The recent Cool Worlds Podcast is basically a rambling talk about the use of AI in the scientific community. Titled “We Need To Talk About AI,” this dialogue by Professor David Kipping follows his visit to the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton where he heard about how his colleagues are using AI in their work.
Professor Kipping covers many points and makes it clear from the start that he has some serious questions about the impact of AI on his own work and the work of graduate students. For instance, he asks:
- Will cheap AI change the science community’s need need for graduate students in the future given the time and cost to develop those new scientists compared to the amazing advances in AI?
- Will the cheap AI program of today become more costly down the road once the AI companies need to recoup the billions of dollars invested in this technology?
- Will science become too dependent on this technology while human skills atrophy?
He is also very honest about how he uses AI in the production of his own public videos explaining scientific developments and controversies. More interestingly, he wonders aloud whether we will even need his videos in the future as AI gets better and we have the ability to seek our own answers rather than waiting for the next video.
It’s a lot to digest and worth your time, if only because it is an ongoing set of questions in basically every industry at this point.
Listen for yourself and consider giving your own input back to Professor Kipping. He is soliciting your opinion as he finds his way forward in this new world.
Our Awesome Universe 