We are biological machines, a naturally evolved intelligence bound in carbon and water. Our ambition to create an Artificial Intelligence in metal and silicon is probably unstoppable. We have already built machines vastly more capable at raw computations and data processing than our minds. But machines can’t recognize a face, reproduce, or learn unassisted. We can. Will machines ever exceed us in consciousness and willfulness? Would we be able to comprehend their minds and thoughts and motives if they do? Will they be malevolent? Director of Sciences Janna Levin invites Yann LeCun, Director of AI research at Facebook and NYU professor, and Max Tegmark, Director of the Future of Life Institute and MIT professor, to consider if humanity’s role in evolution will be to initiate the era of Artificial Intelligence at the peril of our own species.

Join us after the conversation for a book signing of Max Tegmark’s Life 3.0:Being Human In the Age of Artificial Intelligence (available for purchase) and star gazing with the Amateur Astronomers Association of NY in our garden.

This project is supported by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.