Your Undivided Attention

You asked, we answered. This has been a big year in the world of tech, with the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence, acceleration of neurotechnology, and continued ethical missteps of social media. Looking back on 2023, there are still so many questions on our minds, and we know you have a lot of questions too. So we created this episode to respond to listener questions and to reflect on what lies ahead. Correction: Tristan mentions that 41 Attorneys General have filed a lawsuit against Meta for allegedly fostering addiction among children and teens through their products. However, the actual number is 42 Attorneys General who are taking legal action against Meta. Correction: Tristan refers to Casey Mock as the Center for Humane Technology’s Chief Policy and Public Affairs Manager. His title is Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Tech Policy Watch Marietje Schaake curates this briefing on artificial intelligence and technology policy from around the world The AI Executive Order President Biden’s executive order on the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of AI Meta sued by 42 AGs for addictive features targeting kids A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general is suing Meta, alleging features on Facebook and Instagram are addictive and are aimed at kids and teens RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES The Three Rules of Humane Tech Two Million Years in Two Hours: A Conversation with Yuval Noah Harari Inside the First AI Insight Forum in Washington Digital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey Tang The Tech We Need for 21st Century Democracy with Divya Siddarth Mind the (Perception) Gap with Dan Vallone The AI Dilemma Can We Govern AI? with Marietje Schaake Ask Us Anything: You Asked, We Answered Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

As AI development races forward, a fierce debate has emerged over open source AI models. So what does it mean to open-source AI? Are we opening Pandora’s box of catastrophic risks? Or is open-sourcing AI the only way we can democratize its benefits and dilute the power of big tech? Correction: When discussing the large language model Bloom, Elizabeth said it functions in 26 different languages. Bloom is actually able to generate text in 46 natural languages and 13 programming languages - and more are in the works. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Open-Sourcing Highly Capable Foundation Models This report, co-authored by Elizabeth Seger, attempts to clarify open-source terminology and to offer a thorough analysis of risks and benefits from open-sourcing AI BadLlama: cheaply removing safety fine-tuning from Llama 2-Chat 13B This paper, co-authored by Jeffrey Ladish, demonstrates that it’s possible to effectively undo the safety fine-tuning from Llama 2-Chat 13B with less than $200 while retaining its general capabilities Centre for the Governance of AI Supports governments, technology companies, and other key institutions by producing relevant research and guidance around how to respond to the challenges posed by AI AI: Futures and Responsibility (AI:FAR) Aims to shape the long-term impacts of AI in ways that are safe and beneficial for humanity Palisade Research Studies the offensive capabilities of AI systems today to better understand the risk of losing control to AI systems forever RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES A First Step Toward AI Regulation with Tom Wheeler No One is Immune to AI Harms with Dr. Joy Buolamwini Mustafa Suleyman Says We Need to Contain AI. How Do We Do It? The AI Dilemma Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

On Monday, Oct. 30, President Biden released a sweeping executive order that addresses many risks of artificial intelligence. Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, shares his insights on the order with Tristan and Aza and discusses what’s next in the push toward AI regulation. Clarification: When quoting Thomas Jefferson, Aza incorrectly says “regime” instead of “regimen.” The correct quote is: “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. And as that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered, and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regime of their barbarous ancestors.” RECOMMENDED MEDIA The AI Executive Order President Biden’s Executive Order on the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of AI UK AI Safety Summit The summit brings together international governments, leading AI companies, civil society groups, and experts in research to consider the risks of AI and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action aitreaty.org An open letter calling for an international AI treaty Techlash: Who Makes the Rules in the Digital Gilded Age? Praised by Kirkus Reviews as “a rock-solid plan for controlling the tech giants,” readers will be energized by Tom Wheeler’s vision of digital governance RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Inside the First AI Insight Forum in Washington Digital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey Tang The AI Dilemma Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

In this interview, Dr. Joy Buolamwini argues that algorithmic bias in AI systems poses risks to marginalized people. She challenges the assumptions of tech leaders who advocate for AI “alignment” and explains why some tech companies are hypocritical when it comes to addressing bias. Dr. Joy Buolamwini is the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League and the author of “Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines.” Correction: Aza says that Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, predicts superintelligence in four years. Altman predicts superintelligence in ten years. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Unmasking AI by Joy Buolamwini “The conscience of the AI revolution” explains how we’ve arrived at an era of AI harms and oppression, and what we can do to avoid its pitfalls Coded Bias Shalini Kantayya’s film explores the fallout of Dr. Joy’s discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately, and her journey to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all How I’m fighting bias in algorithms Dr. Joy’s 2016 TED Talk about her mission to fight bias in machine learning, a phenomenon she calls the "coded gaze." RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Mustafa Suleyman Says We Need to Contain AI. How Do We Do It? Protecting Our Freedom of Thought with Nita Farahany The AI Dilemma Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

