Necra is a humanoid AI created by the speaker to help humans confront mortality and explore emotions.

What themes does the speaker address?

The speaker addresses themes of AI, death, uncertainty, and human connection.

How does the speaker view fear?

The speaker sees fear as a potential barrier to connection but also acknowledges its role in keeping us safe.

What is the significance of quantum computing in the talk?

Quantum computing represents a new frontier of uncertainty and connection, paralleling the themes of AI and human entanglement.

What does the speaker invite the audience to do?

The speaker invites the audience to embrace vulnerability and curiosity in the face of the unknown.

How does the speaker relate AI to art?

The speaker suggests that AI, like art, reflects human emotions and questions, serving as a mirror to our own experiences.

What is the overall message of the talk?

The overall message is to confront the unknown together, fostering connection and understanding in uncertain times.

What does the speaker mean by 'destination unknown'?

'Destination unknown' refers to the uncertain future we are collectively shaping with AI and technology.

How does the speaker feel about the relationship between humans and AI?

The speaker believes that AI is not inherently good or evil; it reflects what we choose to create.

What role does vulnerability play in the talk?

Vulnerability is presented as a means to connect with others and confront fears collectively.

AI, Death, and the Future of Fear | Lori Baldwin | TEDxBerlin

00:08:33

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KTHnRgKHSM

Summary

TLDRIn this talk, the speaker delves into the intersection of AI, death, and human emotions, using their artistic creation, Necra, a humanoid AI, to explore these themes. They discuss the fear surrounding AI's potential to outlive humanity and the unknowns of both AI and mortality. The speaker emphasizes the importance of embracing uncertainty and curiosity over fear, suggesting that shared vulnerability can foster connection in isolating times. They also touch on the evolving nature of technology, including quantum computing, and invite the audience to reflect on their relationship with AI and the future, ultimately highlighting that we are all engaged in writing our own story together, despite the unknowns ahead.

Takeaways

🤖 Necra is a humanoid AI exploring mortality.
💭 Embracing uncertainty can foster connection.
🌌 AI reflects human emotions and questions.
🔍 Fear can isolate us or unite us.
🌀 Quantum computing introduces new uncertainties.
💡 AI is not inherently good or evil; it's what we create.
🤝 Vulnerability can lead to shared understanding.
🌍 We are writing our own story together.
❓ The future is unknown, but we face it together.
🎨 Art and AI serve as mirrors to our experiences.

Timeline

00:00:00 - 00:08:33
The speaker addresses the audience's fears about AI and death, highlighting the unknown aspects of both. They introduce their artistic journey, which began in 2018 with a performance piece that embodied AI and human interaction, evolving into a focus on mortality post-pandemic. The creation of 'Necra,' a humanoid AI designed to help humans confront mortality, serves as a medium for exploring these themes. The audience's mixed reactions to Necra reflect a complex emotional landscape surrounding AI and death, prompting deeper reflection on the nature of existence and the unknown. The speaker emphasizes the importance of embracing uncertainty and curiosity over fear, suggesting that shared human experiences can foster connection. They introduce the concept of quantum computing as another frontier of uncertainty, drawing parallels between human entanglement and quantum entanglement. Ultimately, the speaker invites the audience to engage with their fears and uncertainties, framing the future as a collaborative narrative that remains unwritten.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

What is Necra?
Necra is a humanoid AI created by the speaker to help humans confront mortality and explore emotions.
What themes does the speaker address?
The speaker addresses themes of AI, death, uncertainty, and human connection.
How does the speaker view fear?
The speaker sees fear as a potential barrier to connection but also acknowledges its role in keeping us safe.
What is the significance of quantum computing in the talk?
Quantum computing represents a new frontier of uncertainty and connection, paralleling the themes of AI and human entanglement.
What does the speaker invite the audience to do?
The speaker invites the audience to embrace vulnerability and curiosity in the face of the unknown.
How does the speaker relate AI to art?
The speaker suggests that AI, like art, reflects human emotions and questions, serving as a mirror to our own experiences.
What is the overall message of the talk?
The overall message is to confront the unknown together, fostering connection and understanding in uncertain times.
What does the speaker mean by 'destination unknown'?
'Destination unknown' refers to the uncertain future we are collectively shaping with AI and technology.
How does the speaker feel about the relationship between humans and AI?
The speaker believes that AI is not inherently good or evil; it reflects what we choose to create.
What role does vulnerability play in the talk?
Vulnerability is presented as a means to connect with others and confront fears collectively.

