Today I’m reacting to Arvind Narayanan’s interview with Robert Wright on the Nonzero podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoB_pikM3NY
Dr. Narayanan is a Professor of Computer Science and the Director of the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton. He just published a new book called AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference.
Arvind claims AI is “normal technology like the internet”, and never sees fit to bring up the impact or urgency of AGI. So I’ll take it upon myself to point out all the questions where someone who takes AGI seriously would give different answers.
00:00 Introduction
01:49 AI is “Normal Technology”?
09:25 Playing Chess vs. Moving Chess Pieces
12:23 AI Has To Learn From Its Mistakes?
22:24 The Symbol Grounding Problem and AI's Understanding
35:56 Human vs AI Intelligence: The Fundamental Difference
36:37 The Cognitive Reflection Test
41:34 The Role of AI in Cybersecurity
43:21 Attack vs. Defense Balance in (Cyber)War
54:47 Taking AGI Seriously
01:06:15 Final Thoughts
Show Notes
The original Nonzero podcast episode with Arvind Narayanan and Robert Wright: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoB_pikM3NY
Arvind’s new book, AI Snake Oil: https://www.amazon.com/Snake-Oil-Artificial-Intelligence-Difference-ebook/dp/B0CW1JCKVL
Arvind’s Substack: https://aisnakeoil.com
Arvind’s Twitter: https://x.com/random_walker
Robert Wright’s Twitter: https://x.com/robertwrighter
Robert Wright’s Nonzero Newsletter: https://nonzero.substack.com
Rob’s excellent post about symbol grounding (Yes, AIs ‘understand’ things): https://nonzero.substack.com/p/yes-ais-understand-things
My previous episode of Doom Debates reacting to Arvind Narayanan on Harry Stebbings’ podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lehJlitQvZE
“AI Snake Oil” Prof. Arvind Narayanan Can't See AGI Coming | Liron Reacts