most impactful projects that further the common good.

Session summary: Juan Benet, Filecoin | Crypto Tools for Paretotopia - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Existential Hope Podcast: David Leigh | Exploring the possibilities of nanotechnology

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 23:00:00 GMT

David Leigh is a scientist who designs and synthesizes artificial molecular motors and machines from first principles.

In this episode, we sit down with special guest David Leigh, a molecular scientist at the University of Manchester and a pioneer in the field of Nanotechnology. David shares his journey in the field, from his expertise to his time mentoring junior scientists. He also shares his vision of existential hope, given the trajectory our society is taking and all the possibilities that can come from emerging nanotechnological findings.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: David Leigh | Exploring the possibilities of nanotechnology

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future, so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute, and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in publishing and has several years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in-person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Existential Hope Podcast: Adam Brown | A Theoretical Physicist's Take on the Future

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 16:00:00 GMT

Adam Brown is a theoretical physicist at Stanford, interested in early universe cosmology, inflation, black holes, and assorted other topics. His academic papers can be found on the arXiv.

In this episode of the Existential Hope podcast, renowned theoretical physicist Adam Brown shares his insights on the future of physics and cosmology. From his work on black holes and the early universe to his thoughts on the potential risks and opportunities for the future.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Adam Brown | A Theoretical Physicist's Take on the Future (existentialhope.com)

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in the publishing industry and has several years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

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Career Advice from Sonia Arrison, 100+ Capital

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 23:00:00 GMT

Sonia Arrison, 100+ Capital

Sonia Arrison is a longevity investor via her company 100+ Capital, a women’s investor group called Portfolia, and advises BioVerge here in Silicon Valley. She also spends time helping the Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4LI). She is helping A4LI streamline the political processes for advancing longevity research and therapies.

When Sonia first moved to California from Canada in 1999, she helped educate congresspeople about the internet and digital technologies. She soon became interested in nanotechnology, and by extension the Foresight Institute. Her interests then turned toward longevity, and she began writing articles here and there about the topic. Peter Thiel convinced her to turn those articles into a book – “100+: how the coming age of longevity will change everything”.

She was later pulled into a project with Ryan Bethencourt at IndieBio, becoming his first investor. That catalyzed her role as an angel investor in the longevity biotech space. Around that same time, she was involved in Singularity University. She realized how investable the longevity space had become, and rather than write yet another book she became a major investor in the longevity space.

Session summary: Career Counseling with Sonia Arrison - Foresight Institute

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Existential Hope Podcast: Robin Hanson | On Futurism and his Best Career Advice

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 23:00:00 GMT

Is Robin Hanson feeling hopeful about the future? What future does he want to see? How big can the future be? In this episode of the Existential Hope podcast, we ask Robin Hanson about his reflections on the future, and we also collect his best career advice.

Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University and a research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University.

Robin speaks on how people tend to think about the future, his Grabby Alien paper and the Fermi Paradox, his career as a researcher within multiple fields, and much more!

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Robin Hanson | On Futurism & His Best Career Advice

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future, so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and to start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute, and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in publishing and years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in-person workshops here!
We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.
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Emil Kendziorra, Max More | How do you sign up to cryonics?

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Should cryonics be our plan A for life extension? If so, how do you sign up to cryonics? In this episode of the podcast Emil Kendziorra and Max More answers all the most common (and uncommon) questions about signing up for cryonics.

Emil Kendziorra received his doctoral degree in translational cancer research. Between 2009 and 2019 he founded, grew, and then sold multiple medical- and tech startups by himself. In the medical field, he founded MedLanes, a service that provides medical home visits at the press of a button, even during Covid times.

Max More is a philosopher and futurist who writes, speaks, and consults on advanced decision-making about emerging technologies. He is the current Ambassador and President Emeritus (as of February 2021) after serving almost nine and a half years as president and CEO of Alcor Life Extension Foundation.

The process of cryonics involves SST – standby stabilization and transport, which is the emergency response to death. Then the team removes as much blood as possible from the body because it contains a lot of water, and replaces it with a cryoprotectant solution. Rapid cooldown comes next, then slow cooldown to cool and freeze the body so it can be stored in cryogenic dewars.

Session summary: Emil Kendziorra, Max More | Cryonics Sign-Up Q&A + Demo - Foresight Institute

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Balaji Srinivasan | The Pseudonymous Economy & Transhumanism

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Why is cryptography so important today? And why are so many missing out on its importance? This episode feature Balaji Srinivasan.

Balaji Srinivasan is an angel investor and entrepreneur. Formerly the CTO of Coinbase and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, he was also the co-founder of Earn.com (acquired by Coinbase), Counsyl (acquired by Myriad), Teleport (acquired by Topia), and Coin Center.

Balaji believes it’s easier to start another country than to reform the FDA. His goal is the Network State, a state formed not from geographical borders but from connections over the internet. A network state is a highly aligned online community with the capacity for action that crowdfunds territory around the world and which gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states.

Session summary: Balaji Srinivasan | The Pseudonymous Economy & Transhumanism - Foresight Institute

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Existential Hope Podcast: Creon Levit | On the future of space

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Are we alone in the universe? What could a future for humans in space look like? And what would Creon's advise to Elon Musk be if he wants to make a self-sufficient mass colony there?
Creon Levit is the chief technologist at Planet Labs, where he works to move the world toward existential hope via novel satellite technologies. He also hosts Foresight Institute's Space Group. Creon speaks on his experiences working with NASA & Planet Labs and much more!

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Existential Hope: Creon Levit | On space and the long-term future

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future, so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in publishing and years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Jason Crawford, Roots of Progress | Why We Need A New Philosophy of Progress

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 22:00:00 GMT

What happened to the idea of progress? How do we regain our sense of agency? And how do we move forward, in the 21st century and beyond?

Jason Crawford
I am the founder of The Roots of Progress, a nonprofit dedicated to establishing a new philosophy of progress for the 21st century. I write and speak about the history and philosophy of progress, especially in technology and industry. I am also the creator of Progress Studies for Young Scholars, an online learning program about the history of technology for high schoolers, and a part-time technical consultant and adviser to Our World in Data.

Session summary: (425) Jason Crawford | A New Philosophy of Progress - YouTube

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Existential Hope Podcast: Richard Mallah, FLI | How Aligned AI Could Help Us Create A Flourishing Future

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 18:00:00 GMT

What could the world be if we managed to get aligned AI? And are we able to make such a future happen?

This episode of the Existential Hope podcast features Richard Mallah, Director of AI Projects at the Future of Life Institute, where he works to support the robust, safe, beneficent development and deployment of advanced artificial intelligence.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Richard Mallah | How Aligned AI Could Help Us Create A Flourishing Future

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future, so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and to start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in publishing and years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house. Her special interest in the integration of technology and society has led her to work for Foresight Institute.

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Shielded Transactions | Who Should Control Your Privacy? (with Whyrusleeping)

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 22:00:00 GMT

How private is too private when we're talking about #privacy? Is it moral for our private identities to exist in a grey area system? What does a future with machine privacy like #ZeroKnowledgeProofs hold?

In this episode of #ShieldedTransactions, we chat with Whyrusleeping, an engineer at Protocol Labs and #Zcash advocate, about what the future will look like in a post zksnarks world and how we need to protect our identities in a future that relies so heavily on machine learning and complex systems.

Session Summary: (423) Shielded Transactions | Who Should Control Your Privacy? (with Whyrusleeping) - YouTube

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Tom Kalil | Career Counseling with Chief Innovation Officer at Schmidt Futures

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 09:00:00 GMT

Tom Kalil is Chief Innovation Officer at Schmidt Futures. In this role, Tom leads initiatives to harness technology for societal challenges, improve science policy, and identify and pursue 21st-century moonshots.

