Prosthetic Gods

Episode 41 - Disgust This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the role of disgust in morality. Neuroscience suggests that feelings of disgust underlie many moral judgments, especially in the treatment of sexuality. Conservatives have long defended disgust as a source of moral intuition, while liberals seek to minimize it. Can we suppress disgust? Should we? Show Notes: Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law by Martha Nussbaum  “The Wisdom of Repugnance,” by Leon Kass  The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt  “Daedalus, or, Science and the Future,” JBS Haldane What We Are Seeking, Cameron Reed Wolfendon Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offenses and Prostitution Jeremy Bentham’s Auto-Icon   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 40 - Nicholas Christakis - Technology and Contagion Dr. Nicholas Christakis is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University and the Director of the Human Nature Lab. His research sits at the intersection of the social, biological, and computational sciences, exploring how our evolutionary biology and social network structures shape human behavior, health, and society. His groundbreaking work on "social contagion," demonstrates how everything from obesity and smoking to happiness and cooperative behavior spreads through human networks. Most recently, his work has focused on the emergence of "hybrid systems" of humans and machines, examining both the Burkean risks of how AI might degrade our interpersonal social graces and the technoprogressive potential of using "dumb bots" to optimize human coordination.   Show Notes: The Human Nature Lab at Yale University An overview of Dr. Christakis's current research on social networks, computational social science, and the biology of social interactions. Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, by Nicholas Christakis. His 2019 book detailing how evolution has biologically pre-wired humans for a "good society" based on love, friendship, and cooperation. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, by Nicholas Christakis His 2009 book exploring the "three degrees of influence" rule and how social contagion dictates our behavior. Dr. Christakis on Bluesky - @nachristakis.bsky.social For the Love of Science Vlog     As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Live from Portsmouth: Artificial Intelligence and Human Values In this special live episode of Prosthetic Gods, we bring you a night of big ideas recorded on April 2nd at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Presented as part of the University of New Hampshire's Sidore Lecture Series, "Artificial Intelligence and Human Values" gathered three leading thinkers to explore what AI means for how we live, think, and relate to one another. The evening opens with short, TED-style talks from Kay Mathieson (Northeastern University), Henry Shevlin (Cambridge University), and Harvey Lederman (UT Austin), each offering a distinct lens on the philosophical, ethical, and cognitive stakes of AI. Nir and J then take the stage to lead a wide-ranging live discussion with all three speakers and with questions and reflections from the Portsmouth audience. Show Notes: Artificial Intelligence and Human Values: A Public Conversation   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 39 - Sven Nyholm on the Ethics of AI This week on Prosthetic Gods we are talking to Sven Nyholm about his new book The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. If our thinking relies on external media, where do we stop and the AIs start? What is the moral status of LLMs? Are they sentient? Are AI relationships any good? And should we raise robots like children?   Sven Nyholm is Professor of the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at LMU Munich and a Principal Investigator for AI Ethics at the Munich Center for Machine Learning. His books include Humans and Robots: Ethics, Agency, and Anthropomorphism and This Is Technology Ethics: An Introduction, and his latest, The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, ranges from alignment and moral responsibility to artificial consciousness and the existential stakes of humanity's wager on AI.   Show Notes: Sven Nyholm at Researchgate and PhilPapers “How AI Robs Us of Meaning” Sven Nyholm  The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence by Sven Nyholm   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 38 - Humanoid Robots This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J talk about the distinctive ethical issues raised by the humanoid robots coming to homes and workplaces. Their presence and human-like form elicit unique responses compared to those of non-embodied AI. The appearance of a robot can manipulate human empathy and consent; robotic caregiving could be used as a pretext to dismantle the social safety net, and robot lovers could deepen loneliness. Show Notes: Moravec’s paradox  “Can AI Robots Help Older Adults Live in Their Homes Longer?” By Lee Pruitt “China Could Dominate the Physical AI Future”  by Eric Schmidt and Selina Xu “Humanoid Robots to Reach Nearly US$30 Billion by 2036” by Shihao Fu Humans (2015-2018, 3 seasons)  Battlestar Gallactica (2004-2009, 5 seasons)   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 37 - Anthropic's Conflict with the Pentagon: A Conversation with Alan Rozenshtein This week on Prosthetic Gods, J and Nir are talking to Alan Rozenshtein, professor of Law at the University of Minnesota, senior editor of Lawfare, fellow at Brookings, and