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Will AI destroy us... or save us?

4/9/202651 min

Like it or not, artificial intelligence is deeply rooted in our lives. Its invisible architecture stretches everywhere from dating apps to medical care. In this new world, what remains uniquely human? On today's episode, we explore the tension between our love of AI and our fear of it — and try to decode the humans behind the machines. This episode originally published in March of 2023.

Guests:

George Zarkadakis, author of In Our Own Image: Will Artificial Intelligence Save or Destroy Us?

Francis Collins, physician-geneticist who led the Human Genome Project

Stephanie Dick, assistant professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University

Meredith Broussard, data journalism professor at New York University, and author of More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender and Ability Bias in Tech

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Clips

Catching ChatGPT in a Bio Flub
Do We Need Instinct?
From Competition To Collaboration
Bias Baked Into AI
Genome Project: Near-Defeat To Triumph

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 00:00

    This message comes from NPR sponsor Hulu. From the executive producers of "The Handmaid's Tale" comes "The Testaments," a new Hulu original series based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.

  2. Speaker 10:16

    Open the pod bay doors, Hal.

  3. Speaker 20:25

    I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that. This conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

  4. Speaker 30:37

    It's alive. It's alive. It's alive!

  5. Meredith Broussard· Guest0:49

    Most of us, when we hear the term AI, we think about Hollywood.

  6. Speaker 50:53

    Why do you cry? You mean people? Yeah. I don't know. We just cry.

  7. Meredith Broussard· Guest0:59

    We think about "The Terminator." We think about "Ex Machina."

  8. Speaker 61:03

    Did you program her to flirt with me?

  9. Speaker 71:05

    If I did, would that be cheating?

  10. Speaker 61:07

    Wouldn't it?

  11. Meredith Broussard· Guest1:07

    We think about "Star Trek."

  12. Speaker 51:09

    Please state the nature of the medical emergency.

  13. Meredith Broussard· Guest1:12

    Or maybe "Star Wars." Hollywood is so deeply embedded in our brains.

  14. Speaker 51:21

    I'll be back.

  15. George Zarkadakis· Guest1:24

    What does AI actually mean?

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