Session summary: Tom Kalil | Foresight Fellows Career Counseling - Foresight Institute

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Shielded Transactions | Bitcoin's Privacy Problem (with Zooko Wilcox)

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 21:00:00 GMT

"What does the history of #cryptography look like? What's the connection between #Bitcoin and #privacy coin #Zcash?

In this episode of Shielded Transactions, we talk to privacy coin advocate, #Zcash founder, and Electric Coin Company CEO Zooko Wilcox, who discusses his early days as part of the cypherpunk movement, and the real threats to democracy our society's lack of privacy poses.

Foresight Intelligent Cooperation group
Join the Intelligent Cooperation group: https://foresight.org/technologies/computation-intelligent-cooperation/

Session summary: (425) Shielded Transactions | Bitcoin's Privacy Problem (with Zooko Wilcox) - YouTube

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Existential Hope Podcast: Morgan Levine | On Aging and the Future

Fri, 26 Aug 2022 15:00:00 GMT

What could our future be like if we could significantly slow down aging?

Morgan Levine is a ladder-rank Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the Yale School of Medicine and a member of both the Yale Combined Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and the Yale Center for Research on Aging.

‍In this episode of the Existential Hope podcast, Morgan speaks on what she thinks the future of aging will look like, and what her hopes are.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Morgan Levine | On the Future of Aging (existentialhope.com)

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 with a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in publishing and years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in-person workshops here!
We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.
Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Stuart Armstrong & Robin Hanson: Iterate The Game | Gaming the Future Chapter 10

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Gaming the Future: Technologies for Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation

Stuart Armstrong is the co-founder of Aligned AI, a deeptech company for solving artificial intelligence alignment and ensuring human flourishing throughout the future. He is also a mentor for the Foresight Institute, an Advisor of the AI Safety Camp, and has appeared in several documentaries (“Alien Worlds”, “The Future of Life and Death”, “Odyssey”) and interviews on AI and the future of space exploration. He was recently a member of the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University, trying to protect humanity from the largest risks of this century.

Robin Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, and research associate at the Future of Humanity Institute of Oxford University. He has a doctorate in social science from the California Institute of Technology, master’s degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of Chicago, and nine years of experience as a research programmer, at Lockheed and NASA.

This episode is a discussion on chapter 10 of the book: ITERATE THE GAME | Racing Where?

Session summary: Stuart Armstrong & Robin Hanson: Iterate The Game | Gaming the Future Ch. 10 - Foresight Institute

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Trent McConaghy & Steve Omohundro: Welcome New Players | Gaming the Future Book Club Chapter 9

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Gaming the Future: Technologies for Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation

Trent McConaghy: I’m working on Ocean Protocol. Ocean is a public utility network to safely & securely share AI data while preserving privacy. It has applications to data marketplaces and digital sovereignty.

Steve Omohundro: Steve has been a scientist, professor, author, software architect, and entrepreneur. He is a Research Scientist at Facebook working on AI-based simulation. He has degrees in Physics and Mathematics from Stanford and a Ph.D. in Physics from U.C. Berkeley. He was an award-winning computer science professor at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and cofounded the Center for Complex Systems Research. He was the Chief Scientist of AIBrain and served on its Board of Directors. He was the Founder and CEO of Possibility Research which worked to develop new foundations for Artificial Intelligence based on precise mathematical semantics and Self-Aware Systems which worked to make intelligent technologies beneficial for humanity.

This episode is a discussion on chapter 9 of the book: WELCOME NEW PLAYERS | Artificial Intelligences

Session summary: T. McConaghy & S. Omohundro: WELCOME NEW PLAYERS | Gaming the Future Book Club Chapter 9 - Foresight Institute

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Shielded Transactions: Andrew Miller, IUIC, ZCash Foundation, IC3 | Shielded Transactions Special

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 08:00:00 GMT

A Special Podcast Series on Zero-knowledge-enabled Cooperation, sponsored by Zcash-Foundation

This is a three part privacy podcast series, #ShieldedTransactions, that examines the increasing surveillance of contemporary society, and the effective tech solutions that can help change that.

Andrew Miller
I'm an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in Electrical and Computer Engineering and affiliate in Computer Science. I'm also an Associate Director of the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts (IC3) and a board member of the Zcash Foundation and Ethereum Enterprise Alliance. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Maryland Cybersecurity Center. I am Director of the Decentralized Systems Lab at UIUC!

Session summary: (425) Shielded Transactions | Who Will Own Your Privacy & Identity In the Future? (with Andrew Miller) - YouTube

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Gernot Heiser: Defend Against Cyber Threats | Gaming the Future Chapter 8

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Gaming the Future: Technologies for Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation

Gernot Heiser Primary occupation is leading research in and evangelizing for the Trustworthy Systems (TS) Group, aiming at making software systems truly trustworthy, i.e., secure, safe, and dependable. Prime application areas are safety- and security-critical cyber-physical systems such as aircraft, cars, medical devices, critical infrastructure, and national security. I also teach Advanced Operating Systems to a group of excellent students with a tendency to masochism.

This episode is a discussion on chapter 8 of the book: DEFEND AGAINST CYBER THREATS | Computer Security

Session summary: Gernot Heiser: Defend Against Cyber Threats | Gaming the Future Ch. 8 - Foresight Institute

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Twitter

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David Brin: Defend Against Physical Threats - Multipolar Active Shields | Gaming the Future Chapter 7

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Gaming the Future: Technologies for Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation

David Brin is best-known for shining light on technology, society, and countless challenges confronting our rambunctious civilization.
His best-selling novels include The Postman (filmed in 1997) plus explorations of our near-future in Earth and Existence. Other novels are translated into 25+ languages. His short stories explore vividly speculative ideas. Brin’s nonfiction book The Transparent Society won the American Library Association’s Freedom of Speech Award for exploring 21st-century concerns about security, secrecy, accountability, and privacy.

This episode is a discussion on chapter 7 of the book: DEFEND AGAINST PHYSICAL THREATS | Multipolar Active Shields

Session summary: David Brin: Defend Against Physical Threats – Multipolar Active Shields | Gaming the Future Ch. 7 - Foresight Institute

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Allison Duettmann and Mark Miller: Genetic Takeover - Cryptocommerce | Gaming the Future Ch. 6

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Gaming the Future: Technologies for Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation

Opportunities for bright futures enabled by bio, nano, and computing technologies are now within our reach. Their proliferation also comes with risks and authoritarian attempts at control. We explore how technologies of intelligent voluntary cooperation can help us navigate the traps. Cryptocommerce enables decentralized, secure cooperation across humans – and AIs. This unlocks Paretotropian futures of high technology in which valuing entities can pursue their highest function through iterative play.

This episode is a discussion on chapter 6 of the book: GENETIC TAKEOVER | Cryptocommerce

Session summary: (425) Allison Duettmann and Mark Miller: Genetic Takeover - Cryptocommerce | Gaming the Future Ch. 6 - YouTube

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Glen Weyl, Kate Sills, Paul Gebheim | Gaming the Future Chapter 5: IMPROVE COOPERATION | Info, Money, New Rights to Do Things

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Have you ever played Civilization?

Glen Weyl is is co-creator of quadratic voting, a collective decision-making procedure designed to allow fine-grained expression of how strongly voters feel about an issue,[2] and quadratic funding, a method of democratically disbursing resources.

