Templeton Ideas Podcast

Christof Koch is a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science and the Chief Scientist of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation. As a professor for 25 years at Cal Tech, he pioneered research on the neural basis of consciousness, and he has advanced one of the leading theories of consciousness called Integrated Information Theory. Among his many publications, Christof's most recent book is entitled Then I Am Myself the World: What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It.
In our mini-series on the nature of intelligence, we have talked with Simon Conway Morris about the evolution of intelligence, with Susan Schneider about the rise of artificial intelligence, and with Laszlo Barabasi about the structure of collective intelligence. Check our Templeton Ideas podcast feed to listen to these episodes.
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Albert-László Barabási is a professor of network science and physics at Northeastern University. He has pioneered the study of complex networks, discovering that most systems are not randomly structured, but contain highly connected hubs. He has authored popular books such as Linked: The New Science of Networks; Bursts: The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do; and most recently, The Science of Science.
In our mini-series on the nature of intelligence, we have talked with Simon Conway Morris about the biological evolution of intelligence, and with Susan Schneider about the rapid pace of artificial intelligence. In our next episode, we'll talk to Christof Koch about the nature of consciousness, which is probably the biggest mystery in the universe. Check our Templeton Ideas podcast feed to listen to these episodes.
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Susan Schneider is a philosophy professor at Florida Atlantic University, and the founding director of the Center for the Future of AI, Mind, & Society. She has also worked at NASA as the chair of Astrobiology, Exploration, and Scientific Innovation. Susan's book, Artificial You: AI and the Future of Your Mind, explores whether advanced AI systems could become conscious, and how we might design ways to test whether they truly are.
In our mini-series on the nature of intelligence, we have talked with Simon Conway Morris about how intelligence naturally arose from billions of years of evolution. In upcoming episodes, we will also talk with Lazslo Barabasi and Christof Koch about the nature of consciousness, and how networks of individuals can produce collective intelligence that vastly exceeds the sum of its parts. Check our Templeton Ideas feed for new episodes.
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Simon Conway Morris is a paleontologist at the University of Cambridge. His research has illuminated the history of convergent evolution–the recurrence of similar biological features such as vision, wings, and even intelligence across vastly different evolutionary lineages. Through his popular books Life's Solution, The Runes of Evolution, and From Extra-terrestrials to Animal Minds, he makes the case that convergence is not merely a series of curious coincidences, but evidence of a deeper order to biology. 
Simon is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was just announced the winner of the 2026 Templeton Prize, a $1.4M dollar award for those who harness the power of the sciences to explore the deepest and most perplexing questions facing humankind.
Watch the Templeton Prize video, which explains Simon's ideas, his biography, and the interesting parallels between cockroaches and dogs.
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Dr. Shannon Vallor is a professor at the University of Edinburgh, where she serves as chair of the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Her research explores how new technologies, especially AI, robotics, and data science, reshape human character, habits, and practices. She also advises policymakers and industry on the ethical design and use of AI. Her latest book, The AI Mirror: Reclaiming Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking, argues that AI can be a tool to enhance our humanity, not replace it.
Shannon joins the podcast to discuss artificial intelligence, both what it is and what it could be if we step back and rethink what technology is for. 
Are you curious about artificial intelligence? Don't miss out on our story "Predicting and Controlling Bad Actor Artificial Intelligence" by Alene Dawson on Templeton Ideas.
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