#218 – Jaron Lanier: Virtual Reality, Social Media & the Future of Humans and AI

Jaron Lanier is a computer scientist, composer, artist, author, and founder of the field of virtual reality. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
Skiff: https://skiff.org/lex to get early access
Novo: https://banknovo.com/lex
Onnit: https://lexfridman.com/onnit to get up to 10% off
Indeed: https://indeed.com/lex to get $75 credit
Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get special savings

EPISODE LINKS:
Jaron’s Website: http://www.jaronlanier.com/
Jaron’s Books: https://amzn.to/3tlhl9T

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(08:04) – What is reality?
(12:17) – Turing machines
(13:35) – Simulating our universe
(19:49) – Video games and other immersive experiences
(23:37) – Death and consciousness
(32:08) – Designing human-centric AI
(33:42) – Empathy with robots
(37:33) – Social media incentives
(49:53) – Data dignity
(57:26) – Jack Dorsey and Twitter
(1:09:10) – Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
(1:13:51) – Government overreach and freedom
(1:24:06) – GitHub and TikTok
(1:26:16) – The Autodidactic Universe
(1:31:07) – Humans and the mystery of music
(1:37:17) – Defining moments
(1:48:03) – Mortality
(1:49:56) – The meaning of life

Brian Satis

Brian is WhatPod's Technology Editor. San Jose resident and veteran of the first Silicon Valley tech boom, Brian is founder of Duotone Game Studio and a contributing writer for Synthetic Dimensions, Podzone and Tech News Monthly.Got a podcast to suggest ? Contact Brian (brian.satis@whatpod.com.au)