Using AI to Increase Your Intelligence & Enrich Humanity | Dr. Fei-Fei Li

**Fei-Fei Li** (0:00)
I think the biggest thing humanity never learns is the older generation lamenting about the future generation, as if the future generation doesn't know anything, they're rude, they're forgetting the past. But if you look at the arc of history of humanity, by and large, we advance for the better. Now, I'm not denying the atrocities, I'm not denying the setbacks, I'm not denying this, but fundamentally, I'm an optimist in humanity. I look at kids, they're curious. Of course, they get massively entertained by this technology, but they also are starting to use it. What I worry about are teachers and some parents, because I think our society today, and especially Silicon Valley, are not doing them a service.
We're forgetting about them.

**Andrew Huberman** (0:52)
Hey, everyone. To celebrate the launch of my new book, entitled Protocols, I'm pleased to share that I'll be hosting three live events very soon. The first live event is in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on September 17th. The second event is in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theater on October 8th. And the third live event is in San Francisco at the Masonic on October 28th. At each of these events, I'll be discussing topics from the book. And my favorite part, taking questions directly from you, the audience. To get tickets, you can go to hubermanlab.com/events and use the code protocols to get early access. Again, that's hubermanlab.com/events and use the code protocols to get early access to tickets. Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a computer scientist and professor at Stanford, and one of the pioneers and luminaries of artificial intelligence and computer vision. As you all know, millions of people use AI chatbots to look up information every single day. And of course, many people are concerned about AI, where it's going and how it might replace certain human jobs or degrade our experience of life in one way or another. Today, we discuss from a neuroscience perspective what intelligence really is, and the ways that AI can and is being used for good, meaning to truly enhance learning, health, and to enrich rather than diminish the human experience. We start off by talking about how human brains of all ages learn new information, what rules the brain follows in that process, and how AI, because it is based on the content of the internet, both resembles and falls short of what human brains can learn. And we discuss exciting uses of AI and robotics in medicine.
To be clear, Fei-Fei acknowledges and addresses the many valid concerns about AI.
But as the Director of the Stanford Institute for Human Centered Artificial Intelligence, her goal is to make sure that humans and humanity at large are represented in where AI goes next. As you'll soon hear, Dr. Fei-Fei Li is an extraordinary scientist and educator. She has been called the godmother of AI for her ushering in of AI technologies, but also for her insistence that the ethics and benevolent uses of AI stay central to AI and robotics.
So whether you are young or old, today's conversation will inform and empower you to understand and use AI in ways that truly benefit you and enrich your life. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, today's episode does include sponsors. And now for my discussion with Dr. Fei-Fei Li. Dr. Fei-Fei Li, welcome.

**Fei-Fei Li** (3:49)
Thank you. I'm excited to be here, Andrew.

**Andrew Huberman** (3:51)
Yeah, this is a long time coming. And you are a luminary in this AI field, but I also consider you a neuroscientist and computer scientist. And we share a common path through vision science. And so-

**Fei-Fei Li** (4:03)
And fellow colleagues.

**Andrew Huberman** (4:04)
And fellow colleagues at Stanford. So I'd like to start in vision.
What is so special about vision and seeing and light as it pertains to AI and where it's all going? Because I think for most people, those probably sound like very divorced themes, but actually, that's where it all starts.

**Fei-Fei Li** (4:25)
Yeah, I see vision as a cornerstone of intelligence in almost two parallel ways. One is what evolution has taught us.
What's the evolution of vision and animal intelligence and human intelligence? The other one is computer vision and AI, what that relationship is. So I'll go into each. Evolution, I always say that 540 million years ago, animals saw the first light. These are simple sea ocean animals, trilobites and the cousins. Before that, there was very little sensing.