Yuval Noah Harari on the Rise of Homo Deus

Yuval Noah Harari is the star historian who shot to fame with his international bestseller 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind'. In that book Harari explained how human values have been continually shifting since our earliest beginnings: once we placed gods at the centre of the universe; then came the Enlightenment, and from then on human feelings have been the authority from which we derive meaning and values. Now, using his trademark blend of science, history, philosophy and every discipline in between, Harari argues in his new book 'Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow', our values may be about to shift again – away from humans, as we transfer our faith to the almighty power of data and the algorithm.

In conversation with Kamal Ahmed, the BBC’s economics editor, Harari examined the political and economic revolutions that look set to transform society, as technology continues its exponential advance. What will happen when artificial intelligence takes over most of the jobs that people do? Will our liberal values of equality and universal human rights survive the creation of a massive new class of individuals who are economically useless? And when Google and Facebook know our political preferences better than we do ourselves, will democratic elections become redundant?
As the 21st century progresses, not only our society and economy but our bodies and minds could be revolutionised by new technologies such as genetic engineering, nanotechnology and brain-computer interfaces. After a few countries master the enhancement of bodies and brains, will they conquer the planet while the rest of humankind is driven to extinction?

[kdilli]

"We'd rather talk about things we understand that aren't important, than discuss things that are important, because we don't understand it". Damn. So true.

[typhooni]

Highlights
12:00 Useless class
20:18 Hypothetical existential threat -  A.I. with goal of calculating pi
55:14 Consciousness VS. Intelligence
1:01:15 Industrial revolution VS. Information revolution - different end games
1:18:00 commerce between algorithms - new economic model?

[guneeta]

Well, six years later, and we are here. He was right!

[cokelennon]

My fav part of the book: "when the gay parade goes trough jerusalem is when the city is more peacefull because christian, jews and muslims have something to hate together" ahahaha

[jumpbrick]

Yuval makes so many logical leaps . . . I wish he could justify his perspective. Moreover his predictions which seem largely based on assumptions are so incredibly dehumanizing that I'm surprised he has the gall to open his mouth.

[sajidkhan-qpiw]

Excellent questions by the host as well. Love the conversation.. it is mind blowing

[jackriver]

Reading Sapiens and Homo Deus is like taking the red pill in the Matrix. Brilliant books.

[sydneymorey]

The Hitch is gone, sadly. Times are on the change, we can’t help but notice. Well here is the replacement. Listen hard and analyse. He has arrived to educate us with profound logic. His YouTube talks take us into future with his clear and concise mind. Hitch startled me with intelligence so does this man. Cheers SBM.

[chefjonsf]

The Audio versions of his books are really well done. They were the backdrop audio during moments of my world travels, and have drastically changed my outlook on life in general.

[god_of_gaps]

it's always amaze me how small is the difference between us and other animals

[Aracne]

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” - Orwell

[jasmineluxemburg]

I have reinvented myself several times (career wise, relationship wise, priority wise... ) You know what ! Its interesting, enjoyable, satisfying . I did not need a hardwear upgrade ! I did need imagination, appetite, I guess courage too. I am still doing it too ! The outcomes were valued, but the capacity never has been ! Quite the contrary ! I found its best not to make my versatility obvious because either it was disbelieved or it was seen negatively ! in other words predictability and stability of focus and priority is rated . So my experience tells me that humanity has no need of hardware upgrades, it needs ideological sophistication, optimism and an end to either/or thinking of personality ....

[SarahStarmer]

I hope the golden age he talked about in 2016 can be saved and preserved for the future.

[rkrajputcreator]

Please add subtitles....for better comprehension

[LoscoeLad]

maybe his best interview - and, importantly, interviewer - I have seen yet. Fantastically thought-provoking

[conscious_being]

Essentially he is not worried about an AI that is self-aware, defined its own purpose and started working towards it, but by an AI that is controlled by a few, is the source of all the wealth creation and hence makes most humans incapable of claiming any share of the wealth created.

Yes, most people will lose political and economic power, but to be frank, they never had any to begin with. What they will lose is the ILLUSION of having political and economic power.

[SiaarZH]

It was after this talk Yuval stared writing his new book "21 Lessons for the 21st Century"...

[JonathanAmbriz]

The development of technologies with AI will be similar to the development of fire by man. There's a huge disparity between those that will have it and those that don't in terms of power and capabilities.

[squamish]

The woman at 52:20 actually makes a very good point, and Harari himself acknowledges it. You can even seen in his facial expression as she's saying it that "Hmmm, I don't have a ready answer for this one."

[ashleyhyatt]

It would have been such a great joy to have heard a conversation between Professor Harari and Isaac Asimov.