Weird Things

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The Philosophical Snake: AI, Robotics, and a Fossilized Surprise cover art

Episode

The Philosophical Snake: AI, Robotics, and a Fossilized Surprise

Published Apr 25, 2024, 10:26 AM

Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a philosophical journey, starting with a tribute to the late Daniel Dennett, whose work on consciousness and thought experiments left a profound impact on Andrew. The conversation then shifts to AI, with Facebook’s new Llama 3 model stirring the pot in the open-source community, and robotics, where Boston Dynamics’ new Atlas robot demonstrates terrifying agility. The episode wraps up with the discovery of a potentially record-breaking fossilized snake, sparking a mix of awe and existential dread among the hosts.

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Episode Notes

Andrew Mayne, Justin Robert Young, and Brian Brushwood embark on a philosophical journey, starting with a tribute to the late Daniel Dennett, whose work on consciousness and thought experiments left a profound impact on Andrew. The conversation then shifts to AI, with Facebook’s new Llama 3 model stirring the pot in the open-source community, and robotics, where Boston Dynamics’ new Atlas robot demonstrates terrifying agility. The episode wraps up with the discovery of a potentially record-breaking fossilized snake, sparking a mix of awe and existential dread among the hosts.

Picks:

Andrew Mayne: Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett

Brian Brushwood: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

Justin Robert Young: House of the Dragon (HBO series)

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