267 - Lee Cronin: Aliens, Artificial Intelligence, and the Origin of Life

Lee Cronin is Regius Chair of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow. Among his many pursuits are the digitization of chemistry, the discovery of alien life, and the creation of artificial life. Lee was most recently on the show for episode 264, in which he and Robinson and Lee discussed astrobiology, the chemistry of life as we know it, and the controversies surrounding artificial intelligence. In this follow-up conversation, they focused primarily on artificial intelligence, aliens, and assembly theory. Lee’s Website: https://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/ Lee’s Twitter: https://x.com/leecronin OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 01:01 AI or Aliens? 02:46 What Is Intelligence? 13:57 Are Autonomous Vehicles Intelligent? 21:39 Assembly Theory and the Origin of Life 28:23 Is ChatGPT Intelligent? 34:12 What Would Genuine Artificial Intelligence Really Look Like? 41:13 Are “AI Skills” Just Product Placement? 49:45 Are AI Actually Intelligent “Agents”? 56:21 Concluding Thoughts 59:16 Will Aliens Be Biological? 01:00:01 How Common Are Aliens in the Universe? 01:05:51 How Will Aliens Search for Life on Earth? 01:12:58 The Chemistry of Minds 01:17:10 The Biggest Myths About Aliens Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.