New large language models are capable of writing essays, drafting marketing pitches and having human-like exchanges on chat apps. But can they make us laugh the way a human can? To explore this, host Gary Marcus is joined by Dr. Naomi Saphra, an AI researcher and comedian, Bob Mankoff, former Cartoon Editor of The New Yorker magazine and Yejin Choi, a computer science professor at the University of Washington and 2022 MacArthur Fellow. While artificial intelligence systems can generate far more jokes than humans can, knowing what’s funny remains — at least for now — a uniquely human ability. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've been promised wide-scale driverless cars for more than a decade, but a true driverless experience still remains out of reach. It turns out that taking humans out of the loop is putting everyone on the road at risk. Host Gary Marcus talks to Cade Metz, a tech reporter for The New York Times and Dr. Missy Cummings, former senior safety advisor to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to explore requirements that would make self-driving cars reliable and secure for everyone. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After its victory on Jeopardy, IBM made a billion-dollar bet on Watson: cancer. But it turned out that diagnosing patients isn’t the same as answering questions on a game show. Gary Marcus talks to journalists, doctors and computer scientists to find out how and why IBM’s experiment failed to live up to expectations, then looks at a new AI project that is showing promise at treating one of the world’s leading causes of hospital death.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2011, Watson, a computer built by IBM, shocked the world by becoming the first non-human contestant to win Jeopardy. An immediate sensation, Watson became the symbol of the seemingly limitless horizons of artificial intelligence. Host Gary Marcus retells this amazing story with the help of Dave Ferrucci, the genius behind Watson’s success, and Ken Jennings, the all-time Jeopardy champion and the inspiration behind IBM’s project. A transcript of their conversation can be found at Aventine.org/podcast.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the producers of The World as You’ll Know It, a new series about the perils and promise of artificial intelligence with cognitive scientist, Gary Marcus. For all the progress in artificial intelligence over the last 70 years — computers can now beat people at chess and Go, detect fraud, give driving instructions and write like Shakespeare — we still don’t know how to build AI we can trust. The risks are serious, but the potential benefits of AI are too great to be ignored. In this special edition series, host Gary Marcus — cognitive scientist, best-selling author and AI entrepreneur — digs into AI’s history, present and future, bringing to life some of the technology’s most significant breakthroughs and failures. He enlists engineers, scientists, philosophers and journalists working at the forefront of AI to explore what’s wrong with our current approach and ways we might change it. Humans vs. Machines debuts this spring. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Judith Warner speaks with Dr. Matthew Johnson about the state of psychedelic research today and the likelihood that certain drugs — MDMA and psilocybin specifically — could soon be approved for the treatment of conditions like addiction and PTSD. Psychedelics have long been known for their abilities to alter perception, but renewed interest by major research institutions in psychedelics’ ability to treat a range of common disorders has brought some of them to the precipice of FDA approval. DR. JOHNSON is a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and a leader in the study of psychedelics for the treatment of addiction. A transcript of their conversation can be found at Aventine.org/podcast. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One out of five Americans suffer from chronic pain and a new approach to treatment could transform their lives. Judith Warner speaks with Drs. Yoni Ashar and Tor Wager, neuroscientists who are at the forefront of a new way to understand and treat chronic pain that looks to the brain rather than the body as pain’s source. The treatment is relatively new, but growing rapidly in acceptance, thanks in part to a groundbreaking study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this year in which two-thirds of participants who were treated with the new approach were pain free or nearly pain free after a month. DR. ASHAR is a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus; DR. WAGER is a neuroscientist and a professor at Dartmouth. A transcript of their conversation can be found at Aventine.org/podcast. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Judith Warner speaks with Dr. Thomas Insel, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, about the failures in mental healthcare and how technology could be an important tool in addressing them.  DR. THOMAS INSEL was the head of the National Institute of Mental Health from 2002 to 2015, during which time he grew concerned about the lack of improvement in mental health outcomes despite great leaps forward in technology and brain science. He left for Silicon Valley, where, most recently, he founded Vanna Health, a company looking for community-based solutions for people with serious mental illness. In February, 2022 he published Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health. A transcript of their conversation can be found at Aventine.org/podcast. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Judith Warner speaks with Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, a neurologist and professor at Harvard University, about the possible causes of and coming treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease. One of the most complex and mysterious diseases ever known, Alzheimer’s has been the focus of Dr. Tanzi’s professional life for forty years; in 1987 he co-discovered the first gene that causes early onset Alzheimer's as a graduate student.  DR. RUDOLPH TANZIi is the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Vice-Chair of the Neurology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital where he also serves as the Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit. A transcript of their conversation can be found at Aventine.org/podcast. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Judith Warner speaks with Dr. John Donoghue about recent advancements in brain computer interface, or BCI, a technology that allows paralyzed people to move and communicate through the power of their thoughts. DR. JOHN DONOGHUE, the H.M. Wriston Professor of Neuroscience and Engineering at Brown University, has been a pioneer in the field of BCI research for over four decades, contributing to many of the breakthroughs that have made today’s progress possible. A transcript of their conversation can be found at Aventine.org/podcast. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The last decade has seen astonishing advancements in brain science that have opened doors to new ways of treating trauma, depression, and pain. Each week, host Judith Warner talks to leading brain experts about how their research is making possible the kinds of things that, just a few years ago, might have seemed like science fiction. The World as You'll Know It returns for a third season on August 16. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kurt Andersen speaks with economist and author, Mariana Mazzucato, about how governments should be proactive investors in and stewards of technological innovation in order to increase technology’s benefits for the common good.  MARIANA MAZZUCATO is a professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL), where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose (IIPP). She is the author of three books: The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths; The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy and, most recently, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism.  A transcript of their conversation can be found at Aventine.org. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kurt Andersen speaks with computer scientist Stuart Russell about the risks of machines reaching superintelligence and advancing beyond human control. In order to avoid this, Russel believes, we need to start over with AI and build machines that are uncertain about what humans want. STUART RUSSELL is a computer scientist and professor at University of California Berkeley. He is the author, most recently, of Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. He has served as the Vice-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Council on AI and Robotics and as an advisor to the United Nations on arms control. He is the author (with Peter Norvig) of the universally acclaimed textbook on AI, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach.   A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kurt Andersen speaks with Genevieve Bell, cultural anthropologist and founding director of The School of Cybernetics, about how people adapt to changes in artificial intelligence and the way these technologies impact the way we live. GENEVIEVE BELL is an Australian anthropologist and the founding director of The School of Cybernetics at the Australian National University. She is also a Senior Fellow in the Advance research and development labs at Intel. A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kurt Andersen speaks with Roger McNamee, the author of Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe, about the evolution of Facebook and other big tech companies, and what measures might be taken to curb their influence.      ROGER MCNAMEE is a buѕіnеѕѕmаn, іnvеѕtоr, vеnturе саріtаlіѕt, muѕісіаn and author. He іѕ thе fоundіng раrtnеr оf thе vеnturе саріtаl fіrm, Еlеvаtіоn Раrtnеrѕ, and the co-founder of the рrіvаtе еquіtу fіrm, Ѕіlvеr Lаkе Раrtnеrѕ. He was an early investor in Facebook, introduced Mark Zuckerberg to Cheryl Sandberg and is now one of its most outspoken critics. McNamee is also a musician, playing bass and guitar in the bands Moonalice and Doobie Decibel System. A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Host of this season’s The World as You’ll Know It, Kurt Andersen, speaks with Alison Gopnik, cognitive scientist, author, and professor of psychology at the University of California Berkeley, about the way technology is shaping the way we think, learn and make decisions.  ALISON GOPNIK is a professor of psychology at the University of California Berkeley. Gopnik is a psychologist and cognitive scientist specializing in the study of children’s learning and development. She’s the author of several books including “The Scientist in the Crib: What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind” and “The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life” among others. A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Host of this season’s The World as You’ll Know It, Kurt Andersen, speaks with Sinan Aral, professor at MIT and author of “The Hype Machine,” about the promise and peril of social media, and the ways it tricks our brains into wanting more.  SINAN ARAL is the David Austin Professor of Management, Marketing, IT, and Data Science at MIT; director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy; and head of MIT’s Social Analytics Lab. He is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is the author of “The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy, and How We Must Adapt.” A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Technology is at an inflection point. Can we harness it to make life better...or will it harness us? Join Kurt Andersen as he and a world-class selection of thinkers explore this question as it pertains to our brains, our personal lives, our laws and our government. The World as You'll Know It returns for a second season on August 24th. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week features two conversations. In the first, Michael Kimmelman, the architecture critic for The New York Times, speaks to Julián Castro, former mayor of San Antonio, Texas and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, about the housing crisis and the role cities play in national politics. Then Michael speaks with Janette Sadik-Khan, former Commissioner of New York City Department of Transportation, about how public transit can drive economic recovery in cities.  JULIAN CASTRO was the mayor of San Antonio, Texas from 2009 - 2014. He also served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2014 - 2017. JANETTE SADIK-KHAN was Commissioner of New York City Department of Transportation from 2007 - 2013 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg she is now a principal at Bloomberg Associates.   You can find a transcript of this episode at Aventine.org To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paul Tough, author, most recently, of "The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us," speaks to Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University, about whether Covid will serve as a catalyst to finally force a re-thinking of higher education.  PAUL TOUGH is the author of The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us and How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. He is a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine; his writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, GQ, and Esquire, and on the op-ed page of The New York Times. PAUL LEBLANC has been the president of Southern New Hampshire University since 2003. Formerly, he was the president of Marlboro College from 1996 to 2003. In 2015 he served as Senior Policy Advisor to Under Secretary Ted Mitchell at the U.S. Department of Education, working on competency-based education, new accreditation pathways, and innovation. He is also the chair of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education. A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steven Greenhouse, the author of "Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor," speaks to Jared Bernstein, former Chief Economic Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, about how Covid has underscored economic inequality, and what he believes can be done about it. STEVEN GREENHOUSE was a reporter for The New York Times for over thirty years, covering labor and the workplace for many of them. He is the author of two books: Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor and The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker. JARED BERNSTEIN is Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. From 2009 - 2011 he was the Chief Economic Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. In that role, he helped develop a plan to recover from the Global Financial Crisis.  A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steven Greenhouse, the author of "Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor," speaks to David Autor, the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT, about how Covid is likely to change the workforce by accelerating automation and reducing the number of low-wage jobs.  STEVEN GREENHOUSE was a reporter for The New York Times for over thirty years, covering labor and the workplace for many of them. He is the author of two books: Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor and The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker. DAVID AUTOR is the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT and co-chair of its Work of the Future task force. A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Wallace-Wells, the author of "The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming" speaks to Christiana Figueres, the former Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, about the catastrophic difference between the earth's temperature rising by 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius by 2100. DAVID WALLACE-WELLS is the author of The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, a best-selling book based on a story he wrote in 2017, which was the most widely read in the history of New York Magazine. He writes about climate and other issues for New York. CHRISTIANA FIGUERES is the former Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and played a vital role in the negotiations that led to the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015. She is also the co-author of The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis and the co-host of the Outrage + Optimism podcast. A transcript of this episode is available at Aventine.org To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to The World as You'll Know It, a new podcast that pairs established journalists with experts to discuss the ways in which Covid-19 will shape the course of the future. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices