Gary Marcus, a 53-year-old professor emeritus of psychology from New York University, has recently become one of the media’s most prominent expert voices on the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence in recent years. His stance of calling for more control over AI technology has made him a darling in the ChatGPT era, and he has often pitched in interviews to multiple news outlets, including NPR, the BBC, CNN and 60 Minutes.
Recently, Marcus made time for an update on the progress of AI, and managed to squeeze in a Zoom interview with me while rushing between appearances on Morning Joe and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His transformation from a skeptic of deep learning neural networks to a vocal advocate of ethical AI has made him one of the go-to names within the field.
The incredible success of AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard and many others has been enough for President Biden to summon the world’s leading AI figures for discussions about the implications of AI. Italy even went so far as to temporarily ban the OpenAI bot. AI is now a major talking point, and Marcus is there to provide insight and help regulate fast-maturing AI models and technology.
Marcus is a rather unique figure in the world of AI. He has accumulated 23 years of experience as a professor of psychology, and then sold his AI startup Geometric Intelligence to Uber in 2016. He later founded Robust AI, a robotics firm from which he stepped away from in 2021. His history in the field of AI might be contested by experts, but it clearly hasn’t held him back when it comes to discussing the complex topic of AI ethics and regulation.
In the wake of the discussion around AI ethics, Marcus’ range of projects has increased to include a Substack “The Road to A.I. We Can Trust” and his podcast Humans vs. Machines, which has skyrocketed to being one of the top 10 tech podcasts in the world. Marcus speaks on the topic of AI ethics often, hosting a TED talk in Vancouver that focused on controlling AI and having constructive debates with fellow professor Yann LeCun of Meta.
The conversation around AI ethics and regulation is one of the most important in modern times. Gary Marcus is one of many voices who are focusing on this pressing subject, his role in the debate around AI means that his opinion is invaluable to those looking for trustworthy information and discussion on the topic.
