Podcasts · Technology

Future of Life Institute Podcast

Future of Life Institute

281 episodes

The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit working to reduce global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies. In particular, FLI focuses on risks from artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, nuclear weapons and climate change. The Institute's work is made up of three main strands: grantmaking for risk reduction, educational outreach, and advocacy within the United Nations, US government and European Union institutions. FLI has become one of the world's leading voices on the governance of AI having created one of the earliest and most influential sets of governance principles: the Asilomar AI Principles.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. How AI Is Changing Human Psychology (with Meia Chita-Tegmark)

    · 1 h 15 min

    Meia Chita-Tegmark is a co-founder of the Future of Life Institute. She joins the podcast to discuss how artificial intelligence influences human psychology and behavior. The conversation explores psychological…

  2. Artificial Intimacy: When Machines Pursue Our Attachment (with Sherry Turkle)

    · 1 h 08 min

    Sherry Turkle is a professor of sociology and personality psychology at MIT. She joins the podcast to discuss artificial intimacy and the psychological impact of emotional attachment to AI chatbots. We examine why…

  3. The Trillion-Dollar AI Race to Replace Us (with Garrison Lovely)

    · 1 h 20 min

    Garrison Lovely is an author and journalist. He joins the podcast to discuss the race to replace human labor with artificial general intelligence. We explore the political risks of worker displacement and lessons from…

  4. Delisted: A Film About AI-Powered Social Erasure (with Michael Patrick Clarkson)

    · 58 min

    Michael Patrick Clarkson is the writer and director of the film Delisted. Watch the film here. He joins the podcast to discuss how artificial intelligence could enable state surveillance, social control, and the…

  5. Visualizing Moloch: A Short Film About the AI Race (with Tom Cozens)

    · 1 h 39 min

    Tom Cozens is a filmmaker and writer. He joins the podcast to discuss his short film Moloch and the dynamics of competitive races in artificial intelligence. Watch the film here. We explore the philosophical and…

  6. Can Humans Still Control AI-Assisted Kill Chains? (with Katrina Manson)

    · 42 min

    Katrina Manson is author of PROJECT MAVEN: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare. She joins the podcast to discuss Project Maven and the Pentagon's use of AI in military targeting. We explore how…

  7. What Would a US-China AI Deal Look Like? (with Beatrice Fihn)

    · 52 min

    Beatrice Fihn is the director of Lex International and former executive director of ICAN. She joins the podcast to discuss international AI governance and potential agreements between the US and China. Drawing on…

  8. Why AI Hacking Is Becoming Hard to Control (with Benjamin Weinstein-Raun)

    · 59 min

    Benjamin Weinstein-Raun is head of research at Palisade Research. He joins the podcast to discuss how advanced AI systems are changing cybersecurity. We examine rapid gains in autonomous hacking, recent incidents where…

  9. First 24 Hours of a Bioweapon Attack - Annie Jacobsen

    · 1 h 28 min

    Annie Jacobsen is an author and journalist. She joins the podcast to discuss biological war and her book Biological War: A Scenario. The conversation examines how lab accidents or covert weapons work could trigger a…

  10. How AI Shifts the Offense-Defense Balance in Biosecurity (with Paul-Enguerrand Fady)

    · 1 h 49 min

    Paul-Enguerrand Fady is a Senior Biosecurity Policy Manager at the Centre for Long-Term Resilience. He joins the podcast to discuss how AI is changing biosecurity. We cover how new tools could help defenders develop…

  11. Why AI Evaluations Are Broken and How to Fix Them (with David Manheim)

    · 1 h 19 min

    David Manheim is head of methodology at AI Evaluation Consensus. He joins the podcast to discuss how AI evaluations can become more reliable, transparent, and useful for decisions. We cover common failures such as…

  12. How AI Is Replacing Children's Ability to Think (with Randi Weingarten)

    · 44 min

    Randi Weingarten is president of the American Federation of Teachers. She joins the podcast to discuss AI in education. The conversation covers how screens and student-facing AI may weaken attention, learning, and…

  13. The Gulf Between AI Progress and Political Understanding (with Dex Hunter-Torricke)

    · 1 h 04 min

    Dex Hunter-Torricke is founder of the Centre for Tomorrow. He joins the podcast to discuss why AI governance needs to move beyond technical fixes. The conversation covers how AI companies make decisions, why…

  14. How AI Companions Trap Users Through Addictive Design (with Claire Boine)

    · 1 h 08 min

    Claire Boine is an assistant professor in technology, law, and AI governance at the European University Institute. She joins the podcast to discuss AI companions and human attachment. The conversation examines how…

  15. Why AI Chatbots Are a Rival to the Family (with Michael Toscano)

    · 1 h 14 min

    Michael Toscano is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies and Director of its Family First Technology Initiative. He joins the podcast to discuss family-centered AI policy. The conversation covers AI…

  16. Why We Should Build AI Tools, Not AI Replacements (with Anthony Aguirre)

    · 1 h 36 min

    Anthony Aguirre is the CEO of the Future of Life Institute. He joins the podcast to discuss A Better Path for AI, his essay series on steering AI away from races to replace people. The conversation covers races for…