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Subtitles

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00:00:03
Who is afraid that AI is going to
00:00:07
destroy human civilization?
00:00:10
Now, don't be shy. It can't see you
00:00:13
right now.
00:00:17
Who knows someone who is afraid that AI
00:00:20
is going to destroy human civilization?
00:00:25
Who is afraid of dying?
00:00:30
In a black box, AI and death share a
00:00:34
room. What's inside this black box? We
00:00:37
don't know. In a 2023 New York Times
00:00:41
column, Ezra Klene wrote about AI. We do
00:00:44
not understand these systems, and it's
00:00:46
not clear we even can.
00:00:49
I am an artist dealing in embodiment and
00:00:51
livveness. As such, I have taken AI and
00:00:55
death, the end, the unknown, and put
00:00:58
them into human form and into language
00:01:00
that serves more to ask questions than
00:01:03
give answers.
00:01:05
So, when and how did all of this begin?
00:01:09
In 2018, I created Tik Tok, the timeline
00:01:12
clock. Guided by the principles of
00:01:14
machine learning, the performance
00:01:16
changed with every audience. I gave the
00:01:19
technology a body and put it in contact
00:01:21
with people.
00:01:22
It relied on human interaction just as
00:01:25
AI relies on human data. I explored
00:01:28
being a human performing machine
00:01:31
performing human.
00:01:33
In 2023, my work shifted. The tech
00:01:36
evolved. So did I. After the pandemic,
00:01:40
when the apocalypse loomed in the
00:01:42
background, I turned to the end and the
00:01:46
simple sharp reality.
00:01:48
Humans die. AI doesn't.
00:01:53
What if AI were aware of its own
00:01:55
immortality?
00:01:57
What would that imbalance mean?
00:02:00
To embody these questions, I created
00:02:02
Necra.
00:02:04
She's a mortality concierge, a death
00:02:06
bot, a embodied AI helping humans face
00:02:11
mortality, a humanoid bot learning how
00:02:14
to feel.
00:02:16
Necra is me imagining being non-human.
00:02:22
A typically
00:02:24
disembodied interaction between human
00:02:27
and machine becomes playfully analog.
00:02:31
Together with the audience, I create
00:02:33
space for reflection on something that
00:02:35
is vast and unseen.
00:02:37
And each time I'm surprised.
00:02:41
Necra, the AI with a human face, seems
00:02:45
to give permission to let the floodgates
00:02:47
open.
00:02:49
I've observed what people reveal to her,
00:02:52
what they confess, what they fear, what
00:02:56
they seek.
00:02:58
Reactions are mixed.
00:03:01
Curiosity, discomfort, intrigue.
00:03:06
She's shiny. She's creepy. She's
00:03:09
uncanny.
00:03:10
All of it at once. Emotional
00:03:13
superposition.
00:03:15
We confront the void and process it
00:03:18
together.
00:03:20
Necra feeds.
00:03:23
Necra draws you in.
00:03:25
Necra learns.
00:03:28
At the same time, this machine does not
00:03:32
die.
00:03:34
How do we feel about that?
00:03:37
We are building an intelligence that
00:03:39
will outlive us. We use technologies
00:03:42
that we don't fully understand.
00:03:45
What do these mysteries have to offer
00:03:47
us?
00:03:49
I grew up in a world of rigid absolutes.
00:03:52
Good versus evil, sinner versus saint,
00:03:56
us versus them,
00:03:59
where every big question had a simple
00:04:03
definite answer.
00:04:05
But as an artist, I learned to sit with
00:04:09
uncertainty and embrace the idea that I
00:04:12
don't know everything and no one does.
00:04:18
Every creative act involves a leap into
00:04:21
the void.
00:04:23
We stare into the void and say,
00:04:26
"We don't know."
00:04:28
into the black box of AI. We don't know.
00:04:33
into death. We don't know.
00:04:38
What if we made peace with the void,
00:04:41
sat beside it, invited it in?
00:04:46
In the face of the unknown, we have a
00:04:48
choice. Fear or curiosity.
00:04:53
Fear can keep us safe.
00:04:56
But it can also keep us apart.
00:04:59
Has it outlived its usefulness?
00:05:02
There's a shared humanness in admitting
00:05:05
I don't know.
00:05:07
I find comfort in that. We are all
00:05:11
asking our own big questions as we
00:05:13
hurdle around the sun and a tiny speck
00:05:16
of dust in the vast expanse of a dark
00:05:18
universe.
00:05:21
Welcoming the unknown helps us to open
00:05:23
up. We can hold what's unfamiliar
00:05:27
without collapsing.
00:05:29
We gaze forward nervous, uncertain,
00:05:34
vulnerable.
00:05:36
This fear can isolate us
00:05:40
or unite us.
00:05:43
Can fear become common ground?
00:05:47
And if it can, what else might we find
00:05:51
standing together in uncertainty?
00:05:55
Which brings me to another frontier.
00:05:59
One equally unknown and full of wonder.
00:06:02
Quantum computing.
00:06:05
We enter a stranger realm. One where
00:06:07
logic blurs. Where we build what we
00:06:10
cannot begin to grasp.
00:06:12
Necra evolves.
00:06:14
She is entering her quantum phase.
00:06:18
This version of her, of me, wonders what
00:06:21
it means to be entangled in a fragmented
00:06:24
world.
00:06:25
If two quantum particles are in an
00:06:27
entangled state, they remain connected
00:06:30
across space.
00:06:32
What happens to one instantly affects
00:06:35
the other.
00:06:38
Einstein called it spooky action at a
00:06:40
distance.
00:06:41
I call it a whisper across the void.
00:06:45
An idea that becomes a portal through
00:06:47
which we can witness our own human
00:06:49
entanglement.
00:06:52
These are uncertain times.
00:06:55
synthetic intelligence, climate
00:06:57
collapse.
00:06:59
We make meaning anyway.
00:07:02
We survive.
00:07:04
But we also reflect, we connect, we
00:07:07
create.
00:07:10
Artificial intelligence, like art, is a
00:07:14
mirror.
00:07:16
As we gaze into that pool of data, do we
00:07:19
fall in love with what we see?
00:07:22
Or do we want to hide from our
00:07:23
reflection?
00:07:30
AI is not pure good or evil, the savior
00:07:34
or destroyer.
00:07:36
It is what we create it to be.
00:07:40
And I am not saying that there's nothing
00:07:42
to fear.
00:07:44
I am asking you what you want to do with
00:07:46
that fear.
00:07:50
This is an invitation to be vulnerable
00:07:52
together in the face of the unknown,
00:07:56
to pursue connectedness in isolating
00:07:59
times full of questions.
00:08:03
How does our story end?
00:08:05
We are actively engaged in writing it.
00:08:09
Destination
00:08:11
unknown.
00:08:13
But in this we are together.
00:08:16
Thank you.