Kate Sills is a software engineer at Agoric, building composable smart contract components in a secure subset of JavaScript. Previously, Kate has researched and written on the potential uses of smart contracts to enforce agreements and create institutions orthogonal to legal jurisdictions.

Paul Gebheim has spent the better part of 20 years creating software that gets stuff done, makes things go, shows you what's up, or keeps you connected. Recently he also helped to build a company based in the foundation of real life connection and the principal: It has to feel good to be good.

This episode goes through chapter 5 of the book: IMPROVE COOPERATION | Info, Money, New Rights to Do Things

Session summary: (425) G. Weyl, K. Sills, P. Gebheim: New Info, Money, Rights, Contracts, Privacy | Gaming the Future Ch. 5 - YouTube

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David Friedman | Gaming the Future, Chapter 4: SKIM THE MANUAL | Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation.

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 06:00:00 GMT

Have you ever played Civilization?

In the game, you’re discovering technologies that unlock new levels, one capability at a time. But not all innovations are equal. Better technologies of cooperation could unlock new levels of progress across the board. Opportunities for bright futures enabled by bio, nano, and computing technologies are now within our reach. This book explores how technologies of intelligent voluntary cooperation can help us navigate the traps.
This is a recording from this living book and book club about technologies for intelligent voluntary cooperation by Allison Duettmann, Mark S. Miller, and Christine Peterson, Foresight Institute. This episode goes through chapter 4 of the book: SKIM THE MANUAL | Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation.

Session summary: (425) David Friedman: Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation | Gaming the Future Book Club Chapter 4 - YouTube

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Existential Hope Podcast: Chiara Marletto | The Science of Can and Can’t and The Possibilities of Physics

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Chiara Marletto is a physicist at Oxford University, and the author of the book “The Science of Can and Can’t”, where she writes about the concept of counterfactuals and constructor theory.

This is a new and different approach to physics where the idea is that the physics most of us are familiar with is mirrored in a way that is very limited. There is a large class of things that science has neglected, and according to this theory, there are questions of what is and isn’t possible, which could provide scientific explanations to many questions in the long run.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Chiara Marletto | The Science of Can & Can’t (existentialhope.com)

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Juan Benet, Crypto Tools for Pareto(r)opia | Gaming the Future Book Club

Mon, 30 May 2022 09:00:00 GMT

Juan Benet, Crypto Tools for Pareto(r)opia | Gaming the Future Book Club Chapter 3 (Pt. 3/3)

Juan Benet is the inventor of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a new protocol to make the web faster, safer, and more open, and Filecoin, a cryptocurrency incentivized storage network. The IPFS Project has grown into a large open-source movement to re-decentralize the web, safeguard our data, and improve our applications. Juan is the founder of Protocol Labs, the internet tech R&D lab that develops IPFS and Filecoin. He studied Computer Science at Stanford University and is obsessed with knowledge, science, and technology.

Session summary: Juan Benet: Crypto Tools for Pareto(r)opia | Gaming the Future Book Club Chapter 3 (Pt. 3/3) - Foresight Institute

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M. Miller, C. Peterson, A, Duettman: What's at Stake in the Game? | Gaming the Future Book Club

Fri, 20 May 2022 11:00:00 GMT

What's at Stake in the Game of Civilization?

We explore how technologies of intelligent voluntary cooperation can help us navigate the traps. Cryptocommerce enables decentralized, secure cooperation across humans – and AIs.

Mark S. Miller is the chief scientist of Agoric, a pioneer of agoric (market-based secure distributed) computing and smart contracts, the main designer of the E and Dr. SES distributed persistent object-capability programming languages, inventor of Miller Columns, an architect of the Xanadu hypertext publishing system, a representative to the ECMAScript committee, a former Google research scientist, and a senior fellow of the Foresight Institute.

Christine Peterson is cofounder and senior fellow at Foresight Institute. She writes and lectures to general audiences on a wide variety of topics including nanotechnology, longevity, and computer security.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She leads Foresight’s longevity, molecular machines, neurotechnology, computing, and space programs, and shares their results with the public.

Session summary: M. Miller, C. Peterson, A, Duettman: What’s at Stake in the Game? | Gaming the Future Ch. 1,2 - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

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Chris Own | Whole-Brain Circuit Maps

Fri, 13 May 2022 07:00:00 GMT

How can we get to whole-brain circuit maps?

Chris Own develops tools that catalyze new technologies and that promote improvement of the human experience.
He is an expert in analytical instrument design and development, with specialties in advanced imaging systems and science instruments, ranging from atomic-resolution structural imaging to portable charged-particle based analyzers.

Brain mapping requires scaleable platforms for ultra-high throughput nano-imaging. Chris Own is the founder at Voxa, which specializes in advanced instruments for mapping the brain. His company produced the first portable scanning electron microscope, and then sent that microscope into space where it resides on the ISS.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Chris Own | Foresight Neurotech Seminar - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

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Karl Pfleger | Longevity Investing

Mon, 09 May 2022 11:00:00 GMT

How can we better invest in longevity?

In this episode of the podcast, Karl Pfleger speaks on longevity investing. Karl is an investor in Aging/Longevity biotech. He is the Founder and Chief analyst for AgingBiotech.Info.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Karl Pfleger, Agingbiotech.info | Longevity Investor Q&A - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Christian Angermayer | Longevity Investing

Mon, 02 May 2022 18:00:00 GMT

How can we better invest in Biotech?

Christian is an entrepreneur and investor and the founder of Apeiron Investment Group. He is Cofounder and Chairman of the board at Rejuveron.

Angermeyer believes that over the next 10-20 years longevity will be the centerpoint of health research. The longevity market is 100% of the population, and many of his rich friends would spend all of their money for extra years of quality life. Rejuveron, Angermeyer’s company, will only be one of a whole sector of companies focused on aging. Having a diverse portfolio of companies allows for cross pollination of ideas.

Aging should be considered a disease. In the meantime, targeting standard diseases alongside aging is a good strategy. Having reliable biomarkers continues to be one of the top priorities in the near-term for moving aging into the clinical space. Rejuveron currently operates in clinical and preclinical areas. Translating aging research is difficult because amazing scientists are often not amazing drug development people.

Angermeyer also spoke on neurotech, climate change, and cryptocurrency.

Session Summary: Christian Angermayer, Rejuveron | Longevity & Deep Tech Investor Q&A - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Emil Kendziorra, Dina Radenkovic, Stephen Malina, JJ Ben-Joseph, Amit Deshwar | Biotech Opportunities

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 22:00:00 GMT

Which biotech opportunities should we seize? Which risks must we avoid?

This is a recording from Foresight's Vision Weekend 2021.

Speakers include:

Emil Kendziorra, Tomorrow Bio
JJ Ben-Joseph, InQTel
Stephen Malina, Dyno
Dina Radenkovic, SALT
Amit Deshwar, Deep Genomics

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Biotech Tech Tree: Cell Replacement, Cryonics, Etc. | Vision Weekend US 2021 - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Mark Miller, Peter Norvig, Joscha Bach, Rosie Campbell, Brewster Kahle | Computing & AI

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 16:00:00 GMT

Can we maintain peace despite greatly increased compute & artificial intelligences?

This is a live conversation from Foresight's Vision Weekend 2021.

Speakers include:

Mark Miller, Agoric
Peter Norvig, Google
Joscha Bach, Humboldt
Rosie Campbell, OpenAI
Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Computing & AI Tech Tree | Vision Weekend US 2021 - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Adam Brown, Robin Hanson, Chris Kemp, Gaia Dempsey, Christine Peterson | The Far Future & Space

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 12:00:00 GMT

What could our human future look like in the very long term?

