Beyond Electric Sheep

Robots

Ed Daniels and Brick Thompson Season 2025 Episode 31

In this 12-minute episode, Ed Daniels and Brick Thompson talk about how large language model AI technology is about to facilitate a huge advancement in robotics. Ed recently rewrote his science fiction novel "The Last of the Firefighters" where robotics invades the profession of firefighting. Brick and Ed talk about the various scenarios portrayed in Ed's novel. https://thelastofthefirefighters.com/ 

We also discuss robot vacuum cleaners, self-driving cars, and other advances in robotics. 

The name of this podcast, "Beyond Electric Sheep," is a reference to the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick. That novel is the source for the movies Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). It explores the themes of artificial intelligence, empathy, and reality in a dystopian future where humans and androids coexist. 

The novel raises the question of whether androids can dream or feel anything at all, and whether they are different from humans in any meaningful way. 

In our Beyond Electric Sheep podcast we go beyond the novel and the movies and discuss the broader implications and applications of artificial intelligence in our personal lives and in our businesses. We explore the pragmatic as well as the ethical and philosophical issues that arise from creating and interacting with intelligent machines.

Beyond Electric Sheep is also available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYg2J0jET_BPCKSnsxz8mleEmYogYJZhn