The Trajectory

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Terrence Deacon, an emeritus professor of cognitive science and anthropology from UC Berkeley.

In this conversation, Terrence argues that current large language models are not living or meaning-making systems, but statistical models built from human-generated text. He describes them as a “deep fake” of intelligence because they can convincingly simulate language without wanting, knowing, or caring about what is true.

We talk about symbolic communication, large language models, teleodynamics, embodiment, and why he sees living systems as fundamentally different from today’s AI systems.

The interview is our twenty-ninth installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.

This episode referred to the following other essays and resources:
-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy
-- Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter: Terrence William Deacon - https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Incomplete_Nature.html?id=Pp-MuQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

Listen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XUZ6MlNZAcc

See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/deacon1

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About The Trajectory:

AGI and man-machine merger are going to radically expand the process of life beyond humanity -- so how can we ensure a good trajectory for future life?

From Yoshua Bengio to Nick Bostrom, from Michael Levin to Peter Singer, we discuss how to positively influence the trajectory of posthuman life with the greatest minds in AI, biology, philosophy, and policy.

Ask questions of our speakers in our live Philosophy Circle calls:
https://bit.ly/PhilosophyCircle

Stay in touch:
-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw
-- X: x.com/danfaggella
-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory
-- YouTube: youtube.com/@trajectoryai

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Vincent C. Müller, Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Ethics of AI at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg.

In this conversation, Vincent discusses how artificial intelligence has changed in recent years, particularly the development of large language models and the increasing role of deep learning.

We talk about how deep learning has overtaken other areas of AI research and how investment in the field has increased significantly. We examine the limitations Vincent sees in current systems, including challenges related to interaction with the physical world and coordination between different capabilities. We also examine the question Vincent raises about the direction of AI development and what goals it should serve.

The interview is our twenty-eighth installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.

This episode referred to the following other essays and resources:
-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy

Listen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Bci8dcJvUpk

See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/muller1

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About The Trajectory:

AGI and man-machine merger are going to radically expand the process of life beyond humanity -- so how can we ensure a good trajectory for future life?

From Yoshua Bengio to Nick Bostrom, from Michael Levin to Peter Singer, we discuss how to positively influence the trajectory of posthuman life with the greatest minds in AI, biology, philosophy, and policy.

Ask questions of our speakers in our live Philosophy Circle calls:
https://bit.ly/PhilosophyCircle

Stay in touch:
-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw
-- X: x.com/danfaggella
-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory
-- YouTube: youtube.com/@trajectoryai

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Lee Spector, a professor at Amherst College and a researcher in evolutionary computation, whose work applies concepts like variation and selection to the development of intelligent systems.

We talk about how evolutionary processes challenge fixed notions of species and continuity over time, and why future forms of intelligence may be difficult to understand from a present-day human perspective. 

The interview is our twenty-seventh installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.

This episode referred to the following other essays and resources:
-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy

Listen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Dz9shBWdtjI

See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/spector1

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About The Trajectory:

AGI and man-machine merger are going to radically expand the process of life beyond humanity -- so how can we ensure a good trajectory for future life?

From Yoshua Bengio to Nick Bostrom, from Michael Levin to Peter Singer, we discuss how to positively influence the trajectory of posthuman life with the greatest minds in AI, biology, philosophy, and policy.

Ask questions of our speakers in our live Philosophy Circle calls:
https://bit.ly/PhilosophyCircle

Stay in touch:
-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw
-- X: x.com/danfaggella
-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory
-- YouTube: youtube.com/@trajectoryai

This is an interview with Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and co-founder of the Earth Species Project. His work has focused on the societal impacts of technology systems and how incentives shape large-scale human behavior.

In this episode, Aza frames AGI governance as part of a broader pattern: when technology confers new forms of power, it creates races to exploit that power - and without coordination, those races tend toward harmful outcomes. The implications of AI, in his view, extend beyond technical risk into the manipulation of language, relationships, and the very substrate of human coordination.

This episode referred to the following other essays and resources:
-- Craig Mundie – Co-Evolution with AI: Industry First, Regulators Later (AGI Governance, Episode 8): https://danfaggella.com/mundie1/

Listen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/UF9geTZpG5A

See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/raskin1

...

About The Trajectory:

AGI and man-machine merger are going to radically expand the process of life beyond humanity -- so how can we ensure a good trajectory for future life?

From Yoshua Bengio to Nick Bostrom, from Michael Levin to Peter Singer, we discuss how to positively influence the trajectory of posthuman life with the greatest minds in AI, biology, philosophy, and policy.

Ask questions of our speakers in our live Philosophy Circle calls:
https://bit.ly/PhilosophyCircle

Stay in touch:
-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw
-- X: x.com/danfaggella
-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory
-- YouTube: youtube.com/@trajectoryai

This new installment of the Worthy Successor series is an interview with Ben Goertzel, founder of SingularityNET and one of the earliest and most persistent thinkers in artificial general intelligence, with decades of work spanning AI architectures, decentralized systems, and philosophical perspectives on intelligence.

We talk about how early exposure to science fiction, philosophy, and psychedelics shaped Ben’s cosmic orientation toward intelligence. We examine his vision for a decentralized “primordial soup” of AGI systems, and why he believes cooperation among diverse intelligences may outcompete centralized, adversarial models.

The interview is our twenty-sixth installment in The Trajectory’s second series, Worthy Successor, where we explore the kinds of posthuman intelligences that deserve to steer the future beyond humanity.

This episode referred to the following other essays and resources:
-- A Worthy Successor - The Purpose of AGI: https://danfaggella.com/worthy
-- Robin Hanson – Adapt or Vanish: The Future Won’t Wait for Us (Worthy Successor, Episode 16): https://danfaggella.com/hanson1/

Listen to this episode on The Trajectory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trajectory/id1739255954

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/b6q3ppo4D4w

See the full article from this episode: https://danfaggella.com/goertzel2

...

About The Trajectory:

AGI and man-machine merger are going to radically expand the process of life beyond humanity -- so how can we ensure a good trajectory for future life?

From Yoshua Bengio to Nick Bostrom, from Michael Levin to Peter Singer, we discuss how to positively influence the trajectory of posthuman life with the greatest minds in AI, biology, philosophy, and policy.

Ask questions of our speakers in our live Philosophy Circle calls:
https://bit.ly/PhilosophyCircle

Stay in touch:
-- Newsletter: bit.ly/TrajectoryTw
-- X: x.com/danfaggella
-- Blog: danfaggella.com/trajectory
-- YouTube: youtube.com/@trajectoryai