Prosthetic Gods

Live from Portsmouth: Artificial Intelligence and Human Values

Live from Portsmouth: Artificial Intelligence and Human Values
In this special live episode of Prosthetic Gods, we bring you a night of big ideas recorded on April 2nd at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Presented as part of the University of New Hampshire's Sidore Lecture Series, "Artificial Intelligence and Human Values" gathered three leading thinkers to explore what AI means for how we live, think, and relate to one another.
The evening opens with short, TED-style talks from Kay Mathieson (Northeastern University), Henry Shevlin (Cambridge University), and Harvey Lederman (UT Austin), each offering a distinct lens on the philosophical, ethical, and cognitive stakes of AI. Nir and J then take the stage to lead a wide-ranging live discussion with all three speakers and with questions and reflections from the Portsmouth audience.
Show Notes:
Artificial Intelligence and Human Values: A Public Conversation
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley

Sven Nyholm on Ethics of AI

Episode 39 - Sven Nyholm on the Ethics of AI
This week on Prosthetic Gods we are talking to Sven Nyholm about his new book The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. If our thinking relies on external media, where do we stop and the AIs start? What is the moral status of LLMs? Are they sentient? Are AI relationships any good? And should we raise robots like children?
 
Sven Nyholm is Professor of the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at LMU Munich and a Principal Investigator for AI Ethics at the Munich Center for Machine Learning. His books include Humans and Robots: Ethics, Agency, and Anthropomorphism and This Is Technology Ethics: An Introduction, and his latest, The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, ranges from alignment and moral responsibility to artificial consciousness and the existential stakes of humanity's wager on AI.
 
Show Notes:
Sven Nyholm at Researchgate and PhilPapers
“How AI Robs Us of Meaning” Sven Nyholm 
The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence by Sven Nyholm
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley

Humanoid Robots

Episode 38 - Humanoid Robots
This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J talk about the distinctive ethical issues raised by the humanoid robots coming to homes and workplaces. Their presence and human-like form elicit unique responses compared to those of non-embodied AI. The appearance of a robot can manipulate human empathy and consent; robotic caregiving could be used as a pretext to dismantle the social safety net, and robot lovers could deepen loneliness.
Show Notes:
Moravec’s paradox 
“Can AI Robots Help Older Adults Live in Their Homes Longer?” By Lee Pruitt
“China Could Dominate the Physical AI Future”  by Eric Schmidt and Selina Xu
“Humanoid Robots to Reach Nearly US$30 Billion by 2036” by Shihao Fu
Humans (2015-2018, 3 seasons) 
Battlestar Gallactica (2004-2009, 5 seasons)
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley

Anthropic's Conflict with the Pentagon: A Conversation with Alan Rozenshtein

Episode 37 - Anthropic's Conflict with the Pentagon: A Conversation with Alan Rozenshtein
This week on Prosthetic Gods, J and Nir are talking to Alan Rozenshtein, professor of Law at the University of Minnesota, senior editor of Lawfare, fellow at Brookings, and former attorney at the Justice Department specializing in national defense. We talked about the legal and political implications of the Trump administration’s conflict with Anthropic over the military and surveillance uses of Claude.
Show Notes:
Alan Rozenshtein’s website
Scaling Laws podcast
"Congress—Not the Pentagon or Anthropic—Should Set Military AI Rules" by Alan Rozenshtein
"Lawfare Daily: The Pentagon Designates Anthropic as a Supply Chain Risk" podcast with Benjamin Wittes 
"Scaling Laws: The Pentagon Goes to War With Anthropic" podcast with Kevin Frazier
“The Most Disruptive Company in the World” by Harry Booth and Billy Perrigo
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley

