Today’s episode marks the return of another Ask Me Anything episode where listeners ask Ken and Dawn to weigh in on a wide range of topics.

In this go-around, listeners certainly had a lot on their mind. At the top of their list were questions about AI and especially the Bing AI chat bot that reportedly wants to be alive so it can steal nuclear secrets. Ken, who is Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, also answered questions about the future of AI and whether AI might one day be able to do a better job of writing fact-based news stories than humans.

Other questions listeners submitted asked Ken and Dawn for their take on:

 	The competing recommendations for the daily intake of protein for healthy aging.
 	The future of therapeutic ketosis.
 	What it means for Chat GPT to “hallucinate.”
 	Whether we’ll discover the existence of other life in the universe in the next 20 to 50 years.
 	The potential of kratom to help relieve joint and arthritic pain.
 	And at the end of the show, Ken talks about his high school coach in response to a listener asking Ken about some of his mentors when he was a youth.

Show notes:

[00:02:20] A listener asks Ken if he has heard the story of a Bing AI chat bot telling a reporter that it wanted to be alive, steal nuclear secrets and create a deadly virus. The listener also asks if Ken thinks that AI possessing human aspirations is on the horizon.

[00:03:23] A listener asks Ken to explain how Chat GPT works in detail, but also in a way that a lay person can comprehend.

[00:06:01] Ken weights in on what it means for Chat GPT to “hallucinate.”

[00:08:14] A listener notes in their question that Donald Layman, in his interview on STEM-Talk, suggested a higher protein intake for healthy aging than what the FDA recommends. The listener goes on to note that Valter Longo, a previous STEM-Talk guest, recommended the opposite. The listener notes that Ken and Marcas, who hosted the Don Layman episode, seem to favor Layman’s interpretation over Longo’s and asks if Ken could elaborate on his position.

[00:11:12] A listener mentions that the benefit of a ketogenic diet for metabolic disorders is well established, and notes that the frontiers of therapeutic ketosis, as mentioned in Dom D’Agostino’s appearance on STEM-Talk, is very exciting. The listener asks Ken what he would like to see as the next frontier for therapeutic ketosis research.

[00:12:41] A listener asks Ken if people should be paying more attention to their ApoB levels instead of their LDL levels.

[00:14:39] A listener asks Ken about a paper published in July in Frontiers in Neuroscience, titled: “Overnight Olfactory Enrichment Using an Odorant Diffuser Improves Memory and Modifies Uncinate Fasciculus in Older Adults.” The paper reports that the use of a diffuser with seven different essential oils, a different one for each day of the week, had a remarkable effect on memory.

[00:16:55] In light of the

Episode 159: Ken and Dawn discuss chatbots, termites, kratom, ketosis, and the future of AI

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