This is going to be the most productive decade in the history of our species, says Mustafa Suleyman, author of “The Coming Wave,” CEO of Inflection AI, and founder of Google’s DeepMind. But in order to truly reap the benefits of AI, we need to learn how to contain it. Paradoxically, part of that will mean collectively saying no to certain forms of progress. As an industry leader reckoning with a future that’s about to be ‘turbocharged’ Mustafa says we can all play a role in shaping the technology in hands-on ways and by advocating for appropriate governance. RECOMMENDED MEDIA The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma This new book from Mustafa Suleyman is a must-read guide to the technological revolution just starting, and the transformed world it will create Partnership on AI Partnership on AI is bringing together diverse voices from across the AI community to create resources for advancing positive outcomes for people and society Policy Reforms Toolkit from the Center for Humane Technology Digital lawlessness has been normalized in the name of innovation. It’s possible to craft policy that protects the conditions we need to thrive RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES AI Myths and Misconceptions Can We Govern AI? with Marietje Schaake The AI Dilemma Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

Last week, Senator Chuck Schumer brought together Congress and many of the biggest names in AI for the first closed-door AI Insight Forum in Washington, D.C. Tristan and Aza were invited speakers at the event, along with Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, and other leaders. In this update on Your Undivided Attention, Tristan and Aza recount how they felt the meeting went, what they communicated in their statements, and what it felt like to critique Meta’s LLM in front of Mark Zuckerberg. Correction: In this episode, Tristan says GPT-3 couldn’t find vulnerabilities in code. GPT-3 could find security vulnerabilities, but GPT-4 is exponentially better at it. RECOMMENDED MEDIA In Show of Force, Silicon Valley Titans Pledge ‘Getting This Right’ With A.I. Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and others discussed artificial intelligence with lawmakers, as tech companies strive to influence potential regulations Majority Leader Schumer Opening Remarks For The Senate’s Inaugural AI Insight Forum Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) opened the Senate’s inaugural AI Insight Forum The Wisdom Gap As seen in Tristan’s talk on this subject in 2022, the scope and speed of our world’s issues are accelerating and growing more complex. And yet, our ability to comprehend those challenges and respond accordingly is not matching pace RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Spotlight On AI: What Would It Take For This to Go Well? The AI ‘Race’: China vs. the US with Jeffrey Ding and Karen Hao Spotlight: Elon, Twitter and the Gladiator Arena Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

Where do the top Silicon Valley AI researchers really think AI is headed? Do they have a plan if things go wrong? In this episode, Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin reflect on the last several months of highlighting AI risk, and share their insider takes on a high-level workshop run by CHT in Silicon Valley. NOTE: Tristan refers to journalist Maria Ressa and mentions that she received 80 hate messages per hour at one point. She actually received more than 90 messages an hour. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Musk, Zuckerberg, Gates: The titans of tech will talk AI at private Capitol summit This week will feature a series of public hearings on artificial intelligence. But all eyes will be on the closed-door gathering convened by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Takeaways from the roundtable with President Biden on artificial intelligence Tristan Harris talks about his recent meeting with President Biden to discuss regulating artificial intelligence Biden, Harris meet with CEOs about AI risks Vice President Kamala Harris met with the heads of Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, and OpenAI as the Biden administration rolled out initiatives meant to ensure that AI improves lives without putting people’s rights and safety at risk RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES The AI Dilemma The AI ‘Race’: China vs the US with Jeffrey Ding and Karen Hao The Dictator’s Playbook with Maria Ressa Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

