Joe Carlsmith is a writer, researcher, and philosopher. He works as a senior research analyst at Open Philanthropy, where he focuses on existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence. He also writes independently about various topics in philosophy and futurism, and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford. You can find links and a transcript at www.hearthisidea.com/episodes/carlsmith In this episode we talked about a report Joe recently authored, titled ‘Scheming AIs: Will AIs fake alignment during training in order to get power?’. The report “examines whether adva ..read more

Eric Schwitzgebel is a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. His main interests include connections between empirical psychology and philosophy of mind and the nature of belief. His book The Weirdness of the World can be found here. We talk about: The possibility of digital consciousness Policy ideas for avoiding major moral mistakes around digital consciousness Prospects for the science of consciousness, and why we likely won't have clear answers in time Why introspection is much less reliable than most people think How and why we invent false stories about ..read more

Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley is an associate professor at George Mason University and Deputy Director of their Biodefence Programme In this episode we talk about: Where the belief that 'bioweapons are easy to make' came from and why it has been difficult to change Why transferring tacit knowledge is so difficult -- and the particular challenges that rogue actors face As well as lastly what Sonia makes of the AI-Bio risk discourse and what types of advances in technology would cause her concern You can get in touch through our website or on Twitter. Consider leaving us an honest review wherever ..read more

In this bonus episode we are sharing an episode by another podcast: How I Learned To Love Shrimp. It is co-hosted by Amy Odene and James Ozden, who together are "showcasing innovative and impactful ways to help animals". In this interview they speak to David Coman-Hidy, who is the former President of The Humane –League, one of the largest farm animal advocacy organisations in the world. He now works as a Partner at Sharpen Strategy working to coach animal advocacy organisations ..read more

Michelle Lavery is a Program Associate with Open Philanthropy’s Farm Animal Welfare team, with a focus on the science and study of animal behaviour & welfare. In this episode we talk about: How do scientists study animal emotions in the first place? How is a "science" of animal emotion even feasible? When is it useful to anthropomorphise animals to understand them? How can you study the preferences of animals? How can you measure the “strength” of preferences? How do farmed animal welfare advocates relate to animal welfare science? Are their perceptions fair? How can listeners get involve ..read more

Michelle Lavery is a Program Associate with Open Philanthropy’s Farm Animal Welfare team, with a focus on the science and study of animal behaviour & welfare. In this episode we talk about: How do scientists study animal emotions in the first place? How is a "science" of animal emotion even feasible? When is it useful to anthropomorphise animals to understand them? How can you study the preferences of animals? How can you measure the “strength” of preferences? How do farmed animal welfare advocates relate to animal welfare science? Are their perceptions fair? How can listeners get involve ..read more

Dr Richard Bruns is a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and before that was a Senior Economist at the US Food and Drug Administration (the FDA). In this episode we talk about the importance of indoor air quality (IAQ), and how to improve it. Including: Estimating the DALY cost of unclean indoor air from pathogens and particulate matter How much pandemic risk could be reduced from improving IAQ? How economists convert health losses into dollar figures — and how not to put a price on life Key interventions to improve IAQ Air filtration Germicidal UV light (especial ..read more

Saloni Dattani is a Researcher at Our World in Data, and a founder & editor at the online magazine Works in Progress. She holds a PhD in psychiatric genetics from King’s College London. You can see more links and a full transcript at hearthisidea.com/episodes/dattani. In this episode we talk about: The history of malaria and attempts to eradicate it The role of DDT and insecticide spraying campaigns — and why they were scaled down Why we didn’t get a malaria vaccine sooner What comes after vaccine discovery — rolling out the RTS,S vaccine New funding models to accelerate similar life-savi ..read more

Jon Y is the creator of the Asianometry YouTube channel and accompanying newsletter. He describes his channel as making "video essays on business, economics, and history. Sometimes about Asia, but not always."   You can see more links and a full transcript at hearthisidea.com/asianometry In this episode we talk about: Compute trends driving recent progress in Artificial Intelligence; The semiconductor supply chain and its geopolitics; The buzz around LK-99 and superconductivity. If you have any feedback, you can get a free book for filling out our new feedback form. You can also get in ..read more

Guive Assadi is a Research Scholar at the Center for the Governance of AI. Guive’s research focuses on the conceptual clarification of, and prioritisation among, potential risks posed by emerging technologies. He holds a master’s in history from Cambridge University, and a bachelor’s from UC Berkeley. In this episode, we discuss Guive's paper, Will Humanity Choose Its Future?. What is an 'evolutionary future', and would it count as an existential catastrophe? How did the agricultural revolution deliver a world which few people would have chosen? What does it mean to say that we are living in ..read more