Rise of the Machines with Matt Ginsberg (Re-release)

About This Episode

Can machine learning predict the outcome of basketball games? On this episode of StarTalk: Sports Edition, Neil deGrasse Tyson and co-hosts Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice talk data science and machine learning with computer scientist and author of The Factor Man, Matt Ginsberg.

We dive into what it would take to make the perfect winning March madness bracket. Could we apply machine learning to, in a sense, cheat the system? Does history have relevance to what will happen in the future? Find out how to train AI for predictive models and how to treat data sets. Discover the difference between how humans and how machines solve problems and what that means for our use of AI.

Can AI take into account player motivation and other factors that are hard to quantify? Can you quantify everything? We take questions from our patrons to answer some of life’s questions like: what would a game of interplanetary basketball look like? Would we make adjustments for the teams’ different training environments? Would players on Mars be able to dunk from the three point line and have it count as three?

You’ll learn when we will have conscious AI, if ever, and if it will be through algorithms or uploading human consciousness. We take a look at philosophical questions like what does it mean for an AI to be intelligent? We break down the future of AI, how it will be used to compliment and uplift humanity, and the existence of a God equation. All that and more, as we break down some of the biggest questions in computer science!

Thanks to our Patrons Erdem Memisyazici, Priscilla & Kyle, Steven Severin, sumplkrum, Julia Zeikowitz, Cory Ricci, Brennon Russ, Tony Marulli, Ryan Bariteau, and MTB Trucker for supporting us this week.

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