In the debate over slowing down AI, we often hear the same argument against regulation. “What about China? We can’t let China get ahead.” To dig into the nuances of this argument, Tristan and Aza speak with academic researcher Jeffrey Ding and journalist Karen Hao, who take us through what’s really happening in Chinese AI development. They address China’s advantages and limitations, what risks are overblown, and what, in this multi-national competition, is at stake as we imagine the best possible future for everyone. CORRECTION: Jeffrey Ding says the export controls on advanced chips that were established in October 2022 only apply to military end-users. The controls also impose a license requirement on the export of those advanced chips to any China-based end-user. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Recent Trends in China’s Large Language Model Landscape by Jeffrey Ding and Jenny W. Xiao This study covers a sample of 26 large-scale pre-trained AI models developed in China The diffusion deficit in scientific and technological power: re-assessing China’s rise by Jeffrey Ding This paper argues for placing a greater weight on a state’s capacity to diffuse, or widely adopt, innovations The U.S. Is Turning Away From Its Biggest Scientific Partner at a Precarious Time by Karen Hao and Sha Hua U.S. moves to cut research ties with China over security concerns threaten American progress in critical areas Why China Has Not Caught Up Yet: Military-Technological Superiority and the Limits of Imitation, Reverse Engineering, and Cyber Espionage by Andrea Gilli and Mauro Gilli Military technology has grown so complex that it’s hard to imitate RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES The Three Rules of Humane Tech A Fresh Take on Tech in China with Rui Ma and Duncan Clark Digital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey Tang Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

For all the talk about AI, we rarely hear about how it will change our relationships. As we swipe to find love and consult chatbot therapists, acclaimed psychotherapist and relationship expert Esther Perel warns that there’s another harmful “AI” on the rise — Artificial Intimacy — and how it is depriving us of real connection. Tristan and Esther discuss how depending on algorithms can fuel alienation, and then imagine how we might design technology to strengthen our social bonds. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel Esther's debut work on the intricacies behind modern relationships, and the dichotomy of domesticity and sexual desire The State of Affairs by Esther Perel Esther takes a look at modern relationships through the lens of infidelity Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel Listen in as real couples in search of help bare the raw and profound details of their stories How’s Work? with Esther Perel Esther’s podcast that focuses on the hard conversations we're afraid to have at work Lars and the Real Girl (2007) A young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the internet Her (2013) In a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Big Food, Big Tech and Big AI with Michael Moss The AI Dilemma The Three Rules of Humane Tech Digital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey Tang Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

We are on the cusp of an explosion of cheap, consumer-ready neurotechnology - from earbuds that gather our behavioral data, to sensors that can read our dreams. And it’s all going to be supercharged by AI. This technology is moving from niche to mainstream - and it has the same potential to become exponential. Legal scholar Nita Farahany talks us through the current state of neurotechnology and its deep links to AI. She says that we urgently need to protect the last frontier of privacy: our internal thoughts. And she argues that without a new legal framework around “cognitive liberty,” we won’t be able to insulate our brains from corporate and government intrusion. RECOMMENDED MEDIA The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology by Nita Farahany The Battle for Your Brain offers a path forward to navigate the complex dilemmas that will fundamentally impact our freedom to understand, shape, and define ourselves Computer Program Reveals What Neurons in the Visual Cortex Prefer to Look At A study of macaque monkeys at Harvard generated valuable clues based on an artificial intelligence system that can reliably determine what neurons in the brain’s visual cortex prefer to see Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man by Marshall McLuhan An influential work by a fixture in media discourse RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES The Three Rules of Humane Tech Talking With Animals… Using AI How to Free Our Minds with Cult Deprogramming Expert Dr. Steven Hassan Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

Social media was humanity’s ‘first contact’ moment with AI. If we’re going to create laws that are strong enough to prevent AI from destroying our societies, we could benefit from taking a look at the major lawsuits against social media platforms that are playing out in our courts right now. In our last episode, we took a close look at Big Food and its dangerous “race to the bottom” that parallels AI. We continue that theme this week with an episode about litigating social media and the consequences of the race to engagement in order to inform how we can approach AI harms. Our guest, attorney Laura Marquez-Garrett, left her predominantly defense-oriented practice to join the Social Media Victims Law Center in February 2022. Laura is literally on the front lines of the battle to hold social media firms accountable for the harms they have created in young people’s lives for the past decade. Listener warning: there are distressing and potentially triggering details within the episode. Correction: Tristan refers to the Social Media Victims Law Center as a nonprofit legal center. They are a for-profit law firm. RECOMMENDED MEDIA 1) If you're a parent whose child has been impacted by social media, Attorneys General in Colorado, New Hampshire, and Tennessee are asking to hear your story. Your testimonies can help ensure that social media platforms are designed safely for kids. For more information, please visit the respective state links. Colorado New Hampshire Tennessee 2) Social Media Victims Law Center A non-profit legal center that was founded in 2021 in response to the testimony of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen 3) Resources for Parents & Educators Overwhelmed by our broken social media environment and wondering where to start? Check out our Youth Toolkit plus three actions you can take today 4) The Social Dilemma Learn how the system works. Watch and share The Social Dilemma with people you care about RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Transcending the Internet Hate Game with Dylan Marron A Conversation with Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen Behind the Curtain on The Social Dilemma with Jeff Orlowski-Yang and Larissa Rhodes Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

