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Complexity Podcast

Season: Nature of Intelligence

Right now, AI is having a moment — and it’s not the first time grand predictions about the potential of machines are being made. But, what does it really mean to say something like ChatGPT is “intelligent”? What exactly is intelligence?

In this season of the Complexity podcast, The Nature of Intelligence, we'll explore this question through conversations with cognitive and neuroscientists, animal cognition researchers, and AI experts in six episodes. Together, we'll investigate the complexities of human intelligence, how it compares to that of other species, and where AI fits in. We'll dive into the relationship between language and thought, examine AI's limitations, and ask: Could machines ever truly be like us?

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Episodes

Supersymmetric brain (artwork by Ricard Solé)

Ep. 2: The relationship between language and thought

Complex language is unique to the human species. It’s part of how we evolved, the backbone of our societies, and one of the primary ways we judge others’ intellect. Is it our intelligence that leads to our language abilities, or conversely, does our ability for language enhance our intelligence, or both? How do language and thinking interact? And can one exist without the other? Guests: Evelina Federenko, Steve Piantadosi, and Gary Lupyan.



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Çeci n'est pas uncerveau (artwork by Ricard Solé)

Ep. 1: What is Intelligence

Depending on whom you ask, artificial intelligence is either going to solve all humanity’s problems, or it’s going to kill us. Business leaders are getting ready for it to “disrupt” entire industries, and educators are re-thinking how to teach in the age of ChatGPT. It can feel like artificial intelligence is going to transform everything about the way we live. But in order to understand how to think about AI, it’s useful to take a step back. In today’s episode, we’re asking what it means to call anything intelligent. What makes humans intelligent? And how do machines compare? Guests: John Krakauer and Alison Gopnik



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Archive

  • Complexity, Listen to the first 106 episodes of the Complexity Podcast for conversations with our worldwide network of scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, artists, and other leading thinkers.
  • Alien Crash Site, an initiative of the InterPlanetary Project, celebrates the mutual influence of science and science-fiction. Every guest — whether astrobiologist or Olympic athlete — imagines one alien technology that could change the course of human advancement.