BONUS Episode “Scary Smart” Artificial Intelligence with Mo Gawdat

You might have noticed over the last few episodes that I’ve been keen to discuss subjects slightly leftfield of nutrition and what I’ve traditionally talked about, but fascinating nonetheless. And I hope you as a listener, who’s time and attention I value so greatly, will trust me as I take you on a bit  of a ride. Because ultimately, I hope you agree that the topics I share are always very important.

Mo Gawdat, who you may remember from episode #91 Solving Happiness (linked here)  is a person who I cherish and with whom I had a very impactful conversation with, on a personal level. He was the former Chief Business Officer of Google [X], which is Google’s ‘moonshot factory’, author of the international bestselling book ‘Solve for Happy’ and founder of ‘One Billion Happy’. After a long career in tech, Mo made happiness his primary topic of research, diving deeply into literature and conversing on the topic with some of the wisest people in the world on “Slo Mo: A Podcast with Mo Gawdat”.

Mo is an exquisite writer and speaker with deep expertise of technology as well as a passionate appreciation for the importance of human connection and happiness. He possesses a set of overlapping skills and a breadth of knowledge in the fields of both human psychology and tech which is a rarity. His latest piece of work, a book called “Scary Smart” is a timely prophecy and call to action that puts each of us at the center of designing the future of humanity. I know that sounds intense right? But it’s very true.

During his time at Google [X], he worked on the world’s most futuristic technologies, including Artificial Intelligence.  During  the  pod he recalls a story of when the penny dropped for him, just a few years ago, and felt compelled to leave his job. And now,  having contributed to AI’s development, he feels a sense of duty to inform the public on the implications of this controversial technology and how we navigate the scary and inevitable intrusion of AI as well as who really is in control. Us.

Today we discuss:

• Pandemic of AI and why the handing COVID is a lesson to learn from
• The difference between collective intelligence, artificial intelligence and super intelligence or Artificial general intelligence 
• How machines started creating and coding other machines 
• The 3 inevitable outcomes - including the fact that AI is here and they will outsmart us
• Machines will become emotional sentient beings with a Superconsciousness 

To understand this episode you have to submit yourself to accepting that what we are creating is essentially another lifeform. Albeit non-biological, it will have human-like attributes in the way they learn as well as a moral value system which could immeasurably improve the human race as we know it. But our  destiny lies in how we treat and nurture them as our own. Literally like infants with (as strange as it is to  say it) love, compassion, connection and respect.

Do be sure to check out Mo’s new book - Scary Smart which is out on the 30th September - and can be pre-ordered using this link

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