TED Tech

Deep tech entrepreneur D. Scott Phoenix spent years building AI — now, he believes we're on the cusp of a profound merger between humans and machines. Reframing the AI debate through the lens of evolutionary biology, he shifts the question from whether we should fear or embrace AI to whether we understand what's at stake if we get it wrong. Hear his provocative case for why we need to "eat the AI." After the talk, Sherrell interviews Baratunde Thurston, host of Life with Machines, on how to live well with technology.

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We see consciousness in AI the same way we see faces in clouds, says neuroscientist Anil Seth. He explores the all-too-human tendency to project inner life onto machines that are brilliant mimics, not sentient beings, and gives a definitive answer to the urgent question: Will AI ever gain consciousness?

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Outsourcing parenthood can feel like the ultimate life hack. Less noise. Fewer interruptions. But at what cost? In today’s episode, Sherrell shares two talks on parenting in the age of AI. First, a father who handed the job to AI and learned something no algorithm could teach him. Then, a founder who says the goal was never to outsource the parenting but to lighten the load for the people carrying the most.

Talks featured
I let DaddyGPT parent my kids. Here's what I learned | Stephen Remedios
Can AI help with the chaos of family life? | Avni Patel Thompson

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What if you stuck a camera onto a whale’s back before it dives underwater? What would you discover and what would you hear? In this episode, Sherrell shares a talk from an ocean explorer who captured something no one had ever seen. Then, she shares a TED-Ed lesson that explains the mechanics of whale communication and why their sounds are so melodic.

Talks featured
A Whale’s Eyeview of the Ocean | Eric Stackpole
Why do Whales Sing? | TED Ed

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Michael Snyder is a professor and genomicist who wears eight pieces of wearable technology every day: four smartwatches, two rings, and two hearing aids. These devices give him a personal data dashboard to help him understand his health in real time. In this interview, Michael joins Sherrell to discuss how wearables can help you identify health conditions, from irregular heartbeats to a COVID-19 exposure, to even which food triggers your glucose spike. The two also talk about why everyone should wear a CGM (continuous glucose monitor), how wearing wearables can help you stay more accountable to your health goals, and why it’s important to know who owns your data.

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