Speakers include:

Adam Brown, Stanford
Chris Kemp, Astra
Christine Peterson, Foresight Institute
Gaia Dempsey, Metaculus
Robin Hanson, George Mason University

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: The Far Future & Space Tech Tree: Space & Longtermism | Vision Weekend US 2021 - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Zaki Manian, Kate Sills, Jazear Brooks, Christine Webber, Josh Tan | Cryptocommerce & Web 3

Sat, 02 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMT

How will Dweb, DeSci, NFTs, zkps & lex cryptographia impact your life?

Zaki Manian, Cosmos
Kate Sills, Agoric
Jazear Brooks, SifChain
Christine Webber, Spritely, Josh Tan, MetaGov

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Cryptocommerce & Web 3 Tech Tree | Vision Weekend US 2021 - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Existential Hope Podcast: Worldbuilding | Anthony Aguirre & Anna Yelizarova from Future of Life Institute

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 18:00:00 GMT

Anna Yelizarova She completed a Bachelor of Computer Science at Stanford University and a Master in Communication.
Anthony Aguirre is a theoretical cosmologist. Aguirre is a professor and holds the Faggin Presidential Chair for the Physics of Information at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
This episode is a special episode where we interview Anthony & Anna from the Future of Life Institute (FLI) about their Worldbuilding challenge.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Anthony Aguirre & Anna Yelizarova | On Worldbuilding

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future, so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future and start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in the publishing industry and years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in-person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Kalil, Adam Marblestone, Ben Reinhardt | Nanotech Tools

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 17:00:00 GMT

Can radically new funding options bring nano advances to us faster?

Speakers include:

Tom Kalil, Schmidt Futures
Adam Marblestone, Schmidt Futures
Ben Reinhardt, PARPA

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Nanotech Tools Tech Tree | Vision Weekend US 2021 - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Primavera de Filippi, Silke Elrifai | Cryptocommerce & Web 3

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 18:00:00 GMT

How will NFTs, zkps, DeSci, & lex cryptographia reinvent our economy?

Primavera De Filippi is a Director of Research at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute.

This episode is a live recording from Vision Weekend 2021 with speakers Primavera de Filippi and Silke Elrifai discussing all things Cryptocommerce & Web 3.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Primavera de Filippi, Silke Elrifai, Louis Guthmann | The Cryptocommerce & Web 3 Tree - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Allison Duettmann, Aaron King, Evan Miyazono | DAOs & Tech trees to Fund Nano, Bio, Neurotech

Sat, 12 Mar 2022 21:00:00 GMT

Foresight is exploring a DAO to fund progress in its core focus areas, e.g. by funding Foresight fellows and tech trees:

Led by domain experts, and ultimately open for crowd-sourcing, we're building trees for challenges in longevity, atomically precise manufacturing, brain-computer interfaces, private ML, and asteroid mining. Long-term, these trees may integrate across domains, allowing different funders to chart desired paths through the tech forests.

Our current plan is for researchers to submit challenges to make progress on their node. Entrepreneurs bid with project proposals. Domain-experts and funders decide what the DAO funds via reputation-weighed voting.

This is a live recording from Foresight’s DeSci-session at ETH Denver.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: (425) Tech trees & DAOs to advance ambitious science & tech - Allison Duettmann - YouTube

The Foresight Institute is a research org
anization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Computing & AI Tech Tree | Ben Garfinkel, Jan Goetz, Tom Van Cutsem, Matjaz Leonardis

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 19:00:00 GMT

Can we maintain peace despite greatly increased compute & artificial intelligences?

This is a conversation from Vision Weekend France 2021.

Speakers include:

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Ben Garfinkel, Jan Goetz, Tom Van Cutsem, Matjaz Leonardis | The Computing & AI Tree - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Decentralized Science: (De)Science | Philipp Koellinger, Vincent Weisser, Niklas Rindtorff

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 05:00:00 GMT

How can we improve science and speed up new discoveries and progress?

This is a conversation from Vision Weekend France 2021.

Speakers include:

Philipp Koellinger, DeSci

Vincent Weisser, VitaDAO

Niklas Rindtorff, VitaDAO

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Philipp Koellinger, Vincent Weisser, Niklas Rindtorff | The Tech Tools Tree - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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The Longevity & Rejuvenation Tree | Karl Pfleger, Greg Fahy, Martin Borch Jensen, Laurence Ion, Jose Luis Ricon

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 09:00:00 GMT

How can we reach longevity escape velocity in your lifetime? This is a conversation from Vision Weekend US 2021. Speakers include:

Karl Pfleger, AgingBiotech.info

Greg Fahy, Intervene Immune

Martin Borch Jensen, Gordian

Laurence Ion, VitaDAO

Jose Luis Ricon, Rejuvenome

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Longevity & Rejuvenation Tech Tree | Vision Weekend US 2021 - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Existential Hope Podcast: Christine Peterson | On a Positive Turning Point for Human Longevity

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 09:00:00 GMT

“In a 100 years from now, where are we going to be with human health? The science is looking super encouraging. I would be surprised if we can't make substantial, major improvements on human health and longevity significantly within a 100 years from now.”

In the first episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, we interviewed Christine Peterson, co-founder and former President of Foresight Institute. Christine leads Foresight’s technical workshops and Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Christine Peterson | On a Positive Turning Point for Human Longevity

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future, so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and to start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy co-authored Gaming the Future and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in publishing and years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in-person workshops here!
We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.
Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Improving Science: (De)Science | Alexey Guzey, Evan Miyazono, William Zeng, Aaron King, Lawrence Wu, Allison Duettmann

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMT

How can we improve science? This is a conversation from Vision Weekend US 2021. Speakers include:

Alexey Guzey, New Science,

William Zeng, Unitary Fund,

Allison Duettmann, Foresight Institute,

Evan Miyazono, Protocol Labs,

Lawrence Wu, Atoms

Aaron King, Foresight Institute

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session summary: Improving Science: (De)Science | Vision Weekend US 2021 - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Samo Burja, Anders Sandberg, Stuart Armstrong | Space, Neurotech & The Far History & Future

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 05:00:00 GMT

How does our human future look in the very long-term? What dramatic changes will we see in ‘meat space’ & cyber space via neurotech?

Samo Burja: He is a Research Fellow at the Long Now Foundation where he studies how institutions can endure for centuries and millennia. He writes and speaks on history, institutions, and strategy with a focus on exceptional leaders that create new social and political forms.

Anders Sandberg: Anders’ research at the Future of Humanity Institute centres on management of low-probability high-impact risks, estimating the capabilities of future technologies, and very long-range futures. Anders is a Senior Research Fellow on the ERC UnPrEDICT Programme.Topics of particular interest include global catastrophic risk, cognitive biases, cognitive enhancement, collective intelligence, neuroethics, and public policy.

Stuart Armstrong: Stuart’s research at the Future of Humanity Institute centers on the safety and possibilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI), how to define the potential goals of AI and map humanity’s partially defined values into it, and the long term potential for intelligent life across the reachable universe.

Session Summary: Samo Burja, Anders Sandberg, Stuart Armstrong | Space, Neurotech & The Far History & Future - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Manheim | Eucatastrophes & Dynamic Stability; Exploring Tensions between Risk & Opportunities

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 05:00:00 GMT

“I coined the word ’eucatastrophe’: the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears...this is indeed how things really do work in the Great World for which our nature is made.” —JRR Tolkien

Avoiding existential catastrophe is a critical necessity, but so is avoiding stasis and locking in the existentially wasteful status quo.

