Join this year’s Turing Prize winner Yann LeCun and other pioneers in artificial intelligence for a no-nonsense discussion of whether a truly intelligent machine can be created – and, if so, how and when. The “thinking machines” that Alan Turing postulated in 1950 have already vaulted beyond us in specific arenas like chess, Go, and Jeopardy. But if we achieve artificial general intelligence, it may take only seconds for our creation to surpass us in every other arena as well. Will humans fight to the end, seeking to restrain such superintelligence, or join forces with a power never before encountered, perhaps bringing about a new utopia? Or, will we simply and quietly become irrelevant? The field’s leading thinkers will debate and discuss the engineering and the ethics required to make room for machines.
Moderator: Daniel Sieberg, CEO, Journalist
Daniel Sieberg is the CEO and founder of iO – a startup building an empathic AI/AR experience in service of what humans need. He also advises other startups including Pressland and Ground.
Participants
Garry Kasparov: Writer, Activist
Garry Kasparov is widely regarded as the greatest chessplayer in history, becoming the youngest world champion ever at 22 in 1985. His matches against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue were a landmark for AI, making headlines around the world.
Yann LeCun: Computer Scientist
Yann LeCun is VP & Chief AI Scientist at Facebook and Silver Professor at NYU affiliated with the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences & the Center for Data Science. He was the founding Director of Facebook AI Research and of the NYU Center for Data Science.
Hod Lipson: Roboticist
Hod Lipson is a roboticist who works in the areas of artificial intelligence and digital manufacturing. An award-winning researcher, teacher, and communicator, Lipson enjoys sharing the beauty of robotics though his books, essays, public lectures, and radio and television appearances.
Shannon Vallor: AI Ethicist
Shannon Vallor is the Regis and Dianne McKenna Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Santa Clara University. She is also a Visiting Researcher and AI Ethicist at Google, and a former President of the Society for Philosophy and Technology.
This program is part of the big ideas series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.
