Cosmic Queries – Robot Ethics with Dr. Kate Darling

About This Episode

Are robots going to take over the world? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Negin Farsad explore the future of artificial intelligence by looking at our past with the animal kingdom joined by robot ethicist and author of A New Breed, Dr. Kate Darling.

What is the biggest ethical challenge we’re facing with robots? Find out why there might be bigger challenges ahead with robots than a science fiction takeover. We answer patron questions and discuss how humans already use other beings to supplement our skills. Would we use robots to build a habitat on Mars? What are the challenges of making a robot for space? If robots were construction workers would they still catcall?

Is robot Tinder going to happen? We break down robotic ethics and ask, just because we can do something does that mean we should? Could robots ever breed or self-program their own behaviors? What is our definition of intelligence? How do robots change the nature of warfare? Should there be a ban on autonomous weapons? What sort of responsibility do we need in creating– or not creating– artificially intelligent weapons.

What happens when robots achieve consciousness? Discover why this watershed moment is more nuanced than meets the eye. Could we make robots that have brains as complex as our own? Also find out how robot intelligence functions differently than human intelligence. How are our biases influencing what we build into machines? Does AGI, artificial general intelligence, hold real potential? How do we define consciousness? All that, plus, Negin explains her goth mime phase, all on another episode of StarTalk!

Thanks to our Patrons Dino Vidić, Violetta + my mom, Izzy, Jeni Morrow, Sian Alam, Leonard Drikus Jansen Van Vuuren, Marc Wolff, LaylaNicoleXO, Eric Colombel, Jonathan Siebern, and Chris Beck for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

About the prints that flank Neil in this video:
“Black Swan” & “White Swan” limited edition serigraph prints by Coast Salish artist Jane Kwatleematt Marston. For more information about this artist and her work, visit Inuit Gallery of Vancouver.