  17. How to Govern AI When You Can't Predict the Future (with Charlie Bullock)

    · 1 h 07 min

    Charlie Bullock is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Law and AI. He joins the podcast to discuss radical optionality: how governments can prepare for very advanced AI without locking in premature rules. The…

  18. Why AI Is Not a Normal Technology (with Peter Wildeford)

    · 1 h 24 min

    Peter Wildeford is Head of Policy at the AI Policy Network, and a top AI forecaster. He joins the podcast to discuss how to forecast AI progress and what current trends imply for the economy and national security.…

  19. Why AI Evaluation Science Can't Keep Up (with Carina Prunkl)

    · 54 min

    Carina Prunkl is a researcher at Inria. She joins the podcast to discuss how to assess the capabilities and risks of general-purpose AI. We examine why systems can solve hard coding and math problems yet still fail at…

  20. Defense in Depth: Layered Strategies Against AI Risk (with Li-Lian Ang)

    · 56 min

    Li-Lian Ang is a team member at Blue Dot Impact. She joins the podcast to discuss how society can build a workforce to protect humanity from AI risks. The conversation covers engineered pandemics, AI-enabled cyber…

  21. What AI Companies Get Wrong About Curing Cancer (with Emilia Javorsky)

    · 1 h 12 min

    Emilia Javorsky is a physician-scientist and Director of the Futures Program at the Future of Life Institute. She joins the podcast to discuss her newly published essay on AI and cancer. She challenges tech claims…

  22. AI vs Cancer - How AI Can, and Can't, Cure Cancer (by Emilia Javorsky)

    · 2 h 43 min

    Tech executives have promised that AI will cure cancer. The reality is more complicated — and more hopeful. This essay examines where AI genuinely accelerates cancer research, where the promises fall short, and what…

  23. How AI Hacks Your Brain's Attachment System (with Zak Stein)

    · 1 h 45 min

    Zak Stein is a researcher focused on child development, education, and existential risk. He joins the podcast to discuss the psychological harms of anthropomorphic AI. We examine attention and attachment hacking, AI…

  24. The Case for a Global Ban on Superintelligence (with Andrea Miotti)

    · 1 h 07 min

    Andrea Miotti is the founder and CEO of Control AI, a nonprofit. He joins the podcast to discuss efforts to prevent extreme risks from superintelligent AI. The conversation covers industry lobbying, comparisons with…

  25. Can AI Do Our Alignment Homework? (with Ryan Kidd)

    · 1 h 47 min

    Ryan Kidd is a co-executive director at MATS. This episode is a cross-post from "The Cognitive Revolution", hosted by Nathan Labenz. In this conversation, they discuss AGI timelines, model deception risks, and whether…

  26. How to Rebuild the Social Contract After AGI (with Deric Cheng)

    · 1 h 05 min

    Deric Cheng is Director of Research at the Windfall Trust. He joins the podcast to discuss how AI could reshape the social contract and global economy. The conversation examines labor displacement, superstar firms, and…

  27. How AI Can Help Humanity Reason Better (with Oly Sourbut)

    · 1 h 18 min

    Oly Sourbut is a researcher at the Future of Life Foundation. He joins the podcast to discuss AI for human reasoning. We examine tools that use AI to strengthen human judgment, from collective fact-checking and…

  28. How to Avoid Two AI Catastrophes: Domination and Chaos (with Nora Ammann)

    · 1 h 20 min

    Nora Ammann is a technical specialist at the Advanced Research and Invention Agency in the UK. She joins the podcast to discuss how to steer a slow AI takeoff toward resilient and cooperative futures. We examine risks…

  29. How Humans Could Lose Power Without an AI Takeover (with David Duvenaud)

    · 1 h 19 min

    David Duvenaud is an associate professor of computer science and statistics at the University of Toronto. He joins the podcast to discuss gradual disempowerment in a post-AGI world. We ask how humans could lose…

  30. Why the AI Race Undermines Safety (with Steven Adler)

    · 1 h 29 min

    Stephen Adler is a former safety researcher at OpenAI. He joins the podcast to discuss how to govern increasingly capable AI systems. The conversation covers competitive races between AI companies, limits of current…

  31. Why OpenAI Is Trying to Silence Its Critics (with Tyler Johnston)

    · 1 h 01 min

    Tyler Johnston is Executive Director of the Midas Project. He joins the podcast to discuss AI transparency and accountability. We explore applying animal rights watchdog tactics to AI companies, the OpenAI Files…

  32. We're Not Ready for AGI (with Will MacAskill)

    · 2 h 03 min

    William MacAskill is a senior research fellow at Forethought. He joins the podcast to discuss his Better Futures essay series. We explore moral error risks, AI character design, space governance, and persistent path…

  33. What Happens When Insiders Sound the Alarm on AI? (with Karl Koch)

    · 1 h 08 min

    Karl Koch is founder of the AI Whistleblower Initiative. He joins the podcast to discuss transparency and protections for AI insiders who spot safety risks. We explore current company policies, legal gaps, how to…

