Episode 1. Governing Minds - Carbon and Silicon: Ethics, Power and the Architecture of Machine Cognition

In this inaugural episode of Intelligence Explosion, host Tamim Asey speaks with Professor Elke Schwarz, a political theorist at Queen Mary University London and Vice Chair of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control. She is the author of the acclaimed book Death Machines: The Ethics of Violent Technologies and a leading expert on the intersection of emerging technologies, cognition and governance. As artificial systems increasingly simulate human thought and decision-making, we explore the scientific foundations of machine intelligence and the structural changes it is driving in warfare, policy and society.

This episode covers:
•What we mean by mind, intelligence and cognition, and how AI is redefining these concepts
•The idea of intelligence explosion and the rise of hybrid intelligence
•The ethical and regulatory challenges of autonomous weapons and algorithmic decision-making
•The automation of public services and its impact on fairness, accountability and oversight
•How responsibility is diffused and delegated in complex systems
•National and global efforts to regulate AI akin to Geneva convention for Algorithms and Brettonwoods for AI and the critical gaps that remain

Drawing on her influential work, including Blitzscaling War and Trolleyology: Algorithmic Ethics for Killer Robots, Professor Schwarz offers a compelling analysis of how machine cognition is reshaping power, responsibility and the future of governance.

This is a deeply informative and insightful conversation on the future of human and machine brains, cognition and control.