former attorney at the Justice Department specializing in national defense. We talked about the legal and political implications of the Trump administration’s conflict with Anthropic over the military and surveillance uses of Claude. Show Notes: Alan Rozenshtein’s website Scaling Laws podcast "Congress—Not the Pentagon or Anthropic—Should Set Military AI Rules" by Alan Rozenshtein "Lawfare Daily: The Pentagon Designates Anthropic as a Supply Chain Risk" podcast with Benjamin Wittes  "Scaling Laws: The Pentagon Goes to War With Anthropic" podcast with Kevin Frazier “The Most Disruptive Company in the World” by Harry Booth and Billy Perrigo   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 36 - Buddhism and the Self This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir is interrogating an essay by J. on Buddhism, enhancement, and the self. They discuss the appeal of Buddhism for teenage Hughes, and how Buddhism reconciles a radical deconstruction of the self with moral commitment and principles. Show Notes: Buddhism and Our Posthuman Future - J. Hughes Cyborg Buddha - A conversation with transhumanist James Hughes Personal Immortality in Transhumanism and Ancient Indian Philosophy - Adam Buben Hume on personal identity  The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster, 1909    As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Episode 35 - Pluribus This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J are discussing the hit Apple TV show Pluribus. Created by Vince Gilligan, the show runner of Breaking Bad, the show explores a world taken over by a very nice hive mind that wants to give you anything you want. Would you take advantage of the perks, appreciate that the hive reduced humanity’s suffering, or fight like hell to give us all back our miserable individuality? Show Notes: “In Apple TV’s ‘Pluribus,’ the biggest ethical dilemmas ‘are our fault,’ a philosopher says” Cody Mello-Klein  “The Benign Zombies of Pluribus” Jonathan Moreno “The Fable of the Bees” Bernard Mandeville/ (1714)  Dostoevsky - Notes from the Underground “The Revolutionary Spirit of Star Wars Andor” Jessie Gender  “The revolutionary politics of Andor” Jorge Cotte    As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 35 - Simulations This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the simulation hypothesis, the idea that we may actually be living in the Matrix. We discuss its religious and philosophical precedents, Bostrom’s classic argument, and the contemporary physics that some think supports the idea.  Show Notes: The Simulation Argument Are we living in a computer simulation? I don’t know. Probably.   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 33 - Moral Enhancement This week on Prosthetic Gods, J and Nir discuss “moral enhancement,” the use of drugs and devices to promote moral sentiments, cognition, and behavior. Is it any different from drinking coffee instead of alcohol when you go to work? What might the unintended consequences be of making ourselves more compassionate? Is happiness a virtue? Show Notes: Bernie and Hinton ondemocratizing AI Europe is Bending the Knee to the US on Tech Policy WHO Sets GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drug Guidelines   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 32- Shoulda Put a Ring On It Should you be able to marry your chatbot? Should it be allowed to own property? In this episode of Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the proposed law in Ohio banning AI personhood. Listen before you make any rash decisions!  Show Notes: Ohio House Bill 469 Ohio House Bill 469 would label artificial intelligence as 'nonsentient entities' and block legal personhood   “It’s time to prepare for AI personhood”  Jacy Reese Anthis   “The Quest for the Transition of Inalienable Rights from Humans to Intelligent Machines” Compierchio, Tretten & Illankoon. Philosophies The movie 'Her' imagined perfect AI companions    As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 31 - 3I/Atlas, Aliens and Open Minds: A Chat with Avi Loeb This week on Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. chat with astronomer Avi Loeb about the mysteries of our interstellar visitor, 3I/Atlas. Is there a systemic bias in astronomy against the possibility of non-natural explanations for odd astronomical objects? What is the relationship of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy, in our solar system, and in our skies? Dr. Loeb is an astrophysicist at Harvard University, head of the Galileo Project to find extraterrestrial life, and author most recently of Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars. Show Notes: Ohio House Bill 469 Ohio House Bill 469 would label artificial intelligence as 'nonsentient entities' and block legal personhood   “It’s time to prepare for AI personhood”  Jacy Reese Anthis   “The Quest for the Transition of Inalienable Rights from Humans to Intelligent Machines” Compierchio, Tretten & Illankoon. Philosophies The movie 'Her' imagined perfect AI companions    As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 30 - Nuclear Nightmares This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the Netflix movie House of Dynamite, a nuclear war drama by Kathryn Bigelow.   Show Notes: “The age of AI-powered cyberattacks is here” Meet Project Suncatcher, a research moonshot to scale machine learning compute in space. Anomalies of 3I/ATLAS, Organized by Likelihood by Avi Loeb Peter Thiel's fund offloaded Nvidia stake in third quarter, filing shows As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley    

