Jane Goodall, AI Skeptic

Your loyal correspondent goes gaga for Goodall

A bit over a decade ago, the legendary primatologist Jane Goodall and I both appeared in the same documentary, Surviving Progress, executive produced by Martin Scorsese and watched by very few. (Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 71 and describes it as “Stephen Hawking, Jane Goodall, Margaret Atwood and others weigh in with their thoughts on whether the pitfalls of progress could actually destroy civilization instead of help it”; I was a rather brief part of “and others”.) The sad thing is how timely the film’s premise still seems, years later. But we were filmed separately, and I never imagined we would actually meet.

A few days ago, with endless thanks to the insanely talented Tony Fadell (of iPod, iPhone, and Nest fame), who invited me, Goodall and I both spoke at the same conference, the quite fabulous Starmus Festival, organized by the astrophysicist Garik Israelian and the legendary astrophysics PhD Brian May (who also played guitar in a rather well-known band, rather adeptly). 

Even in a star-filled show, including the incredibly gracious aforementioned guitarist/PhD, at least three astronauts, and an almost uncountably large number of Nobel laureates, Jane Goodall inspired awe, delivering a lively, witty, and moving talk on climate change, politics, and hope, which she opened with a stunning impression of a chimpanzee call. (I will share a link if I get one.) I have been thinking a lot about how to engage the public in AI policy, and it was a treat to hear her discuss parallel issues around nature and the environment.

And then, by a bit of fluke, I actually got to meet her! It was only briefly, just for a few minutes, before she had to go onstage yet again. But thrilling.

The conversation started when I saw Goodall at a small dinner table, getting ready for an event at the famous “UFO Restaurant” that is about 20 stories above a bridge, in Bratislava. The room wasn’t crowded, and I figured this was my only chance. I dared to say hello, mentioning that I was a fellow speaker and had spoken about AI, and asked if she would be willing to sit for a quick picture together. When I mentioned AI, she immediately grew interested, and without wasting a moment sne told me that she was worried about the consequences of bad actors getting AI. I shared some of my own thoughts about which Pandora’s Boxes had (LLMs) and had not (AGI) already been opened. It was clear we wouldn’t have much time to talk, but to my astonishment and delight, she grabbed my hand and said she wanted to talk more about it later. 

A friend snapped pictures. And then Jane had to go onstage for a panel discussion, at least her third appearance in four days. Her assistant gave me her card, and said to get in touch, that Jane wanted to continue the conversation! That was it, at least for now.

Later, at the panel (almost two hours with about 10 people on a wide range of topics), Goodall touched twice one AI, once warning of the consequences of letting big corporations set the rules, and a second time raising concerns about whether students would learn much if they relied on chatbots to do their homework for them.  She acknowledged that their could be gains for education, but didn’t want us to rush forward blindly. Not so often that I meet a kindred spirit!

Whether I will get to see Goodall again, I don’t know– at 90 years old Goodall still travels over 300 days a year — but I certainly hope we can. Either way, meeting her, even if only for a brief moment, felt magical.

Gary Marcus is feeling profoundly grateful.