Future of Life Institute Podcast

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 examine tool AI, which prioritizes human oversight and democratic control, and d/acc, which emphasizes decentralized, defensive development. The conversation covers trade-offs between safety and speed, how these pathways could be combined, and what different stakeholders can do to steer toward more positive AI futures.

LINKS:
AI Pathways - https://ai-pathways.existentialhope.com
Beatrice Erkers - https://www.existentialhope.com/team/beatrice-erkers

CHAPTERS:
(00:00) Episode Preview
(01:10) Introduction and Background
(05:40) AI Pathways Project
(11:10) Defining Tool AI
(17:40) Tool AI Benefits
(23:10) D/acc Pathway Explained
(29:10) Decentralization Trade-offs
(35:10) Combining Both Pathways
(40:10) Uncertainties and Concerns
(45:10) Future Evolution
(01:01:21) Funding Pilots

PRODUCED BY:
https://aipodcast.ing

SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: https://podcast.futureoflife.org
Twitter (FLI): https://x.com/FLI_org
Twitter (Gus): https://x.com/gusdocker
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/future-of-life-institute/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-rCCy3FQ-GItDimSR9lhzw/
Apple: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1170991978
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Op1WO3gwVwCrYHg4eoGyP


What is Future of Life Institute Podcast?

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.