Sidebar: Electric sheep

The future is here.

Sixty years ago, the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick wondered whether androids dream and what about. As artificial intelligence moves from the realm of sci-fi into daily reality, helping companies and governments analyze data and make decisions, the questions of what mechanisms motivate AI and whether these programs can overcome human limitations remain unanswered.

Many tech leaders seem to believe we are on the cusp of having self-aware AI with intelligence that surpasses humans. Even if we don’t get there, we’re already facing places where current laws don’t really protect us.

Join us in our sixth episode this season for a tour through a not-so-post-apocalyptic landscape as companies and experts try to navigate how humans bring AI more and more to life.

Special guests:

• Tyler Johnston, founder of the Midas Project
• Stephen Thaler, founder of Imagination Engines
• Ellie Pavlick, assistant professor of computer science and linguistics at Brown University
• Matthew Tokson, law professor at the University of Utah
• Scott Stevenson, CEO of Spellbook
• Ulysses Secrest, artist and owner of Aerarius Metalworks
• ChatGPT

Sidebar tackles the top stories you need to know from the legal world. Join reporters Hillel Aron, Kirk McDaniel, Amanda Pampuro, Kelsey Reichmann and Josh Russell as they take you in and out of courtrooms in the U.S. and beyond and break down developments to help you understand how they affect your day-to-day life.

This episode was produced by Kirk McDaniel. Intro music by The Dead Pens. A transcript is available.

Editorial staff is Ryan Abbott, Sean Duffy and Jamie Ross.

More on AI in the courts:

• Apple exec testifies AI may replace iPhones in 10 years in Google search monopoly trial
• California courts hope to harness artificial intelligence
• Feds order AI company to stop artificially inflating product ratings and reviews