#19 – Theory Of Mind with Bogdan-Ionut Cirstea
In Algo Podcast Episode 19, Bogdan-Ionut Cirstea and Amjad Hussain discuss Theory Of Mind.
Skip, recap, or review with timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
2:18 Bogdan’s Journey
4:22 Theory of Mind
5:44 Paradigms & Frameworks for Theory of Mind
7:02 Cognitive Science & Neuroscience
8:00 Humans & computational models
8:55 How do Humans Build Theory of Mind Models?
10:14 Brain areas in Theory of Mind & Abstract Models
11:23 Simulation Theory of Mind
13:18 Autonomous AI Systems & Ethical Implications
14:23 AI Alignment Problem
15:40 Chances of AGI This Century
17:01 Powerful AI could be a big deal
18:00 Expanding beyond Earth
19:23 Powerful AI can lead to faster economic growth
20:19 AI Needs to have Theory of Mind of Humans & Vice-Versa
21:14 Dark Side of Theory of Mind
21:45 The transition into Powerful AI could happen soon
22:50 AI replacing jobs?
23:41 Forecasting Powerful AI – Biological Anchors Framework
25:49 Neural Scaling Laws
27:08 Scaling of compute used in largest ML experiments
27:43 Language modeling scaling
28:10 Algorithmic progress
28:40 Probability that FLOP to train a transformative model is affordable
31:30 Human evolution is simple
32:25 Scaling up current methods to achieve human-level NLP
34:30 AI Risk Arguments
35:38 Risk of Existential Catastrophes from AI
39:18 Existential risk when thinking about living people
40:53 Framework to evaluate how impactful global problems are
42:29 Decomposing the AI Alignment Problem
44:56 Humans & Evolution
46:40 Game Theory Models
48:18 Outer Misalignment Example
50:09 Inner Misalignment Example
53:56 Batch Mode Training
57:16 Having a human in the loop
57:51 Powerful AI Concluding Thoughts
59:04 Bogdan’s Current Research
1:01:12 Language Modeling Experiments
1:02:16 Natural Language in Theory of Mind Framework
1:05:20 Evaluating Theory of Mind Models
1:06:42 Advice for engineers designing autonomous systems
1:08:58 Who has influenced Bogdan?
1:11:05 Closing Thoughts
About the host
Amjad Hussain
Amjad Hussain is an entrepreneur at heart. He founded Algo where he is the CEO during the day and AI lego blocks designer at night. He has built an intrinsically motivated global team of deep business domain experts, AI architects, computer scientists and software engineers. Algo is an always on full stack platform with deep learning, augmented reality and workflow automation woven at its core. The platform has a conversational virtual business analyst persona as its primary user interface. The company is enjoying sustainable growth creating tremendous net new value for its customers world-wide.
Amjad completed his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering with Honors from UET Lahore. He earned his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from UMIST, in the United Kingdom and an Advanced Analytics MBA from MIT. He has completed general management programs at Harvard and Stanford business schools. Amjad deeply cares about ethical issues surrounding AI and its societal impact.
