On Wisdom
What does science tell us about wisdom?
Displaying all 5 Episode of On Wisdom with the tag “ai”.
-
64: The Potency and Potential of Social Networks (with Nicholas Christakis)
March 12th, 2025 | 59 mins 14 secs
ai, apollo’s arrow, biosocial science, blueprint, computational social science, connected, emotions, evolutionary biology, happiness, meaning, nicholas christakis, pandemics, philosophy, psychology, purpose, reasoning, social networks, social science, well being, wisdom
Are your choices really your own — or are they quietly shaped by the people around you? Nicholas Christakis joins Igor and Charles to reveal the hidden power of social networks, from the surprising spread of kindness and cooperation to the ripple effects that shape our health, decisions, and even our wisdom. Igor uncovers the invisible social forces influencing our daily lives, Nicholas shares how our deep-rooted instincts for love, friendship, and teaching have shaped human civilization, and Charles considers how tapping into these instincts could help us build stronger, wiser communities. Welcome to Episode 64.
-
63: The AI Mirror: Why Machines Reflect Us More Than They Think (with Shannon Vallor)
February 23rd, 2025 | 44 mins 30 secs
ai, alignment, artificial intelligence, emotions, happiness, meaning, moral machines, philosophy, psychology, purpose, reasoning, shannon vallor, social science, technomoral virtues, technomoral wisdom, the ai mirror, value alignment, virtue embodiment, well being, wisdom
Can AI ever be truly wise, or are we just seeing reflections of ourselves? Philosopher Shannon Vallor joins Igor and Charles to explore how technology shapes human wisdom, why we’ve been thinking about AI all wrong, and what it really means to align machines with our values. Shannon unpacks the AI Mirror metaphor, suggesting that today’s AI isn’t a thinking mind but a reflection of human data, Igor considers whether technology could ever help us become wiser rather than just more efficient, and Charles wonders if philosophy can guide better decisions in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms. Welcome to Episode 63.
-
58: The Social Robots are Coming! (with Kerstin Dautenhahn)
November 1st, 2023 | 49 mins 2 secs
ai, artificial life, assistive technology, chatgpt, emotions, happiness, human-robot interaction, kerstin dautenhahn, llm, meaning, philosophy, psychology, purpose, reasoning, robot-assisted interventions, robotics, robotiquette, social anxiety, social robots, social science, well being, wisdom, wise robots
Can we create wise robots? Kerstin Dautenhahn joins Igor and Charles to dive into the intriguing world of social robots, the finer points of “Robotiquette,” and the potential role such robots can play in supporting therapeutic treatments. Igor reflects on the limits of robot-based wisdom, Kerstin reveals the potential of Generative AI like ChatGPT to generate false information about her own professional identity, and Charles considers the perils of socially awkward machines. Welcome to Episode 58.
-
57: The Epic Challenge of Knowing Thyself (with David Dunning)
October 7th, 2023 | 1 hr 3 mins
ai, checklists, dale carnegie, david dunning, dunning-kruger, emotions, happiness, how to win friends and influence people, jury service, justin kruger, meaning, metacognition, philosophy, psychology, purpose, reasoning, self-assessment, self-awareness, social science, well being, wisdom
Can we ever really know ourselves, or are we destined to always make overly optimistic self-assessments? David Dunning joins Igor and Charles to discuss the Dunning-Kruger effect, the importance of asking the right questions, why arriving at an accurate view of ourselves is so challenging, and the implications for teaching, medicine, and even scientific research. Igor explores the possible reemergence of group assessments in education as a result of advances in AI, David shares why conversations with smart people often end up as competitions to ask the most questions, and Charles reflects on the wisdom-enhancing experience of jury service. Welcome to Episode 57.
-
55: Wise of the Machines (with Sina Fazelpour)
August 5th, 2023 | 1 hr 4 mins
ai, algorithms, alignment, alphago, artificial intelligence, bias, chatgpt, constitutional ai, diversity, emotions, god’s touch, happiness, large language model, lee sedols, llm, machine learning, meaning, philosophy, psychology, purpose, reasoning, sina fazelpour, social science, well being, wisdom
How can we make AI wiser? And could AI make us wiser in return? Sina Fazelpour joins Igor and Charles to discuss the problem of bias in algorithms, how we might make machine learning systems more diverse, and the thorny challenge of alignment. Igor considers whether interacting with AIs might help us achieve higher levels of understanding, Sina suggests that setting up AIs to promote certain values may be problematic in a pluralistic society, and Charles is intrigued to learn about the opportunities offered by teaming up with our machine friends. Welcome to Episode 55.