Discover this podcast and so much more

Podcasts are free to enjoy without a subscription. We also offer ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more for just $11.99/month.

THE HARD PROBLEM OF OBSERVERS - WOLFRAM & FRISTON [SPECIAL EDITION]

THE HARD PROBLEM OF OBSERVERS - WOLFRAM & FRISTON [SPECIAL EDITION]

FromMachine Learning Street Talk (MLST)


THE HARD PROBLEM OF OBSERVERS - WOLFRAM & FRISTON [SPECIAL EDITION]

FromMachine Learning Street Talk (MLST)

ratings:
Length:
119 minutes
Released:
Oct 29, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Please support us! https://www.patreon.com/mlst
https://discord.gg/aNPkGUQtc5
https://twitter.com/MLStreetTalk

YT version (with intro not found here) https://youtu.be/6iaT-0Dvhnc

This is the epic special edition show you have been waiting for! With two of the most brilliant scientists alive today.

Atoms, things, agents, ... observers. What even defines an "observer" and what properties must all observers share? How do objects persist in our universe given that their material composition changes over time? What does it mean for a thing to be a thing? And do things supervene on our lower-level physical reality? What does it mean for a thing to have agency? What's the difference between a complex dynamical system with and without agency? Could a rock or an AI catflap have agency? Can the universe be factorised into distinct agents, or is agency diffused? Have you ever pondered about these deep questions about reality?

Prof. Friston and Dr. Wolfram have spent their entire careers, some 40+ years each thinking long and hard about these very questions and have developed significant frameworks of reference on their respective journeys (the Wolfram Physics project and the Free Energy principle).

Panel: MIT Ph.D Keith Duggar
Production: Dr. Tim Scarfe

Refs:
TED Talk with Stephen:
https://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_wolfram_how_to_think_computationally_about_ai_the_universe_and_everything
https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/10/how-to-think-computationally-about-ai-the-universe-and-everything/

TOC
00:00:00 - Show kickoff
00:02:38 - Wolfram gets to grips with FEP
00:27:08 - How much control does an agent/observer have
00:34:52 - Observer persistence, what universe seems like to us
00:40:31 - Black holes
00:45:07 - Inside vs outside
00:52:20 - Moving away from the predictable path
00:55:26 - What can observers do
01:06:50 - Self modelling gives agency
01:11:26 - How do you know a thing has agency?
01:22:48 - Deep link between dynamics, ruliad and AI
01:25:52 - Does agency entail free will? Defining Agency
01:32:57 - Where do I probe for agency?
01:39:13 - Why is the universe the way we see it?
01:42:50 - Alien intelligence
01:43:40 - The hard problem of Observers
01:46:20 - Summary thoughts from Wolfram
01:49:35 - Factorisability of FEP
01:57:05 - Patreon interview teaser
Released:
Oct 29, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

This is the audio podcast for the ML Street Talk YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/MachineLearningStreetTalk Thanks for checking us out! We think that scientists and engineers are the heroes of our generation. Each week we have a hard-hitting discussion with the leading thinkers in the AI space. Street Talk is unabashedly technical and non-commercial, so you will hear no annoying pitches. Corporate- and MBA-speak is banned on street talk, "data product", "digital transformation" are banned, we promise :) Dr. Tim Scarfe, Dr. Yannic Kilcher and Dr. Keith Duggar.