Cotton-Barratt and Ord used Tolkien’s term to suggest that ”an existential eucatastrophe is an event which causes there to be much more expected value after the event than before.”

In this episode, of the podcast David Manheim, 2021 Foresight Fellow in Positive Long Term Futures and a visiting professor at the Technion focusing on long-term risks and future prospects for humanity talks about the definition of eucatastrophe, historical examples of these, increasingly dynamic civilizational stability, and much more.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: David Manheim | Eucatastrophes & Dynamic Stability; Exploring Tensions between Risk & Opportunities - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reason | Q&A on How to Fight Aging

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 10:00:00 GMT

“I’m an active self-experimenter. I have a body, I might as well use it since it’s getting older.”

Reason is the founder and writer of Fight Aging, a leading voice in the rejuvenation of biotechnology and patient advocacy communities for more than fifteen years. He is also co-founder and CEO of Repair Biotechnologies

This episode is a Q&A on all things related to how we can fight and prevent aging with aging expert Reason.

Reason works as CEO at Repair Biotechnologies, which is focused on reversing atherosclerosis. He’s also an active self-experimenter regarding aging interventions. Reason also spearheads some aging advocacy efforts – such as the blog fightaging.org.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: Reason, Fight Aging | Q&A on How to Fight Aging - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emil Kendziorra & Aschwin De Wolf | Biostasis & Cryonics Q&A

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 10:00:00 GMT

“There is no physical law that can limit our life like longevity. And this is what motivates us to reach radical life extension.”

Dr. Emil Kendziorra is a founder and CEO at Tomorrow Biostasis GmbH based in Berlin, Germany and President of the Board of a nonprofit research foundation in Switzerland. He has a strong background in medicine, cancer research and entrepreneurship.

Aschwin de Wolf is one of the world’s leading cryonics researchers and writers.

Dr. Emil Kendziorra and Aschwin De Wolf talk about the process in cryonics and cryopreservation of organs, especially brains. They also address doubts related to the damage that can be caused in the tissues of cryopreserved people, and overall dive into the state-of-the-art solutions and research in cryonics, foreshadowing what is going to be needed further and finally for successful revival.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: Emil Kendziorra & Aschwin De Wolf | Biostasis & Cryonics Q&A - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anders Sandberg | Game Theory with Aliens on the Largest Scales

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 09:00:00 GMT

“It looks like we could have an enormously bright future ahead of us, so we really need to worry about not going extinct now.”

Anders is a research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute, where he focuses on management of low-probability high-impact risks, estimating the capabilities of future technologies, and very long-range futures. Topics of particular interest include global catastrophic risk, cognitive biases, cognitive enhancement, collective intelligence, neuroethics, and public policy. Anders has a background in computer science, neuroscience and medical engineering. He obtained his Ph.D. in computational neuroscience from Stockholm University, Sweden, for work on neural network modeling of human memory.

Anders dives into the far future, investigating how game theory might apply to galactic and universe scale civilizations. Conquest, diplomacy, and economic forces will be subject to constraints of light speed travel and emergent properties of space expansion. As our short term existential problems get solved, we may want to reflect on the future and figure out what long term goals we want and how to achieve them

Session Summary: Anders Sandberg | Game Theory of Cooperating w. Extraterrestrial Intelligence & Future Civilizations - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sergey Young, Neil Littman | Longevity Investing Q&A

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 05:00:00 GMT

This episode is a Q&A on longevity investing with Sergey Young from Longevity Vision Fund and Neil Littman from Bioverge.

Sergey Young is a longevity investor and visionary with a mission to extend the healthy lifespans of 1 billion people. He is the founder of the $100M Longevity Vision Fund—one of the few funds specializing exclusively in longevity and helping to accelerate longevity breakthroughs.

Neil J. Littman is the Founder, CEO, and General Partner at Bioverge, an impact investment platform exclusively dedicated to investing in early-stage, cutting-edge healthcare companies.

Sergey speaks about his book, Growing Young, which covers different technologies and discoveries on the near horizon. He believes that it is unlikely that a single intervention will create the change necessary, so he is building a portfolio of different technologies to target aging.

Neil Littman discusses his experience at the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine where he saw a girl cured of combined immunodeficiency disorder using gene therapy.

Session Summary: Sergey Young, Longevity Vision Fund | Neil Littman, Bioverge | Longevity Investing - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam Brown | Cosmology, Inflation and Black Holes

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 04:00:00 GMT

What possibilities can there be for advanced civilizations within the realm of physics? What is the black hole solution? And what do astronomers spend a lot of time worrying about?

In this Holiday Special episode of the podcast Creon Levit, Director of R&D at planet Labs, interviews physicist Adam Brown. Adam is a theoretical physicist at Stanford University, interested in early universe cosmology, inflation, black holes, and assorted other topics.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session Summary: Adam Brown, Stanford University | Q&A on Cosmology, Inflation and Black Holes - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Miller & Dean Tribble | The Agoric Approach to Computing

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 12:00:00 GMT

“In the mid 90s, we had a vision of smart contracting well before the invention of blockchain.”

Mark S. Miller is a pioneer of Agoric (market-based secure distributed) computing and smart contracts, an architect of the Xanadu hypertext publishing system, a former Google research scientist, and a senior fellow of the Foresight Institute.

Dean Tribble co-designed the negotiation process and contract for the first smart contracting system, AMiX. As a Principal Architect at Microsoft, he co-designed the Midori distributed object-capability operating system.

This episode is a fireside chat Q&A with Mark S. Miller and Dean Tribble of Agoric. Agoric is an open-source development company launching an interoperable Proof-of-Stake chain and economy. Their JavaScript-native smart contract platform offers developers a safe, reusable library of DeFi components to rapidly build and deploy on-chain.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: (390) Fireside Q&A with Mark Miller & Dean Tribble | The Agoric Approach to Computing - YouTube

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daniel Ives | Cellular Rejuvenation to Stop Aging

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 05:00:00 GMT

“It’s not just about slowing aging down or stopping it, it’s about bringing yourself back to a younger biological age, which is effectively age reversal.”

Daniel Ives, founder of Shift Bioscience, introduces their transcriptomic driver clock which enables them to identify putative drug targets for safer cellular rejuvenation, which might avoid the challenges coupled to therapeutic use of Yamanaka factors. Daniel goes into detail on what the clock enables, how they are planning to validate these putative targets, his wishlist for tools that could help speed up and de-risk longevity and aging focused drug development.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session Summary: Drug Target Discovery for Cellular Rejuvenation by ‘Driver’ Clocks | Daniel Ives, Shift Bioscience - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Samo Burja | Civilization: Institutions, Knowledge and the Future

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 17:00:00 GMT

Our civilization is made up of countless individuals and pieces of material technology, which come together to form institutions and interdependent systems of logistics, development and production. These institutions and systems then store the knowledge required for their own renewal and growth.

Samo Burja is a sociologist and the founder of Bismarck Analysis, a firm that analyzes institutions, from governments to companies. His research work focuses on the causes of societal decay and flourishing. He writes on history, epistemology and strategy.

History shows us we are not safe from institutional collapse. Advances in technology mitigate some aspects, but produce their own risks. Agile institutions that make use of both social and technical knowledge not only mitigate such risks, but promise unprecedented human flourishing.

