A leading voice in artificial intelligence, Gary Marcus is both bull and bear, known for championing the possibilities of new technologies while highlighting their limitations.

Why you should listen

Cognitive scientist, author and serial entrepreneur Gary Marcus has been at the forefront of conversations considering both what is wrong with current approaches to AI (think: closed systems and fixed sets of rules) and ideas for how to change them (think: creating machines with common sense and an awareness of the past).

Known for his research in human language development and cognitive neuroscience, Marcus is the emeritus professor of psychology and neural science at NYU and the author of five books, including The Algebraic Mind, Kluge, The Birth of the Mind and Guitar Zero. He regularly contributes to the New Yorker, Wired and The New York Times. His most recent book, Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust, co-authored with Ernest Davis, was named one of the "7 Must Read Books in AI" by Forbes. Marcus is currently challenging the field in a series of articles at garymarcus.substack.com, which has quickly became a leading blog on AI, and has just launched an eight-episode podcast, Humans versus Machines.

Gary Marcus’ TED talk

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Live from TED2023

The astounding new era of AI: Notes on Session 2 of TED2023

April 18, 2023

Whether you’re thrilled or terrified by it, there’s no question that the time of artificial intelligence has come. Session 2 of TED2023 looked at some of the reasons to get excited about this transformational moment — and gave space to those who have expressed concern about the future it may usher in. The event: Talks […]

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