Conversations about science, technology, history, philosophy and the nature of intelligence, consciousness, love, and power. Lex is an AI researcher at MIT and beyond.
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#90 – Dmitry Korkin: Computational Biology of Coronavirus
Dmitry Korkin is a professor of bioinformatics and computational biology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he specializes in bioinformatics of complex disease, computational genomics, systems biology, and biomedical data analytics. I came across Dmitry’s work when in February his group used the viral genome of the COVID-19 to reconstruct the 3D structure of its major viral proteins and their interactions with human proteins, in effect creating a structural genomics map of the coronavirus and making this data open and available to researchers everywhere. We talked about the biology of COVID-19, SARS, and viruses in general, and how computational methods can
#89 – Stephen Wolfram: Cellular Automata, Computation, and Physics
Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, and theoretical physicist who is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, a company behind Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha, Wolfram Language, and the new Wolfram Physics project. He is the author of several books including A New Kind of Science, which on a personal note was one of the most influential books in my journey in computer science and artificial intelligence. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play):
#88 – Eric Weinstein: Geometric Unity and the Call for New Ideas, Leaders & Institutions
Eric Weinstein is a mathematician with a bold and piercing intelligence, unafraid to explore the biggest questions in the universe and shine a light on the darkest corners of our society. He is the host of The Portal podcast, a part of which, he recently released his 2013 Oxford lecture on his theory of Geometric Unity that is at the center of his lifelong efforts in arriving at a theory of everything that unifies the fundamental laws of physics. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App
#87 – Richard Dawkins: Evolution, Intelligence, Simulation, and Memes
Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, and author of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion, The Magic of Reality, The Greatest Show on Earth, and his latest Outgrowing God. He is the originator and popularizer of a lot of fascinating ideas in evolutionary biology and science in general, including funny enough the introduction of the word meme in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which in the context of a gene-centered view of evolution is an exceptionally powerful idea. He is outspoken, bold, and often fearless in his defense of science and reason, and in this way,
#86 – David Silver: AlphaGo, AlphaZero, and Deep Reinforcement Learning
David Silver leads the reinforcement learning research group at DeepMind and was lead researcher on AlphaGo, AlphaZero and co-lead on AlphaStar, and MuZero and lot of important work in reinforcement learning. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Reinforcement learning (book): https://amzn.to/2Jwp5zG This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook,
#85 – Roger Penrose: Physics of Consciousness and the Infinite Universe
Roger Penrose is physicist, mathematician, and philosopher at University of Oxford. He has made fundamental contributions in many disciplines from the mathematical physics of general relativity and cosmology to the limitations of a computational view of consciousness. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Cycles of Time (book): https://amzn.to/39tXtpp The Emperor’s New Mind (book): https://amzn.to/2yfeVkD This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information
#84 – William MacAskill: Effective Altruism
William MacAskill is a philosopher, ethicist, and one of the originators of the effective altruism movement. His research focuses on the fundamentals of effective altruism – the use of evidence and reason to help others by as much as possible with our time and money, with a particular concentration on how to act given moral uncertainty. He is the author of Doing Good Better – Effective Altruism and a Radical New Way to Make a Difference. He is a co-founder and the President of the Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) that encourages people to commit to donate at least 10%
#83 – Nick Bostrom: Simulation and Superintelligence
Nick Bostrom is a philosopher at University of Oxford and the director of the Future of Humanity Institute. He has worked on fascinating and important ideas in existential risks, simulation hypothesis, human enhancement ethics, and the risks of superintelligent AI systems, including in his book Superintelligence. I can see talking to Nick multiple times on this podcast, many hours each time, but we have to start somewhere. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Nick’s
Lex Solo #1 – Seven Levels of Coronavirus Impact