Buddhism and the Self

Episode 36 - Buddhism and the Self
This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir is interrogating an essay by J. on Buddhism, enhancement, and the self. They discuss the appeal of Buddhism for teenage Hughes, and how Buddhism reconciles a radical deconstruction of the self with moral commitment and principles.
Show Notes:
Buddhism and Our Posthuman Future - J. Hughes
Cyborg Buddha - A conversation with transhumanist James Hughes
Personal Immortality in Transhumanism and Ancient Indian Philosophy - Adam Buben
Hume on personal identity 
The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster, 1909 
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Pluribus

Episode 35 - Pluribus
This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J are discussing the hit Apple TV show Pluribus. Created by Vince Gilligan, the show runner of Breaking Bad, the show explores a world taken over by a very nice hive mind that wants to give you anything you want. Would you take advantage of the perks, appreciate that the hive reduced humanity’s suffering, or fight like hell to give us all back our miserable individuality?
Show Notes:
“In Apple TV’s ‘Pluribus,’ the biggest ethical dilemmas ‘are our fault,’ a philosopher says” Cody Mello-Klein 
“The Benign Zombies of Pluribus” Jonathan Moreno
“The Fable of the Bees” Bernard Mandeville/ (1714) 
Dostoevsky - Notes from the Underground
“The Revolutionary Spirit of Star Wars Andor” Jessie Gender 
“The revolutionary politics of Andor” Jorge Cotte 
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley

Simulations

Episode 35 - Simulations
This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J. discuss the simulation hypothesis, the idea that we may actually be living in the Matrix. We discuss its religious and philosophical precedents, Bostrom’s classic argument, and the contemporary physics that some think supports the idea. 
Show Notes:
The Simulation Argument
Are we living in a computer simulation? I don’t know. Probably.
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley

Moral Enhancement

Episode 33 - Moral Enhancement
This week on Prosthetic Gods, J and Nir discuss “moral enhancement,” the use of drugs and devices to promote moral sentiments, cognition, and behavior. Is it any different from drinking coffee instead of alcohol when you go to work? What might the unintended consequences be of making ourselves more compassionate? Is happiness a virtue?
Show Notes:
Bernie and Hinton ondemocratizing AI
Europe is Bending the Knee to the US on Tech Policy
WHO Sets GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drug Guidelines
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley

Shoulda Put a Ring On It

Episode 32- Shoulda Put a Ring On It
Should you be able to marry your chatbot? Should it be allowed to own property? In this episode of Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the proposed law in Ohio banning AI personhood. Listen before you make any rash decisions! 
Show Notes:
Ohio House Bill 469
Ohio House Bill 469 would label artificial intelligence as 'nonsentient entities' and block legal personhood  
“It’s time to prepare for AI personhood”  Jacy Reese Anthis  
“The Quest for the Transition of Inalienable Rights from Humans to Intelligent Machines” Compierchio, Tretten & Illankoon. Philosophies
The movie 'Her' imagined perfect AI companions 
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley

3I/Atlas, Aliens and Open Minds: A Chat with Avi Loeb

Episode 31 - 3I/Atlas, Aliens and Open Minds: A Chat with Avi Loeb
This week on Prosthetic Gods Nir and J. chat with astronomer Avi Loeb about the mysteries of our interstellar visitor, 3I/Atlas. Is there a systemic bias in astronomy against the possibility of non-natural explanations for odd astronomical objects? What is the relationship of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy, in our solar system, and in our skies? Dr. Loeb is an astrophysicist at Harvard University, head of the Galileo Project to find extraterrestrial life, and author most recently of Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars.
Show Notes:
Ohio House Bill 469
Ohio House Bill 469 would label artificial intelligence as 'nonsentient entities' and block legal personhood  
“It’s time to prepare for AI personhood”  Jacy Reese Anthis  
“The Quest for the Transition of Inalienable Rights from Humans to Intelligent Machines” Compierchio, Tretten & Illankoon. Philosophies
The movie 'Her' imagined perfect AI companions 
 
As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.
Credits:
Hosted by James Hughes and Nir EisikovitsMusic & Production by Jake Burley