The Future is Electric

What will it be like to interact with a conscious machine? What does it mean to be conscious? What is there to interact with? Where can we start? This is a podcast version of the article of the same title in the TFIE Medium publication, written and recorded by frequent TFIE collaborator David Clement.

It is difficult for many of us to understand the language of machine learning and thus we map this into the only common experience we have of AI: popular culture. The gap between ‘Skynet’ and what Yoshua Bengio is describing is vast. We need a new fiction that can help us all understand what it really is and the impact it is likely to have. This is a podcast version of the article of the same title in the TFIE Medium publication, written and recorded by TFIE collaborator David Clement.

For many, hydroelectric dams seem as if they should be environmentally benign, delivering large quantities of carbon-free electricity. The water is renewable, there are no fossil fuels involved and you end up with lovely lakes. But dams have a dark side and siting is important. This is a podcast version of the article of the same title in the TFIE Medium publication.

Indonesia is a regional powerhouse and a growing economy of value to itself, the region and the world. It’s currently struggling with a trio of natural disasters in Sulawesi with an earthquake, a resultant tsunami and now a major volcanic eruption. But its long-term ability to thrive is more challenged by climate change. This is a podcast version of the article of the same title in the TFIE Medium publication.

Population is a current obsession of the deny and delay crowd. On the one hand, there’s the inaccurate, ahistorical and racist assertion that it’s population growth that’s the problem, specifically in countries where there are people who aren’t white and Christian. This is a podcast version of the article of the same title in the TFIE Medium podcast.