Conspicuous Cognition Podcast

Navigating the Intelligence Explosion (with Fin Moorhouse)

Dan and Henry are joined by Fin Moorhouse to discuss what an AI-driven "intelligence explosion" might look like: rapidly accelerating science, factories building factorie

Who Will Control Europe’s AI Future? (with Judith Dada)

Europe risks entering the age of advanced AI without the infrastructure needed to control its own future. In this episode, Henry and I speak to Judith Dada, co-author of

Can Humanity Survive Superintelligence? (with Robert Wright)

Robert Wright joins Dan Williams and Henry Shevlin to discuss his new book, The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. Bob argues that AI is

What If Artificial Intelligence Progress Explodes? (with Benjamin Todd)

Benjamin Todd, co-founder of 80,000 Hours, joins Dan and Henry to discuss whether artificial intelligence progress could become explosive. Benjamin explains why he think

Academics Must Wake Up on AI (with Alexander Kustov)

The political scientist Alexander Kustov recently published a Substack post with a provocative claim: that AI can already do social science research better than most prof

Are We Building Conscious AI Servants?

Richard Dawkins recently announced in UnHerd that, after spending three days talking with an instance of Claude he christened “Claudia,” he had been moved to expostulate:

Aliens, Superintelligence, and the Future of Science (with David Kipping)

Most conversations about artificial intelligence are focused on Earth: jobs, misinformation, education, politics, science, regulation, consciousness, safety, and the futu

Should We Care About AI Welfare? (with Robert Long)

Almost all of the discussion about the risks associated with AI focuses on the dangers that increasingly advanced AI systems pose to us — to humanity. But what about the

Time To Start Panicking About AI?

In this episode, Henry and I finally do something we probably should have done in the first episode: introduce ourselves. We talk about our backgrounds in philosophy, how

AI Sessions #9: The Case Against AI Consciousness (with Anil Seth)

We are joined by Anil Seth for a deep dive into the science, philosophy, and ethics surrounding the topic of AI and consciousness. Anil outlines and defends his view that

AI Sessions #8: Misinformation, Social Media, and Deepfakes (with Sacha Altay)

Henry and I chat with Dr Sacha Altay about: * How prevalent is misinformation? * What even is “misinformation”? * Is there a difference between politics and science?

AI Sessions #7: How Close is "AGI"?

Keywords AGI, artificial general intelligence, AI progress, transformative AI, human intelligence, skepticism, economic impact, political implications, cultural shift, p

AI Sessions #6: AI Companions and Consciousness

In this episode, Henry and I spoke to Rose Guingrich about AI companions, consciousness, and much more. This was a really fun conversation! Rose is a PhD candidate in P

AI Sessions #5: How AI Broke Education

Henry Shevlin and I sat down to discuss a topic that is currently driving both of us slightly insane: the impact of AI on education. On the one hand, the educational po

AI Sessions #4: The Social AI Revolution - Friendship, Romance, and the Future of Human Connection

In this conversation, I explore the surprisingly popular and rapidly growing world of ‘social AI’ (friendbots, sexbots, etc.) with Henry Shevlin, who coined the term and

AI Sessions #3: The Truth About AI and the Environment

I sat down with Henry Shevlin and Andy Masley to discuss AI’s environmental impact and why Andy thinks the panic is largely misplaced. Andy’s core argument: a single Chat

AI Sessions #2: Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness - A Deep Dive

In this conversation, Dr Henry Shevlin (University of Cambridge) and I explore the complex and multifaceted topic of AI consciousness. We discuss philosophical and scient

AI Sessions #1: AI - A Normal Technology or a Superintelligent Alien Species?

Is artificial intelligence (AI) a “normal technology” or a potentially “superintelligent” alien species? Is it true, as some influential people claim, that if anyone buil

Will AI Change Everything?

How similar is ChatGPT-5 to the human mind? How should we measure AI progress? How close are we to transformative AI? Are "super-intelligent" AI sytems likely to kill us

Free speech in the age of social media

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.conspicuouscognition.com This week, I talked with the great Elle Griffin about “free speech in the age