Some notes from a talk by Asa Raskin.

  • Some notes from a talk by Asa Raskin.
    • Asa co-founded the Center for Humane Technology and is now working on the Earth Species Project to use AI to understand animals' communication.
    • "The way we treat animals is the way AI will treat us."
    • He talked about a dolphin study where dolphins were trained to do something novel on a cue.
      • Keeping track of what they had previously done so they didn't duplicate an action required significant intelligence.
      • They then asked the dolphins to do something novel as a pair.
      • The dolphins would communicate back and forth and then simultaneously do the same novel action, demonstrating extremely rich communication.
    • "It's not when we speak that we change, but when we listen."
      • That's why it's not about "communicating with animals" but "understanding animals" that is his goal.