Episode 29 - Algorithms and Democracy with Jose Marichal This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J chat with Jose Marichal, professor of political science at California Lutheran University, and author of You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem. He is, according to a chatbot, a critical-democratic institutionalist who focuses on everyday algorithmic power and citizen agency.   Find out more about Dr. Marichal and his work via his website or by checking out his new book.    As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 28 - Yuval Levin on Conservatism and Technology This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. speak with Yuval Levin, one of the most insightful and influential conservative thinkers in America today. As the Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the Editor-in-Chief of National Affairs, Levin's work consistently anchors contemporary political debates in deep institutional history and conservative philosophy. His writing often centers on the critical importance of mediating institutions, the dangers of political hyper-polarization, and the need to restore a sense of civic obligation and prudent governance.   Find out more about Yuval via the American Enterprise Institute.    As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 27 - Mars This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the prospects for colonizing Mars and space in general. Why do people want to try? How feasible are space colonization schemes?  Show Notes: SpaceX Mars Colonization “Plan” The second major European open-source LLM is OUT, and it has been announced as multilingual and fully compliant with the EU AI Act. Meta launches AI-powered smart glasses   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 26 - Technology & Religion On this week’s Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the role and history of technology in religious practice. Are emerging technologies just another means of interfacing with religion, or do they challenge the underpinnings of earnest engagement with religious belief?  Show Notes: Philosophy Prof. John Kaag Links AI with Famous Writers and Thinkers for 'Talking' E-Books Pray.com's AI Bible   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 25 - Technoprogressivism On this week’s Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. talk about J’s advocacy of “technoprogressivism.” What is it, and what is it supposed to accomplish? How is it different from techno-utopianism or other leftist ideologies? Show Notes: “Outlines of an historical view of the progress of the human mind” Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat de Condorcet, 1796 “Technoprogressivism” Wikipedia “The Technoprogressive Agenda After Fascism” J. Hughes, 2025 “EcoSocialism and the Technoprogressive Perspective” J. Hughes, 2021 “The Technoprogressive Declaration” 2014 “Beware the AI Experimentation Trap” Harvard Business Review  “Clanker” as an anti-robot slur The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025   As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 24 - Longtermism This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the philosophical theory of longtermism, that we should take the interests of hypothetical future people as seriously as existing people. Plus! Listeners can contact us at [email protected]! Reach out with questions, topics you want to hear more about, or just to say hi. As Nir says, "All complaints go somewhere else." 😂 Show Notes: An Introduction to Longtermism Are Children The Future?: Longtermism, Pronatalism, and Epistemic Discounting - J. Hughes The toxic ideology of longtermism - Alice Crary Longtermist Political Philosophy: An Agenda for Future Research - Jacob Barrett and Andreas T. Schmidt   Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley

Episode 23 - Trump's AI Action Plan This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the recent AI Action Plan released by the Trump administration, what it proposes, and whether it will be implemented.  Show Notes Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan The real winners from Trump’s ‘AI action plan’? Tech companies The Trumpification of AI: What Could Go Wrong? China calls for global AI cooperation days after Trump administration unveils low-regulation strategy Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 22 - AI and the Future of Higher Education This week on Prosthetic Gods, J and Nir discuss how AI will impact the demand for higher education, the structure of higher education institutions, and the way we teach and learn. Show Notes J. Hughes “The Deskilling of Teaching and the Case for Intelligent Tutoring Systems” (2021)  https://jeet.ieet.org/index.php/home/article/view/90 IEET White Paper - Emerging Technologies & Higher Education  Grok Rolls Out Pornographic Anime Companion, Lands Department of Defense Contract Grok as ‘MechaHitler’ could be making content considered violent extremism   AI study in Africa exploring LLMs’ potential in health diagnoses AI to crack ‘undruggable’ proteins, opening door to new treatments  Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 21 - The Future of Work & The Value of Leisure This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss whether we are witnessing a decline in work, and if so, can that be a good thing?   Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 20 - Is Writing Like Hip-Hop? Stephen Marche on Writing with AI This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. speak with Stephen Marche, author of most recently The Next Civil War and Death of an Author. He has begun to write about his collaborative process using AI tools, comparing it to the advent of hip-hop and sampling. Show Notes: https://www.stephenmarche.com/  Stephen Marche. “The Future of Writing Is a Lot Like Hip-Hop” The Atlantic May 9, 2023. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 19 - Will AI Kill Creativity? This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J wrestle with creativity in the age of generative AI. Are there aesthetic or moral reasons to avoid AI art? Can copyright law protect artists from being displaced by AI slop?  Show Notes: The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction AlphaEvolve: A Gemini-powered coding agent for designing advanced algorithms ChatGPT’s viral Studio Ghibli-style images highlight AI copyright concerns Trump fires top US copyright official ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and the collapse of the creative process   Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 18 - De-extinction This week Nir and J discuss the hottest topic in fantasy ecoscience, the genetic resurrection of extinct species. In particular we are discussing the work of Colossal, a firm working on modern versions of the mammoth, dire wolf, thylacine and dodo. Show Notes: The Direwolf is Back Amazon in White House crosshairs over report of displaying tariff costs Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 17 - Designer Babies This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the ethics of parents being able to choose the genetic characteristics of their children. Is “germinal choice” good for parents, children, society?  Show Notes: He Jiankui and Gene-Edited Babies Sandel Michael J. 2007. The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. Cambrige: Harvard University Press De-extinction of Direwolves    Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 16 - Cognitive Offloading  This week on Prosthetic Gods Nir and J discuss the problem, and opportunity, of “cognitive off-loading,” our tendency to forget knowledge and skills once we have reliable digital tools. Is it possible to educate ourselves and our students to use these tools in ways that enrich and extend their cognitive skills and productivity? Along the way, we discuss Ted Chiang’s short story “The Truth of Fact The Truth of Feeling,” which compares the transition to literacy to the adoption of 24/7 lifelogging. Show Notes: Gong & Yang 2024. “Google effects on memory: a meta-analytical review of the media effects of intensive Internet search behavior.”   Nosta 2025. “Cognitive offloading with AI boosts performance but may hinder deeper learning”  Ted Chiang “The Truth of Fact The Truth of Feeling” “Emboldened by Trump, A.I. Companies Lobby for Fewer Rules” NYT     Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 15 - Machines of Loving Grace  In this episode of Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. discuss Dario Amodei’s essay “Machines of Loving Grace,” which lays out the best case scenario for AI’s impact on health, economics and world peace. Links: Dario Amodei “Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better” October 2024 Richard Brautigan “All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace”  Marc Andreesen “The Techno-Optimist Manifesto”   Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 14 - Damien Walter on Science Fiction and Philosophy This week on Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. are joined by Damien G. Walter, a writer and a storyteller who has written for The Guardian, the BBC, Wired, The Independent, Aeon, and others. He teaches The Rhetoric of Story and Writing the 21st-Century Myth to over 35,000 students worldwide, and is the host of the Science Fiction Podcast.  We discuss the interaction between the “New Mythos” of science fiction and philosophy.   Find out more about Damien Walter through the links below: Website Youtube Substack   Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 13 - Griefbots Griefbots (also called deathbots, AI ghosts, AI clones, death avatars, and postmortem avatars) are large language models built on available information about the  deceased, such as social media, letters, photos, diaries, and videos. Nir and J debate whether they are just another way to commemorate our loved ones or a violation of human dignity.   Links: Dario Amodei, CEO Anthropic. Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better (October 2024)    Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 12 - Life-Hacking, or The Examined Life? This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the pros and cons of life-tracking or “self-quantification,” with tools like health watches, and the “life-hacking” that these tools encourage, from dieting and exercise to sleep and meditation. How do we know when we are being distracted and made miserable by all this self-knowledge, and when it is helpful? Could AI life coaches, tracking every vital, help us live happier, longer lives?  Links: Self-Absorption in the Digital Era: A Review of "Self-Improvement Technologies of the Soul in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" by Mark Coeckelbergh  “Know Thyself, Improve Thyself: Personalized LLMs for Self-Knowledge and Moral Enhancement,” Julian Savulescu Trump administration directs federal health agencies to pause communications Stargate AI Iniatitive, Spurned by Musk, Trumped by Chinese DeepSeek Breakthroughs China’s cheap, open AI model DeepSeek thrills scientists Why everyone in AI is freaking out about DeepSeek OpenAI Unveils A.I. Agent That Can Use Websites on Its Own Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 11 - Death On this week’s Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. discuss the ethics of life extension and anti-aging therapies. Is there a benefit to involuntary death? Would getting very old necessarily be boring or depressing? How can we ensure that everyone benefits?  Links: Zuckerberg removes fact-checking from Facebook Bezos imposes ban on criticism of Trump/Musk at WashPo Sam Altman moves up the timelines for AGI and ASI Journal abstracts written by asking LLMs to summarize papers are perceived as more authentic, clear and compelling than those created solely by academics.   Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 10 - Can We Do Anything that Computers Can’t? J and Nir talk to Tal Hassner, formerly of Amazon and Meta, about Deep Fakes, AGI, and whether there is such a thing as a tech-proof job. Links: Find out more about Tal here: https://talhassner.github.io/home/  Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley      