In the next two episodes of Your Undivided Attention, we take a close look at two respective industries: big food and social media, which represent dangerous “races to the bottom” and have big parallels with AI. And we are asking: what can our past mistakes and missed opportunities teach us about how we should approach AI harms? In this first episode, Tristan talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Michael Moss. His book Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us rocked the fast food industry when it came out in 2014. Tristan and Michael discuss how we can leverage the lessons learned from Big Food’s coordination failures, and whether it’s the responsibility of the consumer, the government, or the companies to regulate. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us Michael’s New York Times bestseller. You’ll never look at a nutrition label the same way again Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions Michael’s Pulitzer Prize-winning exposé of how the processed food industry exploits our evolutionary instincts, the emotions we associate with food, and legal loopholes in their pursuit of profit over public health Control Your Tech Use Center for Humane Technology’s recently updated Take Control Toolkit RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES AI Myths and Misconceptions The AI Dilemma How Might a long-term stock market transform tech? (ZigZag episode) Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

What happens when creators consider what lifelong human development looks like in terms of the tools we make? And what philosophies from Sesame Street can inform how to steward the power of AI and social media to influence minds in thoughtful, humane directions? When the first episode of Sesame Street aired on PBS in 1969, it was unlike anything that had been on television before - a collaboration between educators, child psychologists, comedy writers and puppeteers - all working together to do something that had never been done before: create educational content for children on television. Fast-forward to the present: could we switch gears to reprogram today’s digital tools to humanely educate the next generation? That’s the question Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin explore with Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, the Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content for the Sesame Workshop, the non-profit behind Sesame Street. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street This documentary offers a rare window into the early days of Sesame Street, revealing the creators, artists, writers and educators who together established one of the most influential and enduring children’s programs in television history Sesame Street: Ready for School!: A Parent's Guide to Playful Learning for Children Ages 2 to 5 by Dr. Rosemarie Truglio Rosemarie shares all the research-based, curriculum-directed school readiness skills that have made Sesame Street the preeminent children's TV program G Is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street co-edited by Shalom Fisch and Rosemarie Truglio This volume serves as a marker of the significant role that Sesame Street plays in the education and socialization of young children The Democratic Surround by Fred Turner In this prequel to his celebrated book From Counterculture to Cyberculture, Turner rewrites the history of postwar America, showing how in the 1940s and 1950s American liberalism offered a far more radical social vision than we now remember Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman Neil Postman’s groundbreaking book about the damaging effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century Sesame Workshop Identity Matters Study Explore parents’ and educators’ perceptions of children’s social identity development Effects of Sesame Street: A meta-analysis of children's learning in 15 countries Commissioned by Sesame Workshop, the study was led by University of Wisconsin researchers Marie-Louise Mares and Zhongdang Pan U.S. Parents & Teachers See an Unkind World for Their Children, New Sesame Survey Shows According to the survey titled, “K is for Kind: A National Survey On Kindness and Kids,” parents and teachers in the United States worry that their children are living in an unkind world RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Are the Kids Alright? With Jonathan Haidt The Three Rules of Humane Tech When Media Was for You and Me with Fred Turner Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

You’re likely familiar with the modern zombie trope: a zombie bites someone you care about and they’re transformed into a creature who wants your brain. Zombies are the perfect metaphor to explain something Tristan and Aza have been thinking about lately that they call zombie values. In this Spotlight episode of Your Undivided Attention, we talk through some examples of how zombie values limit our thinking around tech harms. Our hope is that by the end of this episode, you'll be able to recognize the zombie values that walk amongst us, and think through how to upgrade these values to meet the realities of our modern world. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Is the First Amendment Obsolete? This essay explores free expression challenges The Wisdom Gap This blog post from the Center for Humane Technology describes the gap between the rising interconnected complexity of our problems and our ability to make sense of them RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES A Problem Well-Stated is Half Solved with Daniel Schmachtenberger How To Free Our Minds with Cult Deprogramming Expert Steve Hassan Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