This episode of the podcast investigates this landscape, evaluates our odds, and tries to plot a better course.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: New Strengthening Civilization video and "How-to": create positive futures - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robin Hanson | Anthony Aguirre | Paul Gebheim | Thomas Pfeiffer | Martin Koeppelmann | Chris Hibbert | Prediction Markets

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 05:00:00 GMT

“We want to create a system where incentives for prediction are transparent and clear to make good predictions. Furthermore, we want these predictions to be integrated into a consensus that we could all use and rely on if we weren't specialists in the topic.” - Robin Hanson

Today we will discuss prediction markets and the problems they may help solve. We’ll hear a brief introduction of what Prediction Markets are by Robin Hanson, followed by a discussion of a few current projects (Metaculus, Augur, Replication Markets), and finish with a rundown of the challenges ahead by Chris Hibbert of Agoric and Martin Koeppelmann of Gnosis.

This episode of the podcast is a special one, it features several guests speaking on the topic of prediction markets. They cover concepts, early prototypes, current (decentralized) applications, potential problems and future opportunities.

Speakers:

Robin Hanson - George Mason University

Anthony Aguirre - Metaculus

Paul Gebheim - Augur

Thomas Pfeiffer - Replication Markets

Martin Koeppelmann - Gnosis

Chris Hibbert - Agoric

Session Summary: Prediction & Replication Markets, Augur, Metaculus, Gnosis, Oracle Problems, Beauty Contests - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lee Cronin | The First Programmable Turing Complete Chemical Computer

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 08:00:00 GMT

“The mission of our lab is to make a new life form. We want to digitize chemistry, we want to build chemical computers.”

Lee Cronin, a professor at the University of Glasgow, was born in the UK and was fascinated with science and technology from an early age getting his first computer and chemistry set when he was 8 years old.

In this episode, he explains the Chemputer – a universally programmable device for synthesizing any molecule. Development is ongoing and proof of concept has been achieved for several molecules. He estimates that with the right components, it is capable of performing 95% of all organic chemical synthesis.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session Summary: The First Programmable Turing Complete Chemical Computer | Lee Cronin, University of Glasgow - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Sills | NFTs and Engineering Property Rights

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 04:00:00 GMT

“Why is property law so different from contract law? Normally, when two parties buy or sell something, it doesn't have a huge negative effect on everyone else.“

Kate Sills is a software engineer with an interest in economics and law. She has been a columnist for the Cato Institute and was previously a board member of the Tezos Commons Foundation. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Computer Science.

How can we create a blockchain-based system for property rights? This is what Kate Sills, a software engineer with an interest in economics and law, talks about in this episode of the podcast.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

Session Summary: NFTs and Engineering Property Rights | Kate Sills, Agoric - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Norvig | A Modern Approach to AI

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 04:00:00 GMT

“I look at these assistants that we have today which are very primitive like Siri, Alexa and Google. But it's really interesting, because they represent a phase change in operating systems.”

Peter Norvig is a Director of Research at Google Inc. Previously he was head of Google’s core search algorithms group, and of NASA Ames’s Computational Sciences Division, making him NASA’s senior computer scientist. He received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Award in 2001.

In this episode, Peter Norvig speaks about how we can have a more modern approach to AI. Norvig starts with the history of the textbook. In 1990, the textbooks were subpar. AI was changing in three ways – moving from logic to probability, from hand coded knowledge to machine learning, and from duplicating human systems toward normative systems that got the best answer no matter what. After leaving Berkeley to go to Sun, he helped write a new textbook about AI.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: Peter Norvig, Google | Ai: A Modern Approach - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brewster Kahle | Locking the Web Open

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 04:00:00 GMT

"Can we make journalism that is safe to write and safe to read? Can we have publishing that is along the lines of the original visions of the internet?"

How can we improve the reliability and privacy of our internet today?

Brewster Kahle is an American computer engineer and Internet entrepreneur, and advocate of universal access to all knowledge. Kahle founded the Internet Archive and Alexa. He has also been inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.

In this episode, Brewster Kahle, founder of The Internet Archive, advocates for a more decentralized internet by having a peer-to-peer backend of the internet. This could help us improve the state of the internet today, both in terms of privacy and reliability.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: Brewster Kahle | Locking the Web Open | VISION WEEKEND 2019 - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam Marblestone & Ben Reinhardt | FRO & PARPA: Innovating in Scientific Innovation

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 07:00:00 GMT

“The goal is to work on coordinated research programs that are a little bit too research for startups and too engineering coordination heavy for academia.”

Adam Marblestone is a Schmidt Futures Innovation Fellow and a Senior Fellow with the Federation of American Scientists. He was a research scientist at Google DeepMind, was the Chief Strategy Officer of the brain-computer interface company Kernel, and co-founded BioBright LLC.

Ben Reinhardt is setting up a private ARPA (www.benjaminreinhardt.com/parpa-2-pager) to go after things that are too “researchy” for startups, too engineering-heavy for academia, and too weird for the government. In the past, he was an EIR at Entrepreneur First in Singapore where he helped ambitious people build teams and companies.

Writing:
Adam Marblestone on FRO: https://www.dayoneproject.org/post/focused-research-organizations-to-accelerate-science-technology-and-medicine
Ben Reinhardt on PARPA: https://benjaminreinhardt.com/parpa-2-pager.pdf

Session Summary: Adam Marblestone & Ben Reinhardt | FRO & PARPA: Innovating in Scientific Innovation

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Toby Ord | Existential Risk and Existential Hope

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 10:00:00 GMT

“There's heaps of futures open to humanity. Some of these futures would be constrained to earth, some might involve other planets, star systems or galaxies.”

Toby Ord is a Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy at Oxford University. His work focuses on the big picture questions facing humanity. What are the most important issues of our time? How can we best address them? His current research is on the long term future of humanity, and the risks which threaten to destroy our entire potential.

His book, The Precipice: Existential Risk and The Future of Humanity, explores these topics and concludes that safeguarding our future is among the most pressing and neglected issues we face. Toby also co-wrote the paper that introduced the term “Existential Hope”.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: Toby Ord, Allison Duettmann – Existential Risk and Existential Hope - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark S. Miller | Civilization as relevant superintelligence

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 07:00:00 GMT

Mark S. Miller discusses civilization as relevant superintelligence, the importance and neglectedness of cybersecurity, and decentralized approaches to AI safety.

Even if we don't know yet how to align Artificial General Intelligences with our goals, we do have experience in aligning organizations with our goals. Some argue corporations are in fact Artificial Intelligences - legally at least we treat them as persons already.

Mark S. Miller is Chief Scientist at Agoric, and a pioneer of agoric (market-based secure distributed) computing and smart contracts, the main designer of the E and Dr. SES distributed persistent object-capability programming languages, inventor of Miller Columns, an architect of the Xanadu hypertext publishing system, a representative to the EcmaScript committee, a former Google research scientist and member of the WebAssembly (Wasm) group.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: Civilization as relevant superintelligence – Mark S. Miller - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christine Peterson | Meatspace & Cyberspace: How Can We Get the Best of Both

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 09:00:00 GMT

“The reality is some people would like to be uploaded and live in cyberspace.”

Meatspace and cyberspace often conflict. But how can we make the best out of both of them?

This episode features Christine Peterson, she is Co-founder and former President of Foresight Institute. She lectures and writes about nanotechnology, AI, and longevity. She advises the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, Global Healthspan Policy Institute, National Space Society, startup Ligandal, and the Voice & Exit conference. She coined the term ‘open source software.’ She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from MIT.

If you enjoy what we do please support us via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/foresightinstitute.

If you are interested in joining these meetings consider donating through our donation page: https://foresight.org/donate/

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session Summary: Christine Peterson | Meatspace & Cyberspace: How Can We Get the Best of Both | VISION WEEKEND 2019 - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trent McConaghy, Peter Schlecht, Jessy Kate Schingler | AI DAO's, Brain Computer Interfaces, & Lunar Governance

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 08:00:00 GMT

What are AI DAO’s? Why are they interesting? How can brain computer interfaces help humans? And what challenges will we face when we move into space?

