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Show Notes
Max Tegmark and members of the FLI core team come together to discuss favorite projects from 2020, what we've learned from the past year, and what we think is needed for existential risk reduction in 2021.
Topics discussed in this episode include:
- FLI's perspectives on 2020 and hopes for 2021
- What our favorite projects from 2020 were
- The biggest lessons we've learned from 2020
- What we see as crucial and needed in 2021 to ensure and make improvements towards existential safety
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
00:52 First question: What was your favorite project from 2020?
1:03 Max Tegmark on the Future of Life Award
4:15 Anthony Aguirre on AI Loyalty
9:18 David Nicholson on the Future of Life Award
12:23 Emilia Javorksy on being a co-champion for the UN Secretary-General's effort on digital cooperation
14:03 Jared Brown on developing comments on the European Union's White Paper on AI through community collaboration
16:40 Tucker Davey on editing the biography of Victor Zhdanov
19:49 Lucas Perry on the podcast and Pindex video
23:17 Second question: What lessons do you take away from 2020?
23:26 Max Tegmark on human fragility and vulnerability
25:14 Max Tegmark on learning from history
26:47 Max Tegmark on the growing threats of AI
29:45 Anthony Aguirre on the inability of present-day institutions to deal with large unexpected problems
33:00 David Nicholson on the need for self-reflection on the use and development of technology
38:05 Emilia Javorsky on the global community coming to awareness about tail risks
39:48 Jared Brown on our vulnerability to low probability, high impact events and the importance of adaptability and policy engagement
41:43 Tucker Davey on taking existential risks more seriously and ethics-washing
43:57 Lucas Perry on the fragility of human systems
45:40 Third question: What is needed in 2021 to make progress on existential risk mitigation
45:50 Max Tegmark on holding Big Tech accountable, repairing geopolitics, and fighting the myth of the technological zero-sum game
49:58 Anthony Aguirre on the importance of spreading understanding of expected value reasoning and fixing the information crisis
53:41 David Nicholson on the need to reflect on our values and relationship with technology
54:35 Emilia Javorksy on the importance of returning to multilateralism and global dialogue
56:00 Jared Brown on the need for robust government engagement
57:30 Lucas Perry on the need for creating institutions for existential risk mitigation and global cooperation
1:00:10 Outro
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