Lex Fridman Podcast - podcast cover

Lex Fridman Podcast

Lex Fridmanlexfridman.com
Conversations about science, technology, history, philosophy and the nature of intelligence, consciousness, love, and power. Lex is an AI researcher at MIT and beyond.

Episodes

#107 – Peter Singer: Suffering in Humans, Animals, and AI

Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton, best known for his 1975 book Animal Liberation, that makes an ethical case against eating meat. He has written brilliantly from an ethical perspective on extreme poverty, euthanasia, human genetic selection, sports doping, the sale of kidneys, and happiness including in his books Ethics in the Real World and The Life You Can Save. He was a key popularizer of the effective altruism movement and is generally considered one of the most influent...

Jul 08, 20201 hr 10 min

#106 – Matt Botvinick: Neuroscience, Psychology, and AI at DeepMind

Matt Botvinick is the Director of Neuroscience Research at DeepMind. He is a brilliant cross-disciplinary mind navigating effortlessly between cognitive psychology, computational neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. Support this podcast by supporting these sponsors: - The Jordan Harbinger Show: https://www.jordanharbinger.com/lex - Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX at checkout If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/a...

Jul 03, 20202 hr 1 min

#105 – Robert Langer: Edison of Medicine

Robert Langer is a professor at MIT and one of the most cited researchers in history, specializing in biotechnology fields of drug delivery systems and tissue engineering. He has bridged theory and practice by being a key member and driving force in launching many successful biotech companies out of MIT. Support this podcast by supporting these sponsors: - MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex - Cash App – use code "LexPodcast" and download: - Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe - ...

Jun 30, 20201 hr 3 min

#104 – David Patterson: Computer Architecture and Data Storage

David Patterson is a Turing award winner and professor of computer science at Berkeley. He is known for pioneering contributions to RISC processor architecture used by 99% of new chips today and for co-creating RAID storage. The impact that these two lines of research and development have had on our world is immeasurable. He is also one of the great educators of computer science in the world. His book with John Hennessy "Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach" is how I first learned abou...

Jun 27, 20202 hr 50 min

#103 – Ben Goertzel: Artificial General Intelligence

Ben Goertzel is one of the most interesting minds in the artificial intelligence community. He is the founder of SingularityNET, designer of OpenCog AI framework, formerly a director of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, Chief Scientist of Hanson Robotics, the company that created the Sophia Robot. He has been a central figure in the AGI community for many years, including in the Conference on Artificial General Intelligence. Support this podcast by supporting these sponsors: - Jordan ...

Jun 22, 20204 hr 9 min

#102 – Steven Pressfield: The War of Art

Steven Pressfield is a historian and author of War of Art, a book that had a big impact on my life and the life of millions of whose passion is to create in art, science, business, sport, and everywhere else. I highly recommend it and others of his books on this topic, including Turning Pro, Do the Work, Nobody Wants to Read Your Shit, and the Warrior Ethos. Also his books Gates of Fire about the Spartans and the battle at Thermopylae, The Lion's Gate, Tides of War, and others are some of the be...

Jun 20, 20201 hr 28 min

#101 – Joscha Bach: Artificial Consciousness and the Nature of Reality

Joscha Bach is the VP of Research at the AI Foundation, previously doing research at MIT and Harvard. Joscha work explores the workings of the human mind, intelligence, consciousness, life on Earth, and the possibly-simulated fabric of our universe. Support this podcast by supporting these sponsors: - ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod - Cash App – use code "LexPodcast" and download: - Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe - Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w Th...

Jun 13, 20203 hr 1 min

#99 – Karl Friston: Neuroscience and the Free Energy Principle

Karl Friston is one of the greatest neuroscientists in history, cited over 245,000 times, known for many influential ideas in brain imaging, neuroscience, and theoretical neurobiology, including the fascinating idea of the free-energy principle for action and perception. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – Cash App – use code "LexPodcast" and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Karl's Web...

May 28, 20201 hr 29 min

#97 – Sertac Karaman: Robots That Fly and Robots That Drive

Sertac Karaman is a professor at MIT, co-founder of the autonomous vehicle company Optimus Ride, and is one of top roboticists in the world, including robots that drive and robots that fly. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Sertac's Website: http://sertac.scripts.mit.edu/web/ Sertac's Twitter: https://twitter.com/s...

May 20, 20201 hr 23 min

#96 – Stephen Schwarzman: Going Big in Business, Investing, and AI

Stephen Schwarzman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Blackstone, one of the world's leading investment firms with over 530 billion dollars of assets under management. He is one of the most successful business leaders in history, all from humble beginnings back in Philly. I recommend his recent book called What It Takes that tells stories and lessons from this personal journey. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: - ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod - MasterClass: http...

May 15, 20201 hr 11 min

#95 – Dawn Song: Adversarial Machine Learning and Computer Security

Dawn Song is a professor of computer science at UC Berkeley with research interests in security, most recently with a focus on the intersection between computer security and machine learning. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Dawn's Twitter: https://twitter.com/dawnsongtweets Dawn's Website: https://people.eecs.ber...

May 12, 20202 hr 13 min

#94 – Ilya Sutskever: Deep Learning

Ilya Sutskever is the co-founder of OpenAI, is one of the most cited computer scientist in history with over 165,000 citations, and to me, is one of the most brilliant and insightful minds ever in the field of deep learning. There are very few people in this world who I would rather talk to and brainstorm with about deep learning, intelligence, and life than Ilya, on and off the mic. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash A...

May 08, 20202 hr 38 min

#93 – Daphne Koller: Biomedicine and Machine Learning

Daphne Koller is a professor of computer science at Stanford University, a co-founder of Coursera with Andrew Ng and Founder and CEO of insitro, a company at the intersection of machine learning and biomedicine. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: – Cash App – use code “LexPodcast” and download: – Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe – Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Daphne's Twitter: https://twitter.com/daphnekoller Daphne's Website: h...

May 05, 20201 hr 13 min

#92 – Harry Cliff: Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Harry Cliff is a particle physicist at the University of Cambridge working on the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment that specializes in searching for hints of new particles and forces by studying a type of particle called the "beauty quark", or "b quark". In this way, he is part of the group of physicists who are searching answers to some of the biggest questions in modern physics. He is also an exceptional communicator of science with some of the clearest and most captivating explanations...

Apr 29, 20202 hr 39 min

#91 – Jack Dorsey: Square, Cryptocurrency, and Artificial Intelligence

Jack Dorsey is the co-founder and CEO of Twitter and the founder and CEO of Square. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: - MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex EPISODE LINKS: Jack's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jack Start Small Tracker: https://bit.ly/2KxdiBL This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook...

Apr 24, 202052 min

#90 – Dmitry Korkin: Computational Biology of Coronavirus

Dmitry Korkin is a professor of bioinformatics and computational biology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he specializes in bioinformatics of complex disease, computational genomics, systems biology, and biomedical data analytics. I came across Dmitry's work when in February his group used the viral genome of the COVID-19 to reconstruct the 3D structure of its major viral proteins and their interactions with human proteins, in effect creating a structural genomics map of the coronavirus...

Apr 22, 20202 hr 10 min

#89 – Stephen Wolfram: Cellular Automata, Computation, and Physics

Stephen Wolfram is a computer scientist, mathematician, and theoretical physicist who is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, a company behind Mathematica, Wolfram Alpha, Wolfram Language, and the new Wolfram Physics project. He is the author of several books including A New Kind of Science, which on a personal note was one of the most influential books in my journey in computer science and artificial intelligence. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: - ExpressVPN at https...

Apr 18, 20203 hr 12 min

#88 – Eric Weinstein: Geometric Unity and the Call for New Ideas, Leaders & Institutions

Eric Weinstein is a mathematician with a bold and piercing intelligence, unafraid to explore the biggest questions in the universe and shine a light on the darkest corners of our society. He is the host of The Portal podcast, a part of which, he recently released his 2013 Oxford lecture on his theory of Geometric Unity that is at the center of his lifelong efforts in arriving at a theory of everything that unifies the fundamental laws of physics. Support this podcast by signing up with these spo...

Apr 13, 20203 hr 47 min

#87 – Richard Dawkins: Evolution, Intelligence, Simulation, and Memes

Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, and author of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion, The Magic of Reality, The Greatest Show on Earth, and his latest Outgrowing God. He is the originator and popularizer of a lot of fascinating ideas in evolutionary biology and science in general, including funny enough the introduction of the word meme in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which in the context of a gene-centered view of evolution is an exceptionally powerful idea. H...

Apr 09, 20201 hr 8 min

#86 – David Silver: AlphaGo, AlphaZero, and Deep Reinforcement Learning

David Silver leads the reinforcement learning research group at DeepMind and was lead researcher on AlphaGo, AlphaZero and co-lead on AlphaStar, and MuZero and lot of important work in reinforcement learning. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: - MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex - Cash App - use code "LexPodcast" and download: - Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe - Cash App (Google Play): https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w EPISODE LINKS: Reinforcement learning (book):...

Apr 03, 20202 hr 48 min

#85 – Roger Penrose: Physics of Consciousness and the Infinite Universe

Roger Penrose is physicist, mathematician, and philosopher at University of Oxford. He has made fundamental contributions in many disciplines from the mathematical physics of general relativity and cosmology to the limitations of a computational view of consciousness. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: - ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod - Cash App - use code "LexPodcast" and download: - Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe - Cash App (Google Play): h...

