Are We Making AI Too Human?, with James Evans
Big Brains12 Jun 2025

Are We Making AI Too Human?, with James Evans

Prof. James Evans, a University of Chicago sociologist and data scientist, believes we’re training AI to think too much like humans—and it’s holding science back.

In this episode, Evans shares how our current models risk narrowing scientific exploration rather than expanding it, and explains why he’s pushing for AIs that think differently from us—what he calls “cognitive aliens.” Could these “alien minds” help us unlock hidden breakthroughs? And what would it take to build them?


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episoder(216)

What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift

What Makes Music Go Viral—From AI to Taylor Swift

The internet and social media have transformed the way in which we hear and understand music today—and online communities and platforms from YouTube to TikTok have changed how music circulates and ult...

11 Des 202535min

How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes

How Wearable Tech Will Heighten Our Senses and Abilities, with Pedro Lopes

Can you imagine a world in which a wearable device, like a smartwatch, could move your fingers to strum the guitar or play the drums? That kind of technology is part of the innovative research coming ...

24 Nov 202538min

Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

Why Are More Women Saying No To Having Kids? With Peggy O'Donnell Heffington

More and more women in the United States are saying no to motherhood. In 2023, the U.S. fertility rate reached the lowest number on record. But the idea of non-motherhood is actually not a new phenome...

13 Nov 202532min

How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson

How Full-Body MRIs Could Predict Your Long-Term Health, with Daniel Sodickson

What does it mean to see beneath the surface — of the human body, the brain, or even the universe itself? In his new book, The Future of Seeing: How Imaging Is Changing Our World, Prof. Daniel Sodicks...

30 Okt 202534min

Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath?

Is There Such A Thing As A Psychopath?

Few ideas have gripped the public imagination quite like the idea of the “psychopath.” From Hollywood thrillers to true-crime podcasts, popular culture has led us to believe that psychopaths are dange...

16 Okt 202535min

Why We Haven’t Solved Brain Disorders—And How To Fix It, with Nicole Rust

Why We Haven’t Solved Brain Disorders—And How To Fix It, with Nicole Rust

For decades, neuroscience has promised breakthroughs in treating conditions like depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s. Yet despite powerful technologies and billions invested, progress has been ...

2 Okt 202536min

Life On Mars: Is It Possible For Humans? with Edwin Kite

Life On Mars: Is It Possible For Humans? with Edwin Kite

Billions of years ago, Mars may have looked less like the barren red desert we know today and more like Earth—with a blue sky, flowing rivers, and even seas. What happened to turn a once-habitable wor...

19 Sep 202530min

How To Use Nature To Restore Your Focus, with Marc Berman

How To Use Nature To Restore Your Focus, with Marc Berman

We’re living in an attention economy—and most of us are broke. But what if the secret to restoring your focus, improving your mental health, and even reducing crime rates wasn’t found in an app or a p...

4 Sep 202532min

Populært innen Fakta

mikkels-paskenotter
fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
foreldreradet
treningspodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
jakt-og-fiskepodden
sinnsyn
rss-kunsten-a-leve
hverdagspsyken
rss-var-forste-kaffe
rss-bisarr-historie
fryktlos
gravid-uke-for-uke
hagespiren-podcast
lederskap-nhhs-podkast-om-ledelse
rss-kull
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
rss-sunn-okonomi