Brian Christian – How to Live with Computers - [Invest Like the Best, EP.140]

My guest this week is Brian Christian, the author of two of my favorite recent books: Algorithms to Live By and The Most Human Human. Our conversation covers the present and future of how humans interact with and use computers. Brian’s thoughts on the nature of intelligence and what it means to be human continue to make me think about what works, and life, will be like in the future. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Show Notes

1:11 - (First Question) – Summarizing his collection of interests that led to his three books

2:59 – Biggest questions in AI

3:43 – Defining AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and its history

            5:18 – Computing Machinery and Intelligence

7:54 – The idea of the most human human

9:59 – Tactics that have changed the most in learning to be the most human human

16:10 –Tests for measuring AGI and updates made to them

20:12 – Concerns for once we have AGI

26:06 – Self-awareness as a threshold for AGI

31:58 – Skeptics’ take on AGI

37:14 – Advice for people building careers and how AGI will impact work

38:16 – Explore/Exploit trade-off

44:57 – How to explore/exploit applies to business concepts

49:16 – Impacts of AGI on the economy

52:40 – Highlights from his second book

57:39 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Brian

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. 

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub

Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag