In recent months, it seems like the machines are taking over. Chatbots are acing law and business school exams, while our new artificial companions have replaced our actual friends and lovers. And if that’s not enough, the music generators are producing songs that are so alike to those sung by humans, we’re wondering if anyone still needs to hire a singer.
We have to admit, it’s all a bit overwhelming, but one thing’s for sure – the world of tomorrow, shaped by technologies like AI, will be exceedingly quirky. But how are we supposed to deal with all of this weirdness? Well, we’ve got just the guy for that!
Erik Davis, author of “High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica and Visionary Experience in the Seventies” and “TechGnosis: Myth, Magic and Mysticism in the Age of Information,” has a plan. He believes that “weirdness” isn’t something that we should shy away from, but rather embrace it as an interpretive tool to help us better understand our future, which is looking wilder by the minute.
On this episode, we explore how Silicon Valley’s peculiar culture has affected the trajectory of AI development, why ChatGPT is making us question our very sense of reality and humanity, why the behavior of AI systems says a lot more about us than we’d like to admit, and whether we are in a “sorcerer’s apprentice moment” with this technology. We’ll also chat about why we often resort to myths and science fiction to explain new technologies that we don’t yet understand and why AI developers continue to create technologies that may destroy humanity, despite the risks.
Serious News: nytimes