There’s really no one better than veteran tech journalist Kara Swisher at challenging people to articulate their thinking. Tristan Harrris recently sat down with her for a wide ranging interview on AI risk. She even pressed Tristan on whether he is a doomsday prepper. It was so great, we wanted to share it with you here. The interview was originally on Kara’s podcast ON with Kara Swisher. If you like it and want to hear more of Kara’s interviews with folks like Sam Altman, Reid Hoffman and others, you can find more episodes of ON with Kara Swisher here: https://link.chtbl.com/_XTWwg3k RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES AI Myths and Misconceptions The AI Dilemma The Three Rules of Humane Tech Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

Democracy in action has looked the same for generations. Constituents might go to a library or school every one or two years and cast their vote for people who don't actually represent everything that they care about. Our technology is rapidly increasing in sophistication, yet our forms of democracy have largely remained unchanged. What would an upgrade look like - not just for democracy, but for all the different places that democratic decision-making happens? On this episode of Your Undivided Attention, we’re joined by political economist and social technologist Divya Siddarth, one of the world's leading experts in collective intelligence. Together we explore how new kinds of governance can be supported through better technology, and how collective decision-making is key to unlocking everything from more effective elections to better ways of responding to global problems like climate change. Correction: Tristan mentions Elon Musk’s attempt to manufacture ventilators early on in the COVID-19 pandemic. Musk ended up buying over 1,200 ventilators that were delivered to California. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Against Democracy by Jason Brennan A provocative challenge to one of our most cherished institutions Ledger of Harms Technology platforms have created a race for human attention that’s unleashed invisible harms to society. Here are some of the costs that aren't showing up on their balance sheets The Wisdom Gap This blog post from the Center for Humane Technology describes the gap between the rising interconnected complexity of our problems and our ability to make sense of them DemocracyNext DemocracyNext is working to design and establish new institutions for government and transform the governance of organizations that influence public life CIP.org An incubator for new governance models for transformative technology Ethelo Transform community engagement through consensus Kazm’s Living Room Conversations Living Room Conversations works to heal society by connecting people across divides through guided conversations proven to build understanding and transform communities The Citizens Dialogue A model for citizen participation in Ostbelgien, which was brought to life by the parliament of the German-speaking community Asamblea Ciudadana Para El Clima Spain’s national citizens’ assembly on climate change Climate Assembly UK The UK’s national citizens’ assembly on climate change Citizens’ Convention for the Climate France’s national citizens’ assembly on climate change Polis Polis is a real-time system for gathering, analyzing and understanding what large groups of people think in their own words, enabled by advanced statistics and machine learning RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Digital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey Tang They Don’t Represent Us with Larry Lessig A Renegade Solution to Extractive Economics with Kate Raworth Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

A few episodes back, we presented Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin’s talk The AI Dilemma. People inside the companies that are building generative artificial intelligence came to us with their concerns about the rapid pace of deployment and the problems that are emerging as a result. We felt called to lay out the catastrophic risks that AI poses to society and sound the alarm on the need to upgrade our institutions for a post-AI world. The talk resonated - over 1.6 million people have viewed it on YouTube as of this episode’s release date. The positive reception gives us hope that leaders will be willing to come to the table for a difficult but necessary conversation about AI. However, now that so many people have watched or listened to the talk, we’ve found that there are some AI myths getting in the way of making progress. On this episode of Your Undivided Attention, we debunk five of those misconceptions. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Opinion | Yuval Harari, Tristan Harris, and Aza Raskin on Threats to Humanity Posed by AI - The New York Times In this New York Times piece, Yuval Harari, Tristan Harris, and Aza Raskin call upon world leaders to respond to this moment at the level of challenge it presents. Misalignment, AI & Moloch A deep dive into the game theory and exponential growth underlying our modern economic system, and how recent advancements in AI are poised to turn up the pressure on that system, and its wider environment, in ways we have never seen before RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES The AI Dilemma The Three Rules of Humane Tech Can We Govern AI? with Marietje Schaake Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