All of these questions and more are being answered in this episode that was recorded live at the first ever Foresight gathering in Europe, Berlin.

The panel consists of:

Session Summary: Jessy Kate Schingler, Peter Schlecht, and Trent McConaghy | Foresight’s first Europe Gathering - Foresight Institute

If you enjoy what we do please support us via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/foresightinstitute.

If you are interested in joining these meetings consider donating through our donation page: https://foresight.org/donate/

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emil Kendziorra, Tyler Golato, Paul Kolhaas, Ole Mensching | Longevity + Cryonics + Crypto

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 13:00:00 GMT

Why does signing up to cryonics today make sense? What are people not getting about longevity? And how can the crypto community and the longevity community work together?

All of these questions and more are being answered in this episode that was recorded live at the first ever Foresight gathering in Europe, Berlin.

The panel consists of:

Dr. Ole Mensching, Apollo VC
Tyler Golato, VitaDAO
Paul Kolhaas, VitaDAO
Emil Kendziorra, Tomorrow Biostasis

Session Summary: Dr. Ole Mensching, Tyler Golato, Paul Kolhaas, Emil Kendziorra | Foresight’s first Europe Gathering - Foresight Institute

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Danse Morialta by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anders Sandberg | Post-Scarcity Civilizations & Cognitive Enhancement

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 09:00:00 GMT

“If we get to a post-scarcity society, with much greater levels of well being and really long lives, settling space, etc., that means we have a lot to look forward to when it comes to the future!”

Anders Sandberg is a Foresight Senior Fellow and a Research Associate at the Future of Humanity Institute from the University of Oxford. Sandberg’s research at FHI centers on the management of low-probability high-impact risks, estimating the capabilities of future technologies, and very long-range futures.

What is available in the “nearer-term” for life if our immature civilization can make it past the current and upcoming tech/insight/coordination hurdles? In this episode we speak to Anders Sandberg on post-scarcity civilizations, to get a sense of what is possible just past current human horizons in the hope it may inspire us to solve humanity’s current challenges and unlock this next level.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Session Summary: Anders Sandberg | Post-Scarcity Civilizations & Cognitive Enhancement, September 3rd, 11 AM - Online - Foresight Institute

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Baker | De Novo Protein Design

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMT

“We use this sort of de novo protein design, to design brand new proteins that block viruses such as the Coronavirus from entering cells.”

David Baker is the director of the Institute for Protein Design, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Henrietta and Aubrey Davis Endowed Professor in Biochemistry, and an adjunct professor of genome sciences, bioengineering, chemical engineering, computer science, and physics at the University of Washington.

In this episode, David Baker from the University of Washington presents breakthrough advancements in de novo protein design. Results are easily transferable to the production scale on a rapid timeline of weeks. Applications of this new technology are vast in breadth and depth. Present interest are designing protein assemblies for molecular machines. Another application is targeting cells with a more accurate computational recognition method. A third application is clinical trials that are underway of a novel vaccine that is highly effective against coronavirus.

Session Summary: Protein-based Assemblies and Molecular Machines | David Baker, University of Washington - Foresight Institute

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Alex Zhavoronkov | Longevity as a Service

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 16:00:00 GMT

“Humans are the only species that understand that they are aging and dying. So we try to avoid thinking about aging and we are now starting to think about prevention.”

Alex Zhavoronkov, Ph.D., is the founder and Chief Longevity Officer of Deep Longevity, Inc, a global company developing a broad range of artificial intelligence-based biomarkers of aging and longevity. He is also the CEO and Founder of Insilico Medicine.

In this episode, he explains the approach Deep Longevity and Young.ai are taking, the various clocks and machine learning methods they are using, the necessity for physician education, and coordinated building of a longevity ecosystem spanning physicians, clinics, insurers, academia, pharma, and more. He also goes into detail about a promising new interesting field of longevity psychology and connected subjective and psychological clocks.

Music:

Is That You or Are You You by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session summary: Longevity as a Service: AI & Aging Clocks | Alex Zhavoronkov, Deep Longevity & Insilico Medicine - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Nir Barzilai | Targeting Aging with Metformin

Mon, 23 Aug 2021 14:00:00 GMT

“We are here representing the field of the science of aging. And we think that this is a historical day for us, because we're going to offer something that will be paradigm changing.”

Dr. Nir Barzilai is the director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Human Aging Research.

In this episode, Dr. Nir Barzilai presents the current state of the groundbreaking TAME trial serving as a framework and data springboard for the whole longevity field, as well as the future plans for other TAME-like trials with other drugs with high potential for repurposing for aging. At the end, he also answers questions about the trial itself and why it is designed the way it is, but also some frequently asked questions about Metformin, like its effect on muscle building with exercise, the ideal dosing, and others.

Music:

Candlepower by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Session summary: TAME Q&A: Lessons for Progress on Aging | Nir Barzilai, Albert Einstein School of Medicine - Foresight Institute

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Morgan Levine & Jamie Justice | On Biomarker Standardization

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 18:00:00 GMT

“For me being able to quantify aging is one of the most important endeavours in the field. There is a lot of emphasis on intervening in aging, to either reverse or slow it, but I would argue that there’s no way to test if you did that if you can’t directly measure the thing that you’re trying to intervene in.”

In this session, Morgan Levine, Assistant Professor at Yale, gave a sneak peek into the new epigenetic clock they are developing that is able to probe into multiple organ systems, as well as a new approach how to calculate clocks that is much more reliable, enabling to generate insights from methylation clocks with much smaller samples required.

The second talk was given by Jamie Justice, Assistant Professor at Wake Forest, that covered the current ways and strides the longevity field is making towards validating biomarkers of aging through clinical trials, showing on examples of a few senolytic trials they made. In the end, she also explained how exactly the TAME trial, which she is a coordinator of, should serve as a vehicle for the field to move further and have a flagship trial to validate new aging biomarkers against in the future.

Session summary: Biomarker Standardization | Morgan Levine, Yale, Jamie Justice, Wake Forest School of Medicine - Foresight Institute

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Daniel Ellsberg | Nuclear Risks: Doomsday (Still) Hiding in Plain Sight

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 11:00:00 GMT

“Did the first amendment protect us from the atomic bomb, or the nuclear arms race, or Vietnam or Iraq? No, it didn't. Everybody kept their mouths shut.”

Daniel Ellsberg is the 90-year-old whistleblower that leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Since the end of the Vietnam War, he has been a lecturer, scholar, writer, and activist on the dangers of the nuclear era, wrongful U.S. interventions, and the urgent need for patriotic whistleblowing.

In this episode, he joined Foresight’s Intelligent Cooperation group for a 3-hour-long discussion on the ever-present risks of doomsday due to nuclear weapons.

Session summary: Nuclear Risks: Doomsday (Still) Hiding in Plain Sight | Daniel Ellsberg, Author of Doomsday Machine - Foresight Institute

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Chiara Marletto| On Quantum Computing and the Science of Can and Can’t

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 12:00:00 GMT

“Is it possible to take the principles of what is possible and impossible that already exist in physics, and formulate the whole of physics in terms of these statements in a way that gives us a new theory of computation?”

Chiara Marletto is a physicist at Oxford University, and the author of the book “The Science of Can and Can’t”.

This is a new and different approach to physics where the idea is that the physics most of us are familiar with is mirrored in a way that is very limited.

