#32 - Scott Aaronson - The Race to AGI and Quantum Supremacy

How fast is the AI race really going? What is the current state of Quantum Computing? What actually *is* the P vs NP problem? - former OpenAI researcher and theoretical computer scientist Scott Aaronson joins Liv and Igor to discuss everything quantum, AI and consciousness. We hear about his experience working on OpenAI's "superalignment team", whether quantum computers might break Bitcoin, the state of University Admissions, and even a proposal for a new religion! Strap in for a fascinating conversation that bridges deep theory with pressing real-world concerns about our technological future.

Chapters:

1:30 - Working at OpenAI 4:23 - His Approaches to AI Alignment 6:23 - Watermarking & Detection of AI content 19:15 - P vs. NP 27:11 - The Current State of AI Safety 37:38 - Bad "Just-a-ism" Arguments around LLMs 48:25 - What Sets Human Creativity Apart from AI 55:30 - A Religion for AGI? 1:00:49 - More Moral Philosophy 1:05:24 - The AI Arms Race 1:11:08 - The Government Intervention Dilemma 1:23:28 - The Current State of Quantum Computing 1:36:25 - Will QC destroy Cryptography? 1:48:55 - Politics on College Campuses 2:03:11 - Scott's Childhood & Relationship with Competition 2:23:25 - Rapid-fire Predictions

Links:

♾️ Scott’s Blog: ⁠https://scottaaronson.blog/⁠

♾️ Scott’s Book: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computing-since-Democritus-Aaronson/dp/0521199565⁠

♾️ QIC at UTA: https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~qic/ Credits

Credits:

♾️  Hosted by Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov

♾️  Produced by Liv Boeree

♾️  Post-Production by Ryan Kessler

The Win-Win Podcast:

Poker champion Liv Boeree takes to the interview chair to tease apart the complexities of one of the most fundamental parts of human nature: competition. Liv is joined by top philosophers, gamers, artists, technologists, CEOs, scientists, athletes and more to understand how competition manifests in their world, and how to change seemingly win-lose games into Win-Wins.

#WinWinPodcast #QuantumComputing #AISafety #LLM