Bloggingheads.tv

AI's human-like, but inhuman, language skills ... Bob argues that LLMs don’t vindicate the ‘blank slate’ view of the mind ... Do humans and AIs acquire language in totally different ways? ... Will AIs ever quit hallucinating? ... The importance (or not) of “embodied cognition” ... What is it like to be an AI? ... Why Steve is skeptical of AI doom scenarios ...

Kelley’s new podcast, Trip the Beltway Fantastic ... Pat Buchanan and conservative opposition to the Iraq war ... Would Trump 2.0 promote foreign policy restraint? ... Possible Trump appointees pushing for conflict with China ... The time Tucker Carlson helped prevent war with Iran ... Would Trump greenlight ethnic cleansing in Gaza? ... Would Trump end the Russia-Ukraine war? ... Heading to Overtime ...

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The Nonzero-American Prestige apocalypse aversion project ... Are Bob, Derek, and Danny surprised the Gaza war is still going on? ... Biden’s simple political calculus on Gaza ... Would Trump greenlight the ethnic cleansing of Gaza? ... Israel’s plan (or lack thereof) for post-war Gaza ... Heading to Overtime ...

Nikki Haley's not-surprising support of Trump ... Why can't Biden get credit for the economy? ... Sam Alito flies his freak flags ...

Bob’s sage status rises ... GPT-4o: harbinger of the Metaverse? ... Does sentience matter for AI companionship? ... The promise and perils of social AI ... How LLMs flip the script on computing ... Heading to Overtime—and a special announcement! ...

How the Overton window is shifting after October 7 ... Israel’s 9/11, Israel’s overreaction, and liberal Zionism ... The power of the Israel lobby ...

Is the Biden campaign panicking? ... Are the polls wrong? ... Is it wrong to debate Trump? ... Why did Biden take Trump's idea for 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs? ... What happened in this week's primaries? ...

Why this pod’s a little odd ... Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike quit OpenAI—part of a larger pattern? ... Bob: AI doomers need Hollywood ... Does an AI arms race spell doom for alignment? ... Why the “Pause AI” movement matters ... AI doomerism and Don’t Look Up: compare and contrast ... How Liron (fore)sees AI doom ... Are Sam Altman’s concerns about AI safety sincere? ... Paperclip maximizing, evolution, and the AI will to power question ... Are there real-world examples of AI going rogue? ... Should we really align AI to human values? ... Heading to Overtime ...

How Jews fit—or don’t—into universities’ DEI regimes ... What do controversial pro-Palestine chants really mean? ... When does criticism of Israel become antisemitic? ... The Israel lobby’s influence on Congress and academia ... Do pro-Israel donors unwittingly inflame antisemitism? ... Evidence of increasing antisemitism ... Was Ilhan Omar’s “all about the Benjamins” tweet antisemitic? ... Bob criticizes Bari Weiss, Bill Ackman, and an Eli tweet ... Balancing concerns about free speech and antisemitism ... Are Israelis too fatalistic about antisemitism for their own good? ...

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Why is Kristi Noem doubling down? ... Why are evangelicals sticking with Trump despite his adultery? ... Why is Trump going to the Libertarian Party convention? ... Are Dems poised to take back the House? ...

Is it ever okay to fire professors for speech? ... Bari Weiss spreads misinformation without consequence ... Are some of Israel’s American supporters unwittingly inflaming antisemitism? ... Ayaan Hirsi Ali converts to Christianity without abandoning New Atheist creed ... Do Sam Harris et. al. get religion totally wrong? ... Heading to Overtime ...

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Did Trump say too much to Time magazine? ... Will the Gaza protests impact the November election? ... What's Biden's clearest Electoral College path? ... Who will Trump pick for VP? ...

Coleman’s Joe Rogan appearance and new book, The End of Race Politics ... Campus protests and free speech ... Is anti-Zionism anti-Semitism? ... Is "exterminating Hamas" a viable solution? ... Bob: Israel never offered Palestinians a state ... “Right of return” and Palestinian national identity ... How firmly entrenched is hatred of Israel among Palestinians? ... Could better US policy have steered Israel-Palestine toward peace? ... Are Palestinian “sacred beliefs” the problem? ... Possible Palestinian futures ... Israel’s strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria ...

Why is Kevin McCarthy more hated than Mike Johnson? ... Why doesn't Biden get more credit for securing Ukraine aid and reducing Israel-Iran tensions? ... Why the divestment encampments are not effective ... Is the Trump trial hurting Trump's re-election chances? ...

Paul asserts his right to non-assertion ... Campus protests and free speech controversies ... Have pro-Palestine protestors crossed a line? Have their opposition? ... Will the protests force a reckoning on campus “wokeness”? ... Remembering philosopher Daniel Dennett ... Bob vs Dennett on consciousness ... Does the mind-body problem suggest a cosmic solution? ... Heading to Overtime ...

Anatoly’s strange CV ... How the 20th century set the stage for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine ... Why did Putin turn against the West? ... Anatoly: I underestimated Russia’s incompetence ... Has the Ukraine war really shifted in Russia’s favor? ... Russia’s “elite human capital” problem ... Is the “bio-singularity” near? ... Unipolar vs multipolar AI takeover scenarios ... Heading to Overtime ...