Mar 31, 20201 hr 28 min

#83 – Nick Bostrom: Simulation and Superintelligence

Nick Bostrom is a philosopher at University of Oxford and the director of the Future of Humanity Institute. He has worked on fascinating and important ideas in existential risks, simulation hypothesis, human enhancement ethics, and the risks of superintelligent AI systems, including in his book Superintelligence. I can see talking to Nick multiple times on this podcast, many hours each time, but we have to start somewhere. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: - Cash App - use ...

Mar 26, 20202 hr 57 min

#82 – Simon Sinek: Leadership, Hard Work, Optimism and the Infinite Game

Simon Sinek is an author of several books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, and his latest The Infinite Game. He is one of the best communicators of what it takes to be a good leader, to inspire, and to build businesses that solve big difficult challenges. Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors: - MasterClass: https://masterclass.com/lex - Cash App - use code "LexPodcast" and download: - Cash App (App Store): https://apple.co/2sPrUHe - Cash App (Google Play): https://bi...

Mar 21, 202038 min

#81 – Anca Dragan: Human-Robot Interaction and Reward Engineering

Anca Dragan is a professor at Berkeley, working on human-robot interaction -- algorithms that look beyond the robot's function in isolation, and generate robot behavior that accounts for interaction and coordination with human beings. Support this podcast by supporting the sponsors and using the special code: - Download Cash App on the App Store or Google Play & use code "LexPodcast" EPISODE LINKS: Anca's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ancadianadragan Anca's Website: https://people.eecs.berkeley.e...

Mar 19, 20202 hr 39 min

#80 – Vitalik Buterin: Ethereum, Cryptocurrency, and the Future of Money

Vitalik Buterin is co-creator of Ethereum and ether, which is a cryptocurrency that is currently the second-largest digital currency after bitcoin. Ethereum has a lot of interesting technical ideas that are defining the future of blockchain technology, and Vitalik is one of the most brilliant people innovating this space today. Support this podcast by supporting the sponsors with a special code: - Get ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod - Sign up to MasterClass at https://masterclass...

Mar 16, 20202 hr 36 min

#79 – Lee Smolin: Quantum Gravity and Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution

Lee Smolin is a theoretical physicist, co-inventor of loop quantum gravity, and a contributor of many interesting ideas to cosmology, quantum field theory, the foundations of quantum mechanics, theoretical biology, and the philosophy of science. He is the author of several books including one that critiques the state of physics and string theory called The Trouble with Physics, and his latest book, Einstein's Unfinished Revolution: The Search for What Lies Beyond the Quantum. EPISODE LINKS: Book...

Mar 07, 20201 hr 10 min

#78 – Ann Druyan: Cosmos, Carl Sagan, Voyager, and the Beauty of Science

Ann Druyan is the writer, producer, director, and one of the most important and impactful communicators of science in our time. She co-wrote the 1980 science documentary series Cosmos hosted by Carl Sagan, whom she married in 1981, and her love for whom, with the help of NASA, was recorded as brain waves on a golden record along with other things our civilization has to offer and launched into space on the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft that are now, 42 years later, still active, reaching ou...

Mar 05, 20201 hr 10 min

#77 – Alex Garland: Ex Machina, Devs, Annihilation, and the Poetry of Science

Alex Garland is a writer and director of many imaginative and philosophical films from the dreamlike exploration of human self-destruction in the movie Annihilation to the deep questions of consciousness and intelligence raised in the movie Ex Machina, which to me is one of the greatest movies on artificial intelligence ever made. I'm releasing this podcast to coincide with the release of his new series called Devs that will premiere this Thursday, March 5, on Hulu. EPISODE LINKS: Devs: https://...

Mar 03, 20201 hr 12 min

#76 – John Hopfield: Physics View of the Mind and Neurobiology

John Hopfield is professor at Princeton, whose life's work weaved beautifully through biology, chemistry, neuroscience, and physics. Most crucially, he saw the messy world of biology through the piercing eyes of a physicist. He is perhaps best known for his work on associate neural networks, now known as Hopfield networks that were one of the early ideas that catalyzed the development of the modern field of deep learning. EPISODE LINKS: Now What? article: http://bit.ly/3843LeU John wikipedia: ht...

Feb 29, 20201 hr 13 min

#75 – Marcus Hutter: Universal Artificial Intelligence, AIXI, and AGI

Marcus Hutter is a senior research scientist at DeepMind and professor at Australian National University. Throughout his career of research, including with Jürgen Schmidhuber and Shane Legg, he has proposed a lot of interesting ideas in and around the field of artificial general intelligence, including the development of the AIXI model which is a mathematical approach to AGI that incorporates ideas of Kolmogorov complexity, Solomonoff induction, and reinforcement learning. EPISODE LINKS: Hutter ...

Feb 26, 20202 hr 40 min