shortpuppy

Great discussion with Max Brooks & Dan Jones, both informed, accomplished intellectuals. None of the usual celebrities vying for laughs & applause. This was a serious, thought provoking, & sobering talk about the state of democracies and their lack of progress in improving or just maintaining quality of life. And what I believe the biggest contributing factor, polarization. We've (all democracies) devolved into warring camps of binary views. Each side opposes everything the other side wants to do, so there's no progress. Once one side is elected it undoes what the other side did in its term. I hope Bill will follow through on his promise made at the end of the show to continue with similar but more detailed discussions in weeks ahead, focusing on specific issues.

Overall, given the impact this will have on all of us, this needs a longer, & better presentation. Ideally an ongoing series. Below are the issues about this too brief effort.

1. No discussion of AI effects on the arts: A very brief mention of jobs overall. But the important topic the arts was omitted. AI creates new art: music, scripts for plays, movies, & TV, visual art, etc. Based on a huge database of existing art.

The original artists however receive no credit or compensation. Adding injury to insult, it takes future work from them.

To me, this is the 2nd most terrifying danger of AI: displacing the exceptionally talented, unique class of individuals we call artists.

2. The 1st most terrifying danger, not even discussed: The potential for Doomsday scenarios as in the Terminator series, or Eagle Eye. Maybe they thought it was too far out. But as we found with fossil fuels, the best time to address dangers of new technology is at its inception, before it becomes entrenched, and impossible to mitigate.

3. Expert Guests: W/great respect for the 3 experts in their fields, they were all insiders. With potential conflicts of interest. E.g., Gates & Altman are heavily vested in AI, which may have inhibited their fully discussing the darker aspects, as mentioned in 1 & 2 above. Similarly, FBI director Wray may not be free to discuss intel failures in the past or future threats from foreign adversaries. (As when he said China's investment in AI surpasses US 50 to 1, but then insists we're ahead of them.) Alternative outside views were needed here. Also, no lawmakers or legal scholars were included, to talk about how to keep the horse in the barn.

4. Discussion of Equal Opportunity: Oprah puts Altman on the spot for all AI developers looking like him: white men. Negatively singling out a particular group, instead of speaking generally about the need for diversity. And she ignores that Altman himself is a member of 2 minorities, being a gay Jew. The John Q. Public guests were people of color, almost all women. The show seems to go against its own valid concern for equality. Given its huge future impact on all of us, AI requires a more serious, unbiased, facts & statistics based discussion of inclusivity. Is discrimination in the AI hiring? Or is there a lack of qualified applicants due to failures outside of AI's scope?

Being of Jewish eastern European descent, British royalty never held personal meaning or interest for us. But this segment was fascinating. Take the most intense drama in your own family. Then imagine it magnified a thousand fold, under the unrelenting scrutiny by the unscrupled British tabloids. Being worshipped & vilified by hundreds of millions. No wonder most of the royal family have a very different perspective on life from the rest of us.

Harry on the other hand was somewhat on the edge of this life, not being first in line. A 'spare' as they put it. This interview was a very brief, but eye-opening look into his life on that edge of royalty, and eventual departure from it. If left me torn between the desire to see him reconciled with his family & the belief he is a better person without them. Will definitely be reading his book.

As always, Anderson did a great job. One key moment was when Harry vocally took exception to a harmless question, due to how it was worded. Anderson, without missing a beat, simply asked a different question, getting at the same issue. His response to Harry's discomfort showed empathy, quick thinking, and he left his own ego at the door. It highlights why he's so great at his craft.