Richard Feynman: Can Machines Think?

This is a Q&A excerpt on the topic of AI from a lecture by Richard Feynman from September 26th, 1985. I found it very interesting and hope you do as well. Watch the full lecture in the description. Subscribe to this channel for more clips.

It is amazing he has explained how today’s AI (ChatGPT and others) work and also their weaknesses with two questions in 1985. Today, we need him more than anyone else

The fact i have access to this man lectures and interviews that i am truly grateful for

"The necessary weaknesses of intelligence." Even his throw-away observations and quips can be pure timeless genius. Thanks for sharing.

it is astonishing to me that this was off the cuff and 40 years ago, yet Feynman's comments are unbelievably prescient and resonate still with any AI researcher today 40 years later

Richard Feynman was born in a world where horses were still the most common mode of transportation in cities and here is he, telling about AI concepts we are still struggling to apply today. Also, he was one of the greatest theoretical physicist in history.

I live in Bangladesh and because of the crappy education system here I'm stuck with studying business studies. I didn't have physics or chemistry in school level but I love physics and Feynman has been a big part of that. His lectures on physics have been a great respite from my pointless and ultimately futile existence. I left my job to study physics by myself and have gotten derailed. But every time I listen to this man talk, I am enamored to pick up a physics or a math book and bang my head against that wall as hard as I can. I hope someday I get to be a physicist of any caliber, even if it means I have to starve to death. Thank you, Mr Feynman, for being the light I wish to touch someday.

1985 and he was already intimately aware of the alignment problem in A.I. Every time there is a new breakthrough, I always go back to Feynman's lectures and realize he had been saying it all along.

the way he thinks and explains things makes it so compelling to listen to. almost like he's telling a story. such a legend

Never seen Richard Feynman in a T-shirt before

Love Feynman.

The man took an encore in a lecture. Extreme charisma and fundamental knowledge of so many different concepts and fields. A true polymath.

I read Feynman's book and his genius is apparent on every page, my biggest takeaway was that he never let his curiosity fade his entire life.

11:33 The way the audience reacted when he told them he doesn't have time to tell them more is priceless. It marks the difference between the vast majority of teachers and the ones that soak their students with... "the pleasure of finding things out". Too bad we don't hear the often in class. Great man, great educator. Beautiful lecture.

You know the age-old question: "If you could bring back someone from the past for a day to have dinner with?" Feynman is one of my answers. His ability to bring complex concepts into an easily understood analogy is a skill I envy. What a beautiful mind.

Reminds me of that scene from I, Robot : Spooner : "Can a machine write a symphony? Can a machine turn a canvas into a beautiful masterpiece?" Sonny : "Can you?"

I like the fact that he's brilliant but talks like a 70s NYC cab driver.

CheeTAH

17:49 "We are getting close to intelligent machines but they're showing the necessary weaknesses of intelligence" 👍

Feynman was not only a great physicist, thinker in general, but also a showman. There's art in it. The closest to me is a stand up comedian. But he was not telling only jokes, but presenting complicated ideas in a simple way.