The coronavirus pandemic is a global tragedy, but it is also a moment that unites us, that reveals the strength of our community, the human capacity to be compassionate to each other and to work hard in the face of danger. In this episode I describe what, to me, might be 7 levels of attack on our society and how we can fight back. For each level, I describe our pain, our challenge, and our hope for a positive future on the other side. Fill out this one-question survey on whether you want to see more solo episodes like these:
#82 – Simon Sinek: Leadership, Hard Work, Optimism and the Infinite Game
Simon Sinek is an author of several books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, and his latest The Infinite Game. He is one of the best communicators of what it takes to be a good leader, to inspire, and to build businesses that solve big difficult challenges. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Simon twitter: https://twitter.com/simonsinek Simon facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simonsinek Simon website: https://simonsinek.com/ Books: – Infinite Game: https://amzn.to/2WxBH1i – Leaders Eat
#81 – Anca Dragan: Human-Robot Interaction and Reward Engineering
Anca Dragan is a professor at Berkeley, working on human-robot interaction — algorithms that look beyond the robot’s function in isolation, and generate robot behavior that accounts for interaction and coordination with human beings. Support this podcast by supporting the sponsors and using the special code: – Download Cash App on the App Store or Google Play & use code “LexPodcast” EPISODE LINKS: Anca’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ancadianadragan Anca’s Website: https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~anca/ This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium,
#80 – Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum, Cryptocurrency, and the Future of Money
Vitalik Buterin is co-creator of Ethereum and ether, which is a cryptocurrency that is currently the second-largest digital currency after bitcoin. Ethereum has a lot of interesting technical ideas that are defining the future of blockchain technology, and Vitalik is one of the most brilliant people innovating this space today. Support this podcast by supporting the sponsors with a special code: – Get ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod – Sign up to MasterClass at https://masterclass.com/lex EPISODE LINKS: Vitalik blog: https://vitalik.ca Ethereum whitepaper: http://bit.ly/3cVDTpj Casper FFG (paper): http://bit.ly/2U6j7dJ Quadratic funding (paper): http://bit.ly/3aUZ8Wd Bitcoin whitepaper: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf Mastering Ethereum (book): https://amzn.to/2xEjWmE This conversation is part
#79 – Lee Smolin: Quantum Gravity and Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution
Lee Smolin is a theoretical physicist, co-inventor of loop quantum gravity, and a contributor of many interesting ideas to cosmology, quantum field theory, the foundations of quantum mechanics, theoretical biology, and the philosophy of science. He is the author of several books including one that critiques the state of physics and string theory called The Trouble with Physics, and his latest book, Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution: The Search for What Lies Beyond the Quantum. EPISODE LINKS: Books mentioned: – Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution by Lee Smolin: https://amzn.to/2TsF5c3 – The Trouble With Physics by Lee Smolin: https://amzn.to/2v1FMzy – Against Method by Paul Feyerabend:
#78 – Ann Druyan: Cosmos, Carl Sagan, Voyager, and the Beauty of Science
Ann Druyan is the writer, producer, director, and one of the most important and impactful communicators of science in our time. She co-wrote the 1980 science documentary series Cosmos hosted by Carl Sagan, whom she married in 1981, and her love for whom, with the help of NASA, was recorded as brain waves on a golden record along with other things our civilization has to offer and launched into space on the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft that are now, 42 years later, still active, reaching out farther into deep space than any human-made object ever has. This was
#77 – Alex Garland: Ex Machina, Devs, Annihilation, and the Poetry of Science
Alex Garland is a writer and director of many imaginative and philosophical films from the dreamlike exploration of human self-destruction in the movie Annihilation to the deep questions of consciousness and intelligence raised in the movie Ex Machina, which to me is one of the greatest movies on artificial intelligence ever made. I’m releasing this podcast to coincide with the release of his new series called Devs that will premiere this Thursday, March 5, on Hulu. EPISODE LINKS: Devs: https://hulu.tv/2x35HaH Annihilation: https://hulu.tv/3ai9Eqk Ex Machina: https://www.netflix.com/title/80023689 Alex IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0307497/ Alex Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Garland This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If