Can We Predict the Future? with Charles Liu

About This Episode

What does the future hold? Neil deGrasse Tyson teams up with comic co-host Chuck Nice, Gary O’Reilly, and astrophysicist Charles Liu to break down our visions of the future – and take Neil to task on his own predictions.

The conversation kicks off with the accuracy of science fiction predictions. Are we living in The Jetsons era yet? We explore the years that science fiction takes place and compare them with where we are now. From Amazon’s robotic warehouses to AI assistants, how much of our future is already here – and what did sci-fi get wrong?

We break down technology in Blade Runner, Black Mirror, and The Twilight Zone and question whether we’re headed straight towards a dystopian future. We discuss the purpose of predictions and how they can help us not only inform our future but act as an early warning sign. Plus, we discuss the Turing test and whether what we really need is a test for consciousness. Do we even need machines to mimic human thought? Can technology ever fully control human perception, or is that a fear rooted in fiction?

Looking to 2050, Neil shares predictions from his book Starry Messenger, including the rise of commercial space industries and self-driving cars. Will neuroscience cure mental illness? Will space tourism become a booming industry? Plus, Charles, Chuck, and Gary add their own predictions of the future to the conversation.

Thanks to our Patrons Walter Kinslow, Eric Johnston, Marta M, Rick Stevens, Miguel, Gary Randall, Daniel Rhea, Sam Rodriguez, Mike Parker, Duncan Weatherspoon, Bonney M ELY, Claudio Gallo, Sidney Carthell, Scott Starr, Victor Herbrecht, Lawrence, Dylan Quay, Ablu, Sean Smitth, James Falconi, Rottenjosh aka Transmedal2, Hilbert Malada, TronoWolf, Courtney Makara, William Flaherty, Justin Andrade, Dipen, Krystal Tellez, David Murdock, John Tedesco, Sasank, Bill Herbert, Ismail Shahtakhtinski, and Scott Wasserman for supporting us this week.

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