Full transcript, list of resources, and art piece: Chiara Marletto | The Science of Can & Can’t

Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that we can have more people commit to the creation of a brighter future, and start mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Find all previous podcast episodes here.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 with a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize.

Beatrice Erkers is Chief of Operations at Foresight Institute and program manager of the Existential Hope group. She has a background in publishing and has several years of experience working with communication at Foresight and at a publishing house.

We are funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do, please consider donating through our donation page.

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Robin Hanson | The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives and Social Agendas

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

“Humans play with social rules - that way we can test the boundaries without actually violating the rules”

Robin Hanson is a pioneer in rigorous futurism, an Economics professor at George Mason University, a Future of Humanity Institute Research Associate, and the founder of OvercomingBias.

In this podcast episode, Hanson discusses his book “The Elephant In The Brain”. Hanson argues that our brains are designed to help us get ahead socially, often via deception and self-deception. The less we know about our own ugly motives, the better - and thus we don't like to talk about how selfish we might really be. This is "the elephant in the brain."

Session Summary: (425) Robin Hanson: Enlightening Hidden Motives & Social Agendas @Foresight Institute - YouTube

Music:

Comfortable Mystery 4 - Film Noire by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Tyler Cowen | Civilization as Crusonia Plant, Stubborn Attachments and Future Discounting

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 11:00:00 GMT

“If your view is that the future per se matters as much as the present, then you are led to maximizing sustainable economic growth.”

In this episode, we are joined by Tyler Cowen, an economist at George Mason University. Cowen writes the "Economic Scene" column for The New York Times and since 2016 has been a regular opinion columnist at Bloomberg Opinion.

Here Cowen speaks about his book Stubborn attachments and argues that our reason and common sense can help free us of the faulty ideas that hold us back as people and as a society and makes the contemporary moral case for economic growth as well as provide inspiration and optimism about our future possibilities.

Session Summary: Tyler Cowen, George Mason University | Stubborn Attachments - Foresight Institute

Music:

Intractable by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Tom Chi | Understanding Investment and Fundraising

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 10:00:00 GMT

“Whenever you take venture capital it immediately creates the expectation of this being worth 10 times more within 3 years.”

Tom Chi is a business leader and innovator who started out doing astrophysical research when he was only 15 years old. His CV includes executive roles at Yahoo, being a key influencer in the design of Microsoft Outlook, and shaping Google X and Google Glass.

In this episode of the podcast Chi talks about how to think around investment and fundraising for start-ups. He speaks on the different emerging phases of start-ups and their funding, how to think about allocation and valuation, as well as the different investor types there are out there.

Session Summary: (425) Tom Chi | Understanding Investment and Fundraising [Part 1: Presentation] - YouTube

Music:

Dances and Dames by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Audrey Tang | Digital Tools for Openness in Asia and Beyond

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 04:00:00 GMT

“To me democracy is a form of technology, so as a technologist I’m equally excited about each and every new governance proposal and mechanism.”

In this episode, we are joined by Taiwan’s digital minister Audrey Tang, a software programmer as well as the digital minister of Taiwan, in charge of social innovation.

Audrey talks about what it means to be a conservative anarchist while working with the government, quadratic funding & voting, democracy tech vs. surveillance tech, loss of institutional trust, and emerging attractors for non-coercive cooperation. Listen in!

Session Summary: Audrey Tang, Taiwan Digital Minister: Tools for Openness: Asia & Beyond - Foresight Institute

Music:

Kumasi Groove by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Scott Aaronson | Quantum Computing: History, Near-term Applications, Future Possibilities

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:00:00 GMT

“In some sense, we already have very special purpose quantum simulators that already do things that are interesting to physicists, it's just that most of those systems, we don't call quantum computers, because they're all completely specialized to one purpose. And what you really want is a programmable device.”

Scott Aaronson is a Professor of Computer Science at The University of Texas and director of its Quantum Information Center. His research center on the capabilities and limits of quantum computers.

In this episode of the podcast, Scott gives a brief introduction to the history of the field of quantum computation and answers questions on everything from what he thinks quantum computing could mean for AI take-off speed to what scientific fields he believes could benefit the most from quantum computing.

Session Summary: https://foresight.org/newsletter/scott-aaronson-quantum-computing-qa-july-2-11-am-pt/

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Covert Affair - Film Noire by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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Aubrey de Grey | Reaching Escape Velocity in Longevity for Most People Alive Today

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 15:00:00 GMT

“Think about a situation in which 5 years from now half of the developed world is going to shift from an expectation that they will live only slightly longer than their parents did, into an expectation that they are going to live far longer than anyone has ever lived before.”

Dr. Aubrey de Grey is one of the world’s foremost researchers on aging. His view is that the possibilities that medical technology can allow humans to control the aging process and live healthily to become hundreds (or even thousands!) of years old are great.

In the second episode of The Foresight Institute Podcast Aubrey speaks about how reaching escape velocity in longevity for most people alive today could affect society. This podcast episode can also be viewed as a video.

Session Summary: https://foresight.org/summary/aubrey-de-grey-reaching-escape-velocity-in-longevity-for-most-alive-today-vision-weekend-2019/

Music:
I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

With a Stamp by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

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What's Foresight? Start Here

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 14:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the Foresight Institute’s podcast! Since 1986, Foresight has been advancing technologies for the long-term benefit of life and the biosphere. We focus on three areas: molecular machine nanotechnology for building better things, biotechnology for health extension, and computer science and crypto commerce for intelligent cooperation.

This podcast is where we share a portion of our public work fitted for listening. We mix longer discussions with shorter bits, new episodes with all-time favorites. There is much more. To view presentations of our technical work and to stay up-to-date on new content, subscribe to Foresight Institute on YouTube and follow us on Twitter.

Music:

I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100199
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
Remarks: The length of this recording has been altered.

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support. From molecular nanotechnology, to brain-computer interfaces, space exploration, cryptocommerce, and AI, Foresight gathers leading minds to advance research and accelerate progress toward flourishing futures.

Allison Duettmann is the president and CEO of Foresight Institute. She directs the Intelligent Cooperation, Molecular Machines, Biotech & Health Extension, Neurotech, and Space Programs, Fellowships, Prizes, and Tech Trees, and shares this work with the public. She founded Existentialhope.com, co-edited Superintelligence: Coordination & Strategy, co-authored Gaming the Future, and co-initiated The Longevity Prize. She advises companies and organizations, such as the Consortium for Space Health, and is on the Executive Committee of the Biomarker Consortium. She holds an MS in Philosophy & Public Policy from the London School of Economics, focusing on AI Safety.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

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Balaji Srinivasan | The Network State: Bootstrapping Cloud Cities

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 14:00:00 GMT

“Very few institutions that predated the internet will survive the internet.”

Balaji S. Srinivasan is an angel investor and entrepreneur, formerly the CTO of Coinbase and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz.

Balaji has turned his attention to the creation a Network State, in particular a polis with a transhumanist mission “which starts with a virtual university, bootstraps a digital economy, and can be forked to create new opt-in polities.” Such “cloud cities” allow their members to collectively negotiate with existing jurisdictions and crowdfund territory in the real world. With the internet as main governance mechanism, even those physical communities could be increasingly decentralized.

This meeting is part of the Intelligent Cooperation Group and accompanying book draft.

Session summary: Balaji S. Srinivasan: The Network State - Foresight Institute

The Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1987 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support.

Apply to Foresight’s virtual salons and in person workshops here!

We are entirely funded by your donations. If you enjoy what we do please consider donating through our donation page.

Visit our website for more content, or join us here:

Every word ever spoken on this podcast is now AI-searchable using Fathom.fm, a search engine for podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.