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Robert Wright's Nonzero
GPT-4o, AI Companions, and the Metaverse (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)
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GPT-4o, AI Companions, and the Metaverse (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content. To set that up, simply grab the RSS feed from this page (by first clicking the “...” icon on the audio player) and paste it into your favorite podcast app.

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0:59 Bob’s sage status rises
3:54 GPT-4o: harbinger of the Metaverse?
13:29 Does sentience matter for AI companionship?
25:24 The promise and perils of social AI
33:22 How LLMs flip the script on computing
38:41 Heading to Overtime—and a special announcement!

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded May 20, 2024.

Paul’s Substack:

Overtime titles:

0:00 AI and porn (through an evo-psych lens)
13:04 Is sex passé?
20:11 Google’s new AI-boosted search; Bob’s and Paul’s SEO prowess
27:20 Are the OpenAI resignations really a bad sign for AI safety?
31:21 Bob and Paul compare their p(doom)s
43:25 Sci-fi TV to see (and skip)

This post is for paid subscribers

Nonzero Newsletter
Robert Wright's Nonzero
Conversations with a series of people who have nothing in common except that program host Robert Wright is curious about what they’re thinking.