  34. Can Machines Be Truly Creative? (with Maya Ackerman)

    · 1 h 02 min

    Maya Ackerman is an AI researcher, co-founder and CEO of WaveAI, and author of the book "Creative Machines: AI, Art & Us." She joins the podcast to discuss creativity in humans and machines. We explore defining…

  35. From Research Labs to Product Companies: AI's Transformation (with Parmy Olson)

    · 47 min

    Parmy Olson is a technology columnist at Bloomberg and the author of Supremacy, which won the 2024 Financial Times Business Book of the Year. She joins the podcast to discuss the transformation of AI companies from…

  36. Can Defense in Depth Work for AI? (with Adam Gleave)

    · 1 h 19 min

    Adam Gleave is co-founder and CEO of FAR.AI. In this cross-post from The Cognitive Revolution Podcast, he joins to discuss post-AGI scenarios and AI safety challenges. The conversation explores his three-tier framework…

  37. How We Keep Humans in Control of AI (with Beatrice Erkers)

    · 1 h 07 min

    Beatrice works at the Foresight Institute running their Existential Hope program. She joins the podcast to discuss the AI pathways project, which explores two alternative scenarios to the default race toward AGI. We…

  38. Why Building Superintelligence Means Human Extinction (with Nate Soares)

    · 1 h 40 min

    Nate Soares is president of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. He joins the podcast to discuss his new book "If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies," co-authored with Eliezer Yudkowsky. We explore why current AI…

  39. Breaking the Intelligence Curse (with Luke Drago)

    · 1 h 10 min · Episode 1

    Luke Drago is the co-founder of Workshop Labs and co-author of the essay series "The Intelligence Curse". The essay series explores what happens if AI becomes the dominant factor of production thereby reducing…

  40. What Markets Tell Us About AI Timelines (with Basil Halperin)

    · 1 h 36 min · Episode 1

    Basil Halperin is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Virginia. He joins the podcast to discuss what economic indicators reveal about AI timelines. We explore why interest rates might rise if…

  41. AGI Security: How We Defend the Future (with Esben Kran)

    · 1 h 18 min · Episode 1

    Esben Kran joins the podcast to discuss why securing AGI requires more than traditional cybersecurity, exploring new attack surfaces, adaptive malware, and the societal shifts needed for resilient defenses. We cover…

  42. Reasoning, Robots, and How to Prepare for AGI (with Benjamin Todd)

    · 1 h 27 min · Episode 1

    Benjamin Todd joins the podcast to discuss how reasoning models changed AI, why agents may be next, where progress could stall, and what a self-improvement feedback loop in AI might mean for the economy and society. We…

  43. From Peak Horse to Peak Human: How AI Could Replace Us (with Calum Chace)

    · 1 h 37 min · Episode 1

    On this episode, Calum Chace joins me to discuss the transformative impact of AI on employment, comparing the current wave of cognitive automation to historical technological revolutions. We talk about "universal…

  44. How AI Could Help Overthrow Governments (with Tom Davidson)

    · 1 h 54 min · Episode 1

    On this episode, Tom Davidson joins me to discuss the emerging threat of AI-enabled coups, where advanced artificial intelligence could empower covert actors to seize power. We explore scenarios including secret…

  45. What Happens After Superintelligence? (with Anders Sandberg)

    · 1 h 45 min · Episode 1

    Anders Sandberg joins me to discuss superintelligence and its profound implications for human psychology, markets, and governance. We talk about physical bottlenecks, tensions between the technosphere and the…

  46. Why the AI Race Ends in Disaster (with Daniel Kokotajlo)

    · 1 h 10 min · Episode 1

    On this episode, Daniel Kokotajlo joins me to discuss why artificial intelligence may surpass the transformative power of the Industrial Revolution, and just how much AI could accelerate AI research. We explore the…

  47. Preparing for an AI Economy (with Daniel Susskind)

    · 1 h 04 min · Episode 1

    On this episode, Daniel Susskind joins me to discuss disagreements between AI researchers and economists, how we can best measure AI’s economic impact, how human values can influence economic outcomes, what meaningful…

  48. Will AI Companies Respect Creators' Rights? (with Ed Newton-Rex)

    · 1 h 27 min · Episode 1

    Ed Newton-Rex joins me to discuss the issue of AI models trained on copyrighted data, and how we might develop fairer approaches that respect human creators. We talk about AI-generated music, Ed’s decision to resign…

  49. AI Timelines and Human Psychology (with Sarah Hastings-Woodhouse)

    · 1 h 16 min · Episode 1

    On this episode, Sarah Hastings-Woodhouse joins me to discuss what benchmarks actually measure, AI’s development trajectory in comparison to other technologies, tasks that AI systems can and cannot handle, capability…

  50. Could Powerful AI Break Our Fragile World? (with Michael Nielsen)

    · 1 h 01 min · Episode 1

    On this episode, Michael Nielsen joins me to discuss how humanity's growing understanding of nature poses dual-use challenges, whether existing institutions and governance frameworks can adapt to handle advanced AI…

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