Stephen Wolfram Livestreams


Future of Science & Technology Q&A (30 videos)

Biweekly ask-me-anything about the future of science & technology

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New episode streaming Friday, December 6, at 3:30pm ET. Submit your questions

Future of Science & Technology Q&A:
Future of Science & Technology Q&A:
Future of Science & Technology Q&A:
Future of Science & Technology Q&A:
Could mind uploading be achieved 20–40 years from now? Memory in human brains is like RAM: it's gone the second you shut the human off. What about copyright for bots based on real people? What are the legal implications? If we could upload our brain to something else, would it be feasible to upload data to our brains or upgrade parts similar to that of upgrading one's computer? What kind of compression algorithm is used on our thoughts? Would it be possible to read brainwaves using AI? ​​​​​​What is the "artificial" part of AI? As far as I can see, LLMs are a breakthrough in the study of intelligence itself. Will technology have an effect on human evolution and ultimately change our physical bodies in the future, i.e. such as our eyes becoming optimized for looking at screens all day, like a built-in blue-light filter, or prioritizing finger shapes to better type on a keyboard or hold a phone... What do you imagine the future of communication to be? We've had spoken word, mailed letters, telegrams, phone calls, emails and now texts. What's next? ​​I need an AI version of Socrates to speak with about being. Are there limitations to using genetic data to understand language-related traits? If so, how might these limitations affect the accuracy or applicability of language models? ​​Do LLMs work well in Egyptian hieroglyphic concepts? Do you regard math as a "language"? If so, would you suggest "talking" math out loud with a child? Stephen mentioned in a recent podcast that certain subject matters in certain academic fields are in a position to be combined with computation and haven't been so far—and stated that it was low-hanging fruit if one was to do it. I was wondering if Stephen could give some examples of these "low-hanging fruits." View Less »
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Future of Science & Technology Q&A:
Future of Science & Technology Q&A:
Do you think the plateau of LLMs will be at the level of understanding language? Once it does plateau, it will start to taper off and we'll need to use a different technique. How do you know that our brains aren't already using compression? The AI could make far more precise classifications than we make, leading to new words and their very precise and peculiar meanings. What seems more important to me is just the speed of the medium that AI has and how quickly it can process all of the interrelations, even when it's just forty thousand concepts, let alone larger context. Which language is best at this compression? Is there room for significant advancements in mathematical notations? A single biological neuron has been shown to be able to perform an exclusive OR operation. A current simple artificial neuron can't do that. Do you think we are underestimating the power of biological neurons compared to artificial neurons? Did the neural nets that you were playing with learn after their minds were blown? ​​What is your view on emergent phenomena? Do you think it is possible to predict all the emergent abilities AI can possibly obtain? Will humanoid robots usher in an age of abundance? Can a higher intelligence ever transcend computational irreducibility? Why does pessimism toward future technology exist? My experience is that most people's default opinion on future tech is "Let's not do this." Can we calculate how captured wind energy will influence the weather in the future if we become fully independent from fossil fuels? What is there to say about the future of food science? Will someone be able to recreate Willy Wonka's creations? Most of the energy in wind is not on the ground, it's over oceans and up in the sky. ​​Could one devise a "computation engine" analogous to a thermodynamic engine, where useful work is a consequence of information processing? Can AI solve the taste problem as it did the protein-folding problem? If we could run our evolution over and over again, maybe we could see ourselves in some different shapes, floating in space with different ways of communication. For example, we could exchange thoughts telepathically, or maybe we could influence objects without physical contact. What are your thoughts on this? Would it be easier to genetically modify kiwi instead? View Less »
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