Why Machines Will Never Rule the World


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2023-05-29

Why Machines will never Rule the World

On the show today, we are joined by Barry Smith and Jobst Landgrebe, authors of the book Why Machines will never Rule the World. Barry teaches at the University of Buffalo and is a visiting professor at the University of Italian Switzerland. Jobst is the Managing director at Cognotekt, an AI company based in Germany.

Barry started by giving a background on the need for the book. At the core, it stems from people being scared about the exponential growth of AI possibilities. Jobst shared his stance on whether AI systems are truly intelligent. Barry further discussed how AI systems are an extension of mathematical theories and thus have limitations. They both discussed how the will and the desire of humans inherently make humans more complex than machines can ever be.

Going forward, Jobst defined what intelligence is. He also discussed why machines can not provide solutions to novel problems. They both also gave reasons why machines cannot excellently engage in dialogues.

You can learn more about Barry’s work on his website. You may also follow Jobst on LinkedIn.


Thanks to our sponsor EOS Data Analytics.

Jobst Landgrebe

Jobst Landgrebe is an entrepreneur and researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working on both the mathematical foundations and also the philosophical implications of AI technology. In 2013 he founded the company Cognotekt in Cologne, Germany, where he serves as managing director.

Barry Smith

Barry Smith is a prominent contributor to both theoretical and applied research in ontology. He is SUNY Distinguished Professor of Philosophy in the University at Buffalo, with joint appointments in the Departments of Biomedical Informatics, Neurology, and Computer Science and Engineering. He is also Director of the National Center for Ontological Research and Visiting Professor in the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano. Smith is the author of some 300 peer-reviewed publications on ontology and related topics, with over 40,000 citations. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the US, Swiss and Austrian National Science Foundations, the Volkswagen Foundation, the European Union, and the US Department of Defense. In 2002 he received the $2.7 million Wolfgang Paul Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He was awarded the first Paolo Bozzi Prize in Ontology in 2011, and in 2013 he was elected Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (FACMI). Since 2000 he has served as consultant to Hernando de Soto, Director of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy in Peru, on projects relating to the advancement of property and business rights among the poor in developing countries. Smith's pioneering work on the science of ontology led to the establishment of Basic Formal Ontology (BFO). BFO is the most commonly adopted top-level ontology development framework and was approved in ISO/IEC:21838-2 as an ISO standard top-level ontology. His work led also to the formation of the OBO (Open Biomedical Ontologies) Foundry, a suite of interoperable ontology modules designed to support information-driven research in biology and biomedicine. The methodology underlying BFO and the OBO Foundry is today being applied in a range of different domains, including military intelligence and industrial engineering.