Future of Science and Technology Q&A (February 2, 2024)

Stephen Wolfram hosts an unscripted Ask Me Anything about the future of science and technology for all ages. Find the playlist of Q&A’s here: Originally livestreamed at: If you missed the original livestream of this episode, feel free to submit a question you would like Stephen to answer in a future Q&A livestream here: 00:00 Start stream 0:04 SW starts talking 0:30-00:13:25 Do you think the plateau of LLMs will be at the level of understanding language? Once it does plateau, it will start to taper off and we’ll need to use a different technique. 13:42-14:35 How do you know that our brains aren’t already using compression? 14:41-15:58 The AI could make far more precise classifications than we make, leading to new words and their very precise and peculiar meanings. 16:03-21:36 What seems more important to me is just the speed of the medium that AI has and how quickly it can process all of the interrelations, even when it’s just forty thousand concepts, let alone larger context. 21:39-25:34 Which language is best at this compression? 25:39-28:42 Is there room for significant advancements in mathematical notations? 28:54-35:34 A single biological neuron has been shown to be able to perform an exclusive OR operation. A current simple artificial neuron can’t do that. Do you think we are underestimating the power of biological neurons compared to artificial neurons? 35:39-37:18: Did the neural nets that you were playing with learn after their minds were blown? 37:27-41:24 ​What is your view on emergent phenomena? Do you think it is possible to predict all the emergent abilities AI can possibly obtain? 41:27-50:15 Will humanoid robots usher in an age of abundance? 50:21-52:41 Can a higher intelligence ever transcend computational irreducibility? 52:44-1:00:02 Why does pessimism toward future technology exist? My experience is that most people’s default opinion on future tech is “Let’s not do this.“ 1:00:13-1:05:16 Can we calculate how captured wind energy will influence the weather in the future if we become fully independent from fossil fuels? 1:05:24-1:09:52 What is there to say about the future of food science? Will someone be able to recreate Willy Wonka’s creations? 1:10:20-1:13:20 Most of the energy in wind is not on the ground, it’s over oceans and up in the sky. 1:13:29-1:16:39 ​Could one devise a “computation engine“ analogous to a thermodynamic engine, where useful work is a consequence of information processing? 1:16:41-1:19:09 Can AI solve the taste problem as it did the protein-folding problem? 1:19:43-1:23:35 If we could run our evolution over and over again, maybe we could see ourselves in some different shapes, floating in space with different ways of communication. For example, we could exchange thoughts telepathically, or maybe we could influence objects without physical contact. What are your thoughts on this? 1:23:35-1:24:56 Would it be easier to genetically modify kiwi instead? 1:25:13 End stream Follow us on our official social media channels. Twitter: Facebook: Instagram: LinkedIn: Stephen Wolfram’s Twitter: Contribute to the official Wolfram Community: Stay up-to-date on the latest interest at Wolfram Research through our blog: Follow Stephen Wolfram’s life, interests, and what makes him tick on his blog: