Yuval Noah Harari | 21 Lessons for the 21st Century | Talks at Google

Summary

Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari joins a Google Talks session to discuss key themes from his bestselling books which explore human history and potential futures. He argues technology is increasingly able to understand and influence humans better than we understand ourselves. Harari stresses we must re-evaluate notions of free will and refocus economics around human welfare, not corporate profits. Though technology creates risks, proper regulations and compassion can lead to enormous benefits. Harari advocates individuals knowing themselves deeply to immunize against technological manipulation and determine what future we want to build.

Takeaways

• 😊 Yuval believes predicting the future is impossible, but influencing it is possible
• 📚 Throughout history shared fictions like religions and corporations have been immensely powerful forces enabling cooperation
• 😮 AI and biotech revolutions could provide tremendous benefits but also pose serious dangers like corporations manipulating people at scale
• 🧠 Getting to know yourself through meditation, art etc. will be more critical than ever before
• 😠 The combination of biotech and AI could replace many human jobs and disrupt concepts humans cherish like free will
• ❓ Spirituality dealing with open-ended questions is becoming practically relevant for those building technologies today
• 📰 The economics of free exciting news in exchange for attention could be changed to charge for higher quality information
• 💖 Compassion is critical for any successful society and should be baked into any human enhancements pursued
• 🚗 Self-driving cars force us to make philosophical decisions about ethics that will have real-world consequences
• ⚖️ We may need a universal basic income if automation permanently displaces many people from jobs but the real crisis could be developing countries that get left behind

Q & A

How can technology and biology combine to revolutionize AI, according to Harari?

Harari argues that AI will only become truly revolutionary when infotech merges with biotech. Understanding what's happening inside the human body and brain will allow AI systems to monitor, diagnose, and manipulate people far more effectively.

What does Harari mean when he says humans will have to constantly 'reinvent themselves' in the future?

As the pace of technological and societal change accelerates, people will need the psychological flexibility to adapt, learn new skills, and change careers multiple times throughout their lives.

How does Harari differentiate between 'religion' and 'spirituality'?

He defines religion as pre-packaged answers telling people what to believe, while spirituality involves open-ended questioning and quests to explore life's biggest mysteries.

What does Harari see as the root cause of the current fake news crisis?

He argues the business model of providing exciting news for free in exchange for people's attention has made truth irrelevant. Maximizing engagement overrides factual accuracy.

Why does Harari claim free will has always been a myth?

He argues science shows all processes are either deterministic, random, or a combination. So while humans make choices, we don't choose the underlying will directing our desires and decisions.

How might self-driving cars force engineers to grapple with philosophical questions?

Programming autonomous vehicles to handle ethical dilemmas like who to save in an accident means translating philosophical theories into practical algorithms.

What does Harari mean when he says corporations and nations are shared fictions?

He claims entities like companies and countries exist only in our collective imagination. But as shared stories embraced by billions, they wield enormous influence.

Why does Harari urge technologists to map multiple scenarios when predicting the future?

With complex technologies like AI, focusing on just one or two outcomes fails to account for the full range of possibilities, both good and bad.

How might disgust mechanisms in the brain be hacked to fuel prejudice and genocide?

Harari argues playing on people's hardwired revulsion reactions facilitates dehumanization of disfavored groups, enabling their persecution.

What single AI project would Harari task Google with pursuing?

He challenges Google to develop AI systems focused on deeply understanding individual users in order to protect them rather than exploit them.