The Future of Life Institute was founded in 2013 to "mitigate the existential risks" posed to humanity by emerging technologies, in particular artificial intelligence. Founded by MIT professor Max Tegmark and co-developer of Skype Jaan Tallinn, it is also supported by Tesla's Elon Musk and tech philosopher Nick Bostrom.

Involved in various activities including writing an open letter to the United Nations calling for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs), the Institute also produces a fascinating podcast with great interviewees. If you enjoy geeking out to AI-related topics including public attitudes to AI, government policy, killer robots, ethics and driverless cars, AI trends and breakthroughs, then you will love this.

The latest episode is an hour of conversation between Yuval Noah Harari, author of 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and Tegmark. They cover consciousness, morality, the place of mythmaking in human society, and the risks associated with artificial general intelligence and superintelligence (should they occur any time soon), and immediate concerns around big data and AI-enabled human hacking. Compelling stuff.

[ https://futureoflife.org/the-future-of-life-podcast/Opens in new window ]