Can AI be taught to hold a conversation? - Bruna Paese

Bruna Paese is the CEO of Iubi, a social robot that helps people improve their health. We had a marathon of an interview -my longest ever- at three hours. And in this episode, spoke about language, decision making, learning, drug use in Brazil, Banks, health, poverty, wealth, and so much more. Enjoy!

(1:55) The nuances of language, how different slang can develop among different cultures sharing the same language. Can AI learn to note the differences in accents across non-native speakers of English? Is this current inability of AI to account for accents a failure of technology or is it a result of cultural bias? If even humans can’t appreciate all the nuance that exists in spoken language (i.e., tonality, pitch, etc.) can computers be expected to do the same?

(7:25) Why do people go to therapy? Are actions similar to thoughts? We understand how people act and react to stuff, but do we understand how they think? Why is it important to understand how people think?

(9:29) Why is Big Tech so concerned with the exploration of Mars?

(13:42) How does Brazil rank in the AI revolution? What does the AI scene look like in Brazil? How does it work? What are its rules?

(16:39) Brazil has half the population of Latin America and is the country with the largest landmass in South America, yet Chile, a much smaller country, manages to accumulate the same number of yearly tourist visits as Brazil, why?

(22:54) Brazil’s big advantage; what is Iubi about? What does it do? How Bruna got the idea to start?

(40:34) Is Iubi a robot, a human being, or a combination of both?

(45:40) Conspiracy theories. Was COVID manufactured? Did China have a game plan? How do conspiracy theories form? Are conspiracy theories the result of using particular modes of communication? Where did the term “conspiracy theory” come from? How human nature makes it easy for us to accept unverified information.

(58:16) What tests or markers can you use as a measure of fitness?

(1:08:18) The global asset that is in demand but has very little supply

(1:08:56) Drug history in Brazil; the value of history and how it shows the connection between everything.

(1:19:27) The general argument is that drugs are a means to escape reality, but what if the opposite can also be argued? What if drugs actually support reality? What would that look like?

(1:32:18) Why does cannabis have such a negative association, compared to other plant-based substances, like ayahuasca or psilocybin?

(1:39:54) Why Iubi is focused on children

(1:42:39) The unseen impact of environment on health

(1:46:03) Given the access to nature people in the United States have, why aren’t we as nature-centered, especially in the materials we use to produce medicine, compared to countries like Brazil and India? How does culture limit or improve the overall health of a population?

(1:49:26) Why language is more about connection than discovering truth.

(2:07:50) Is the impact of COVID-19 on poverty and thus crime rates universal worldwide?

(2:10:27) What is the truth about mental health? Is it an inborn pathology or a result of the environment you grew up in? Does expecting a person diagnosed with mental health issues to act crazy make them act crazy? And thus, what are the ways we treat patients diagnosed with mental health issues that cause them to respond negatively?

(2:18:20) What is the future of pharmaceuticals? Where will technology take it?

(2:22:32) How to create an ecosystem for innovation to thrive.

(2:26:13) What is Brazil’s take on cryptocurrency? How deeply is it integrated into their financial system? How international transactions between banks actually work.

(2:38:55) Why is it still possible to transfer money illegally between countries? Is it all because cash runs everything? And the governments can't actually see everything happening?

(2:42:44) The lines between corporations and the state are thinning in many countries; CEOs or megacorps are gaining greater ability to influence government policy; can this new system still be called capitalism?