Episode 9 - Facial Recognition Nir and J. talk about facial recognition. Topics covered include considerations of bias, the role of privacy, and whether facial recognition is substantially different from other identification technologies.  Links: “Halt the use of facial-recognition technology until it is regulated" by Kate Crawford On Liberty by John Stuart Mills  The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution by C.P. Snow Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 8 - Tech Policy Under Trump 2 Nir and J. talk about the prospects for tech policy under Trump's second term. They discuss the new administration's attitudes toward content moderation, what the next four years mean for Artificial Intelligence, and Elon Musk's potential influence on tech policy moving forward.  Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 7 - Supersoldiers  Nir and J. discuss ethical issues surrounding so-called super soldiers and human augmentation in warfare. Additional Resources: Human Augmentation - The Dawn of a New Paradigm Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?     Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Episode 6 - Moral Machines In this episode, Nir and J. discuss whether machines can be moral. What does it take for something to be a moral patient or moral subject? Can morality be distilled down to a set of rules? Is the red-teaming and safety testing of large language models a way to teach machines morality?  Additional Resources: Moral Machines by Colin Allen and Wendell Wallach   Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by Jake Burley Music by Jake Burley

Prosthetic Gods: Artificial General Intelligence In this episode of Prosthetic Gods, J. Hughes and Nir Eisikovits dive into artificial general intelligence (AGI), AI that has reached a human level of consciousness and common sense. Is AI currently a "philosophical zombie," mimicking human behavior without true awareness? Will AGIs be the perfect 24/7 slaves, replacing expensive humans in workplace? Would AGI be the beginning of AI evolving beyond human control?  Also, check out this week’s Ethics in Action podcast conversation with philosopher Susan Schneider: https://ethics.podbean.com/e/ai-consciousness-and-the-future-mind-a-conversation-with-susan-schneider/ Hosted by: James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Produced by: Jake Burley Music by: Jake Burley

AI Clones  This week Drs. Nir and J. discuss the concept of AI clones with postdoctoral fellow Cody Turner, and in particular the short podcast series Shell Game from journalist Evan Ratliff. Will AI clones augment or disorient us? Our bonus round discusses J’s recent piece of “free IVF.” Links:  Shell Game podcast  https://www.shellgame.co/podcast Vapi voice clone: https://vapi.ai/ “Digital Duplicates and the Scarcity Problem: Might AI Make Us Less Scarce and Therefore Less Valuable?” by John Danaher & Sven Nyholm   https://philpapers.org/rec/DANDDA-3 “Free IVF? Technoprogressive policy and reproductive rights” by J. Hughes https://ieet.substack.com/p/fertility-assistance-reproductive  

Can There Be Bad Knowledge? In medical ethics there are debates about when people should be encouraged to get tested for diseases or conditions for which there is no therapy, such as Alzheimer’s disease. In the case of knowing you have a risk or diagnosis of incurable disease, is ignorance really bliss, or does “true happiness” require knowledge? What are the ethics of these "bad knowledge" situations? How early is too early to find out you've got an incurable disease? https://www.wired.com/story/alzheimers-disease-dementia-medicine-prediction-ethics/   The Woman Who Could Smell Parkinson’s https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/14/magazine/parkinsons-smell-disease-detection.html   Lightning Round Google hires Character.AI founders https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/02/google-character-ai-noam-shazeer/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-appoints-former-characterai-founder-co-lead-its-ai-models-2024-08-23/  

Taiwan’s Experiments with E-democracy: Can AI be good for democracy? Taiwan has been experimenting with digital democracy for a decade. In this week’s Prosthetic Gods Nir and J review the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic tools for citizen participation in politics. And we also talk about the Harris Zoom rallies and the Google anti-trust case. Tools for Citizen Participation: Taiwan has experimented with two platforms for engaging citizens in collaborative policymaking, vTaiwan and Join.  vTaiwan uses the online deliberation system Pol.is to map opinions and promote consensus views, and it has been used on issues such as drafting Uber regulations.  https://info.vtaiwan.tw/ https://pol.is/home https://congress.crowd.law/case-vtaiwan.html On join.gov.tw, Taiwan’s citizens can file petitions, and when they gather 5,000 signatures, ministries hold face-to-face discussions about them.  https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9530852 Former digital minister, Audrey Tang   https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2024/05/22/audrey-tang-learning-from-taiwans-digital-civic-experimentation/ Citizen Tech NGOs: g0v (gov-zero): The civic tech community in Taiwan that collaborates with the government to create open-source tools for transparency and citizen participation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G0v

ieet.org/white-papers www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/experimentations/202407/what-if-artificial-intelligence-replaces-human-therapists www.npr.org/transcripts/1247296788