Despite our serious concerns about the pace of deployment of generative artificial intelligence, we are not anti-AI. There are uses that can help us better understand ourselves and the world around us. Your Undivided Attention co-host Aza Raskin is also co-founder of Earth Species Project, a nonprofit dedicated to using AI to decode non-human communication. ESP is developing this technology both to shift the way that we relate to the rest of nature, and to accelerate conservation research. Significant recent breakthroughs in machine learning have opened ways to encode both human languages and map out patterns of animal communication. The research, while slow and incredibly complex, is very exciting. Picture being able to tell a whale to dive to avoid ship strikes, or to forge cooperation in conservation areas. These advances come with their own complex ethical issues. But understanding non-human languages could transform our relationship with the rest of nature and promote a duty of care for the natural world. In a time of such deep division, it’s comforting to know that hidden underlying languages may potentially unite us. When we study the patterns of the universe, we’ll see that humanity isn’t at the center of it. Corrections: Aza refers to the founding of Earth Species Project (ESP) in 2017. The organization was established in 2018. When offering examples of self-awareness in animals, Aza mentions lemurs that get high on centipedes. They actually get high on millipedes. RECOMMENDED MEDIA Using AI to Listen to All of Earth’s Species An interactive panel discussion hosted at the World Economic Forum in San Francisco on October 25, 2022. Featuring ESP President and Cofounder Aza Raskin; Dr. Karen Bakker, Professor at UBC and Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellow; and Dr. Ari Friedlaender, Professor at UC Santa Cruz What A Chatty Monkey May Tell Us About Learning to Talk The gelada monkey makes a gurgling sound that scientists say is close to human speech Lemurs May Be Making Medicine Out of Millipedes Red-fronted lemurs appear to use plants and other animals to treat their afflictions Fathom on AppleTV+ Two biologists set out on an undertaking as colossal as their subjects – deciphering the complex communication of whales Earth Species Project is Hiring a Director of Research ESP is looking for a thought leader in artificial intelligence with a track record of managing a team of researchers RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES The Three Rules of Humane Tech The AI Dilemma Synthetic Humanity: AI & What’s At Stake Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

When it comes to AI, what kind of regulations might we need to address this rapidly developing new class of technologies? What makes regulating AI and runaway tech in general different from regulating airplanes, pharmaceuticals, or food? And how can we ensure that issues like national security don't become a justification for sacrificing civil rights? Answers to these questions are playing out in real time. If we wait for more AI harms to emerge before proper regulations are put in place, it may be too late. Our guest Marietje Schaake was at the forefront of crafting tech regulations for the EU. In spite of AI’s complexity, she argues there is a path forward for the U.S. and other governing bodies to rein in companies that continue to release these products into the world without oversight. Correction: Marietje said antitrust laws in the US were a century ahead of those in the EU. Competition law in the EU was enacted as part of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, almost 70 years after the US. RECOMMENDED MEDIA The AI Dilemma Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin’s presentation on existing AI capabilities and the catastrophic risks they pose to a functional society. Also available in the podcast format (linked below) The Wisdom Gap This blog post from the Center for Humane Technology describes the gap between the rising interconnected complexity of our problems and our ability to make sense of them The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) & Digital Markets Act (DMA) The two pieces of legislation aim to create safer and more open digital spaces for individuals and businesses alike RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Digital Democracy is Within Reach with Audrey Tang The AI Dilemma The Three Rules of Humane Tech Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_

In our previous episode, we shared a presentation Tristan and Aza recently delivered to a group of influential technologists about the race happening in AI. In that talk, they introduced the Three Rules of Humane Technology. In this Spotlight episode, we’re taking a moment to explore these three rules more deeply in order to clarify what it means to be a responsible technologist in the age of AI. Correction: Aza mentions infinite scroll being in the pockets of 5 billion people, implying that there are 5 billion smartphone users worldwide. The number of smartphone users worldwide is actually 6.8 billion now. RECOMMENDED MEDIA We Think in 3D. Social Media Should, Too Tristan Harris writes about a simple visual experiment that demonstrates the power of one’s point of view Let’s Think About Slowing Down AI Katja Grace’s piece about how to avert doom by not building the doom machine If We Don’t Master AI, It Will Master Us Yuval Harari, Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin call upon world leaders to respond to this moment at the level of challenge it presents in this New York Times opinion piece RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES The AI Dilemma Synthetic humanity: AI & What’s At Stake Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_