Leading experts in AI question what does it mean to be human?

Sydney — Wednesday 2 August 2023

In a one-off event at the Sydney Opera House, evolutionary biologist Rob Brooks and artificial intelligence expert Toby Walsh will appear in conversation with Rae Johnston on Sunday 10 September to explore the impact of developing AI on humanity.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Brooks, a scientist who studies the evolutionary consequences of sex, and Walsh, one of the world's leading researchers in AI, look at whether the concerns surrounding AI are justifiable, and what its impact will be on our society and culture.

As debate rages around artificial intelligence – and even the experts disagree about what is to come – AI: The Human Interface will ask what it means to be human. How will these technologies affect our relationships and the ways we connect with one another? And will these machines affect how we view what makes us uniquely human?

Sydney Opera House Head of Talks & Ideas, Chip Rolley says: “In a year when everyone else is talking about ‘artificial’ intelligence, we at Sydney Opera House want to talk about the human kind. However hyped some of the AI panic might be, it does feel like we’re on the precipice of something very new in our world. If machines are able to overtake the capabilities of human beings, what does that mean for what we think being human is in the first place? Whether robots take over or not, it might be that their rapid rise and development help us to answer this fundamental question - perhaps for the first time.”

AI: The Human Interface will delve into how deeply AI could permeate our world, exploring whether we’ll be able to preserve what we love about being human as we engage with these machines more and more.