Elliot Murphy is a neuroscientist specialising in language, cognition, and the brain.
In this podcast, we discuss what language really is; why human language is fundamentally different from other animals; whether AI systems could ever understand language; sentences AI can't understand but humans can; why Chomsky was right about humans' innate language capacity; when humans evolved language; how language evolved for deception and lying; the possibility of a "language" beyond our current language, and much, much more...
Timestamps:(00:00) What people misunderstand about language(06:20) The mystery of how we understand language(11:30) Language's purpose is to bring different concepts & senses together(14:06) The fundamental creativity of language(17:40) Strange nonsense sentences: “More people have been to Russia than I have”(23:10) How language evolved for deception and manipulation(27:48) Why language is not just next token prediction(29:21) The neuroscience of language and the brain(34:02) Can the capacity for language be lost?(41:00) Why Chomsky is right about innate language capacity(45:32) Biological innateness vs. environmental learning(48:16) Why animals do not possess human language(53:22) Contrasting language with emotion and bodily cues(58:32) What AI systems fundamentally misunderstand about language(01:03:32) AI failures with structural ambiguity(01:05:42) The possibility of a "language" beyond our current language(01:11:10) The core mechanisms and origins of language evolution(01:17:33) When language evolved and the rise of civilization
Find Elliot Murphy:• Website: https://elliot-murphy.com/about/?utm_source=chatgpt.com• Brilliant Podcast with Machine Learning Street Talk: https://www.patreon.com/posts/elliot-murphy-105019438?l=en• Michael Levin Lab Presentation: https://youtu.be/pqDnfNUlvRo?si=UgPzIM17yZNcK2uM
Find Jack:• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JackRoycroftSherry• X: https://twitter.com/jack_roycroft• Substack: https://substack.com/@jackroycroftsherry?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page
