Lifeboat Foundation

On this episode, neuroscientist and author Robert Sapolsky joins Nate to discuss the structure of the human brain and its implication on behavior and our ability to change. Dr. Sapolsky also unpacks how the innate quality of a biological organism shaped by evolution and the surrounding environment — meaning all animals, including humans — leads him to believe that there is no such thing as free will, at least how we think about it today. How do our past and present hormone levels, hunger, stress, and more affect the way we make decisions? What implications does this have in a future headed towards lower energy and resource availability? How can our species manage the mismatch of our evolutionary biology with our modern day challenges — and navigate through a ‘determined’ future?

About Robert Sapolsky:

Continue reading “Robert Sapolsky: ‘The Brain, Determinism, and Cultural Implications’ | The Great Simplification #88” »

With just an iPad, students in any classroom across the world could soon reimagine the ordinary diagrams in any physics textbook—transforming these static images into 3D simulations that run, leap or spin across the page.

EngineAI’s SE01 humanoid robot redefines robotics with its smooth, human-like movement powered by advanced AI neural networks, showcasing a new level of realism in robotic technology. Clone Robotics pushes the boundaries further, creating a lifelike torso with synthetic muscles and joints that replicate the human musculoskeletal system, setting a new standard in AI-driven, realistic robotics. These innovations from EngineAI and Clone Robotics are transforming the future of humanoid robots, bringing AI and robotics closer to lifelike androids capable of human-like behavior, movement, and dexterity.

🔍 Key Topics Covered:
EngineAI’s groundbreaking humanoid robot, SE01, with AI-driven natural movement that mimics human gait.
Clone Robotics’ advanced torso robot, featuring synthetic muscles and joints for lifelike movement.
Real-world applications and implications for humanoid robots in industries, education, and daily life.

Continue reading “Introducing The First SYNTHETIC AI HUMAN With Real Muscles (FAKE HUMANS SOON)” »

Generative AI is changing medicine, and it’s happening fast. HMS is getting a jump on this shift by training future doctors with skills in data and machine learning.

Harvard Medical School is building artificial intelligence into the curriculum to train the next generation of doctors.

Autumn 2024

Continue reading “How Generative AI Is Transforming Medical Education” »

Daniel C. Dennett is one of the most influential philosophers of our time, perhaps best known in cognitive science for his multiple drafts (or “fame in the brain”) model of human consciousness, and to the secular community for his 2006 book Breaking the Spell. Author and co-author of two-dozen books, he’s the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University, where he taught our very own Point of Inquiry host Lindsay Beyerstein.

Beyerstein and Dennett catch up to discuss Dennett’s newest book, From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds. It’s a fresh look at Dennett’s earlier work on the subject of consciousness, taken in new directions as he seeks a “bottom-up view of creation.” Join Dennett and Beyerstein as they discuss the how’s and why’s of consciousness, not just from an evolutionary and neurological standpoint, but also through the lenses of computer science and human culture.

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Scientists studying viruses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently opened their lab door for a tour, looking to shine a light on their work after being targeted by a Republican bill.

The legislation would have prohibited some of the research that has been done in the past in Madison…

The bill would have ended all so-called “gain-of-function” research at higher education institutions in the state, and cut funding from any university that continued such experiments.

Continue reading “Under scrutiny, UW-Madison virus lab opens its doors” »

AI take over of education is now underway. In full swing by early 2030s.

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What is information in biology? information is essential for analyzing data and testing hypotheses. But what is information in evolution, population genetics, levels of selection, and molecular genetics? Is computational biology transformational?

Continue reading “Terrence Deacon — Philosophy of Biological Information” »

Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at Tufts University and associate faculty at the Wyss Institute for Bioinspired Engineering at Harvard University. @drmichaellevin holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair and serves as director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts and the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. Prior to college, Michael Levin worked as a software engineer and independent contractor in the field of scientific computing. He attended Tufts University, interested in artificial intelligence and unconventional computation. To explore the algorithms by which the biological world implemented complex adaptive behavior, he got dual B.S. degrees, in CS and in Biology and then received a PhD from Harvard University. He did post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School, where he began to uncover a new bioelectric language by which cells coordinate their activity during embryogenesis. His independent laboratory develops new molecular-genetic and conceptual tools to probe large-scale information processing in regeneration, embryogenesis, and cancer suppression.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 — Introduction.
1:41 — Creating High-level General Intelligences.
7:00 — Ethical implications of Diverse Intelligence beyond AI & LLMs.
10:30 — Solving the Fundamental Paradox that faces all Species.
15:00 — Evolution creates Problem Solving Agents & the Self is a Dynamical Construct.
23:00 — Mike on Stephen Grossberg.
26:20 — A Formal Definition of Diverse Intelligence (DI)
30:50 — Intimate relationships with AI? Importance of Cognitive Light Cones.
38:00 — Cyborgs, hybrids, chimeras, & a new concept called “Synthbiosis“
45:51 — Importance of the symbiotic relationship between Science & Philosophy.
53:00 — The Space of Possible Minds.
58:30 — Is Mike Playing God?
1:02:45 — A path forward: through the ethics filter for civilization.
1:09:00 — Mike on Daniel Dennett (RIP)
1:14:02 — An Ethical Synthbiosis that goes beyond “are you real or faking it“
1:25:47 — Conclusion.

Continue reading “Michael Levin: What is Synthbiosis? Diverse Intelligence Beyond AI & The Space of Possible Minds” »