Hardware Podcasts

485: Conversation Is a Kind of Music

Embedded.fm · 20 Sept 2024 · 1h 17m · Episode 485

What this episode covers

Professor Alan Blackwell of Cambridge University, author of 'Moral Codes: Designing Alternatives to AI', argues that the industry should prioritize better programming languages over the hype surrounding artificial intelligence. He distinguishes between AI as control systems (useful engineering) and AI as social imagination (literature), warning that conflating the two leads to inappropriate solutions like using neural networks for simple PID control. Blackwell critiques Large Language Models as 'pastiche' machines that obscure intellectual property and undermine human expertise, advocating instead for tools that give users direct control over digital systems.

Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Cambridge University, MIT AI lab, OpenAI, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Amazon, Spotify, Ticketmaster, YouTube
Products
Moral Codes: Designing Alternatives to AI, ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Visual Studio, Alexa, Dasher, GPT-2, Google Docs, MacBook Pro, European AI Act, Chokepoint Capitalism

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